Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility to apply for DClinPsy with overseas qualifications

All applicants need to have Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership to apply.

If your qualification was not obtained from a UK or Irish university, you will need to contact the British Psychological Society (BPS) for assessment of your qualifications.

Please refer to one of our blogposts about FAQs for application (here) and the Clearing House website for more information.

Funding

As international trainees, we do not receive salaries or stipends as we are not funded by the Higher Education England (HEE) like the local trainees.

Each university has specific criteria which they use to determine if a person has home fee (i.e., NHS-funded) or international fee (i.e., self-funded) status.

Although we are unaware, there might be scholarships available in your home country or the universities that you are applying to, feel free to query related personnel (usually Department of Education in your home country, or Funding/ Finance Department in the desired universities) for more information.

Work experience needed to get into training

It is quite common for applicants with prior experience working as Assistant Psychologists (APs), Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners (PWPs) or research assistants before getting on the programme, however, there are still many trainees from a variety of backgrounds.

You can refer to one of our blogposts about FAQs for application (here) and search for the latest Alternative Handbook by BPS for more information (here).

The BPS Alternative Handbook provides comprehensive insights into the trainee experience, covering every course, all year groups, and detailing what it’s like to be a trainee in each program.

Entry Requirements

Please refer to the Clearing House website and each university's website for details on each University’s entry requirements.

Each university might have slightly different requirements, so it is advisable to look them up on the university’s webpage, or reach out to the course teams themselves for specific entry requirements.

Visa

As international trainees, we are regarded as full-time students rather than workers (as we are not funded), therefore we have to obtain a Tier-4 student visa only and complete the placements under an honorary contract (i.e. we are not paid, so there is no need for a work visa). You can refer to one of our blogposts (here) for more information about visa.

List of courses that accept international trainees

If you do not have the home fee status, you can still apply for the DClinPsy programme as an international applicant for self-funded places.

Please refer to the Clearing House website for the list of universities that accept applications from international applicants as it might vary from year to year. It is also advisable to look up the individual university’s website as Clearing House might not reflect the latest university updates.

Helpful Resources

When waiting for updates:

  • Join Facebook pages that applicants build

  • Official pages on X (previously known as Twitter) of universities you applied to

Still have questions?

We understand that the DClinPsy application process can be a bit confusing, you will find most of the answers of your inquiry in our blogs and we encourage you to start with ‘The Frequently Asked Questions about International DClinPsy Application’, as well as an online blogpost from Aspiring Clinical Psych (https://aspiringclinicalpsych.com/applying-as-an-international-student/)

If you still have more specific questions, please contact us on Facebook, Linkedin
or via the Contact Us page, so that we can provide the best support for you.