How to train as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK as an International Applicant

Unfortunately the NHS doesn’t offer any funding to international students. If you are an overseas applicant you need to self-fund or find the funding elsewhere.

Hi Matt, the good thing about the clinical psychology courses in the UK is that they are all regulated by our National Health Service. This means they all have a minimum standard and there are certain topics that every trainee clinical psychologist must learn. So in that way they are all good. The larger cities are likely to have placements (part of the course involves learning on the job) which are more multi-cultural or more specialist. It’s a good idea to choose a course which suits one’s approach and preferences. The Alternative Handbook is one place to get a bit more informal knowledge about the courses: https://www1.bps.org.uk/system/files/user-files/Division%20of%20Clinical%20Psychology/public/Alt%20Hand%202018%20v6.pdf. The University of East Anglia has had a number of students from Malaysia and has some links with Sunway university here so I know they are very welcoming. It’s a bit difficult for me to say which university course has the ‘best value’ because I think it will depend a lot on individual preference.

It is extremely difficult to work as an intern under a clinical psychologist in the UK. This is because many people are aiming to gain the experience they need in order to apply for the clinical psychology training programmes. As you have a counselling and psychotherapy qualification then it might be better to look for work experience with an organisation that does counselling or psychotherapy. You’ll also need a visa that allows you to work in the UK – without one you are unlikely to get an intern role as it is difficult for organisations to apply for visas on the behalf of staff unless they have a high level of expertise or experience.

Hi, yes, I think I can point you in the right direction! The organisation that you need to be communicating with is the Health and Care Professions Council http://www.hcpc-uk.org/. They are the legal regulator for clinical psychologists in the UK. In the past it was necessary for overseas clinical psychologists to be accredited by the BPS but that’s no longer really the case. That’s somewhat fortunate as I understand that the process with the HCPC is a little simpler than it used to be with the BPS. I wish you luck with your future application.

Neither of those UCL Masters courses would allow you to work clinically in the UK or anywhere else. They are academic courses rather than practical ones. If you go to the UK you must to a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych) to be able to work as a Clinical Psychologist.

Thanks! It depends on what Masters you took. If you took a conversion course then you may just need to show your undergraduate degree certificate. If you make an application to the the BPS for the GBC (or GBR as it used to be called) they should tell you the steps that you need to take. Here’s the link: https://www.bps.org.uk/join-us/membership/graduate-membership

Hi Karen, as long as your daughter gets a 2:1 or better in her undergraduate degree it’s not necessary to get an MSc in order to be able to enrol in a DClinPsych. Many British students obtain a MSc in research methods because that can help them compete for the limited number of funded places for UK students. However, there is less competition for places for international students due to the expense of the course. The doctoral programmes only assume that trainees have the knowledge from their undergraduate degree so your daughter won’t be at a disadvantage if she doesn’t have a MSc. The topics you learn on the doctoral course are very different from those in an undergraduate course but you need the knowledge from the undergraduate course as a foundation for the practical skills you learn on the doctoral course.
The minimum requirement that your daughter may not have met is a years work experience. This just means getting some experience of the settings and people that Clinical Psychologists may work with. I personally think it’s a good idea for clinical psychologists to have had some experience doing other types of work as well. A little life experience makes it easier to talk to clients and makes it easier for clients to relate to us.

It sounds like you’re getting all the right experience. If you complete the MSc in Psychology Conversion Course and get a good grade (2:1+) you should be eligible to apply directly to the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology programmes. They wouldn’t expect you to have Assistant Psychology experience from the UK. The biggest restriction is the cost (it’s extremely expensive to self-fund a Clinical Psychology Course in the UK and I don’t know of any funding options unless you can find some from your own country). I don’t think those MSc in Foundations of Clinical Psychology are very helpful for foreign applicants (I don’t think they’re very helpful for UK applicants either to be honest) so it’s good that they suggested you didn’t join their course.

Hi Devon, you seem to be taking all the correct steps. You do need to do a Masters or Conversion masters in order to get the Graduate Basis for Registration with the BPS. I don’t know whether that would make you eligible for an NHS funded training place. The current UK government has increasingly taken a harsher anti-immigrant stance (Brexit being a good example of this). I think there are some rules about how long you need to have lived in the UK in order to be eligible. The downside of being an international student of clinical psychology is that the tuition fees are very high. The downside of a funded place is that it is extremely competitive. You will need to get at least a years work experience before you’ll be accepted onto a clinical psychology course. Related jobs for psychology graduates include Research Assistant, Assistant Psychologist, Care Assistant in rehabilitation or psychiatric units and anything else in which you work alongside people who may access psychological services. If you decide against becoming a practitioner psychologist then your psychology degree should be well regarded by most employers.

Hi Ramanee, first you’d need to check that your degree and masters give you graduate basis for registration with the British Psychological Society. That shouldn’t be a problem if you took undergraduate psychology in the US. In the USA you can take a PhD course that allows you to work clinically. In the UK PhD courses do not allow you to work clinically. You need to take a DClinPsych. This is a professional Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. As I describe on the site the main challenge there is getting sufficient funds together in order to be able to take the course. If you are hoping to move to the USA with a British Doctorate in Clinical Psychology it is technically possible but quite difficult. You have to apply to the state that you are hoping to live in rather than there being a national licensing board. Training in the USA tends to take longer than most other countries (5 years I think) so they ask people with qualifications from overseas to take exams to demonstrate they have equivalent knowledge. I think those exams vary by state and are apparently quite challenging. I hope that helps.

Hi Leanne, I’m glad you found my articles useful. Most clinical psychology courses require a 2:1 or above. However, they usually just need evidence that you have sufficient academic ability to cope with a clinical psychology course. If you have a good Masters grade that should be enough. Intern experiences and research experiences are both valid working experience. The work experience you list sounds great – although what’s even more important is your ability to reflect on those experiences and learn from them. Good luck with your applications.

In most middle income or developing it’s difficult to work as a Forensic Psychologist. The main role of Forensic Psychologists is to rehabilitate people who have been put in prison for their crimes. If the country does not put a lot of funding into rehabilitation programmes there are few or no jobs for Forensic Psychologists. However, I see that you are doing the Masters in order to get the GBC. The UK has recently announced a plan to allow graduates to work for two years in the UK. I don’t know if this applies to masters students or when the scheme starts. Perhaps you could look into it. You could try to find work experience in a clinical setting during your course or after (if the visa allows) but Assistant Psychologist roles are extremely competitive so you may need to look into being a support worker or nursing assistant in a psychiatric hospital or similar. It might also be a good idea to check if your finances can cover all those years in the UK. Living costs and tuition fees are extremely high. There may be cheaper ways to get the GBC (distance learning for example).

Hi Anisha, congratulations on your distinctions in your degrees. If you think your qualifications are equivalent to a UK psychology degree but they don’t automatically give you GBC you can apply to the British Psychological Society so that they can assess them. This link should help you find more information https://www.bps.org.uk/join-us/membership/graduate-membership . The UK courses are aware that it’s difficult to get clinical experience. They will however be looking for evidence that you know what it’s like to work with people who are in psychological distress – so it depends what you are doing with the NGO and how you reflect on it.

Hi Greg, all of those Masters courses are strong options. You seem to have a good understanding of how the clinical psychology process works. Yes, those masters won’t make you a clinician but they will give you a lot of knowledge that will be useful once you are a clinician. Which you take would just depend on your own interest. If you came back with any of those Masters I suspect you’d be looking at an academic job. Some universities accept lecturers with just a masters. If you had the money to apply for the Doctorate in the UK then you probably wouldn’t be restricted by experience (if you did the masters there you could just do some part time work as care assistant in a psychiatric hospital, learning difficulties unit or dementia ward). If you don’t have the money for the UK doctorate then you could study a Masters in Clinical Psychology in Malaysia and then do online courses to expand your knowledge. I’m planning to write up some of the online courses that are available on my website.

Hi Deepti,
If you have GBR, some work experience and the savings to pay for the doctorate and living expenses then you can start applying to the clinical psychology courses in the UK. I’ve listed a few of the courses that are open to international applicants on my website but there are liekly to me more. You can contact the university courses directly to ask them how to apply.
Good luck!

HI, it took me a while to respond to your post as it was quite long.
1) Yes, getting good grades in your subjects, expecially clinical assessment courses, should help you in the future.
2) Local Malaysian companies tend to have a narrow view of what jobs psychology graduates can do but the large multi-national companies are generally open and welcoming to psychology graduates. So you can apply to more than HR roles.
3) Most hospitals don’t allow interns so I doubt you’ll have much luck with those applications.
4) It’s a good idea to get some work experience before applying to clinical psychology courses. You can apply to work as a research assistant anywhere but students who have an existing relationship with the researchers will have an advantage. You can gain experience by working with the sort of clients psychologists might see (dementia, leanring disabilites, mental health issues).
5) I don’t know of any scholarships in Malaysia for clinical psychology.
6) Australia, New Zealand, Canada, UK and the USA (although the USA is even more expensive) are all good places to do a doctorate in clinical psychology. Other countries have good training too but you’d need to have the right language background.
7) You’d be looking at a university job as a researcher or lecturer. There are jobs available in the academic field but you’d have to like teaching or research.
8) Clinical Psychology is better established in the UK so I think the training there is more indepth but it’s also a lot more expensive so it depends on the resources you have available. It’s difficult to predict what the immigration policies will be in the UK in a few years (Brexit has made things a lot less clear).

Hi Shaheer, none of the MSc Clinical Psychology courses in the UK train you to be a clinician. They are all academic courses. The BPS accredits them for their academic status. If you get a Clinical Psychology MSc in the UK the BPS will not give you accreditation as a practicing psychologist. In the UK you must do a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in order to be a registered Clinical Psychologist. In other countries (eg Australia and Malaysia) you can do a Masters in Clinical Psychology that gives you registration as a Clinical Psychologist in that country.

Hi Barbara,
1) I know it’s difficult to work in the USA with a DClinPsych. You usually have to do an exam for the state that you plan to work in (and then take another exam if you move to another state). I think most other countries recognise the UK qualification as equivalent to theirs. You usually have to produce some evidence of your clinical hours and the teaching you’ve received so it’s a good idea to keep a record of that. The bigger issue to consider is how easy it is to get a working visa in the country you’d like to work in. Some countries, such as Malaysia, are quite protectionist so it’s more difficult to get permission to work.
2) The more experience you have the easier it will be to find a job. But most people find it’s difficult to leave and travel once you’ve started working (it’s easy to get tied down by mortgages and the possibility of promotions etc). You could look and see what various NGO’s are offering (e.g VSO or MSF) or you could try applying to be a counsellor at an international school or look at lecturing in universities.
3 & 4) It’s been quite a while since I left the uk so I’m not sure about the job situation nowadays. My understanding is that some trainees find their jobs via connections they made in their final year placements. So if you leave for a year you might miss out on that. However, I can’t imagine that many employers would think it was a negative for you to have lived overseas for some time. Quite a number of my coursemates went overseas for a year or two and they all found good jobs on their return.
Good luck with it!

Hi Sunandini, if you’re aiming to become a clinical psychologist in the UK then you could probably apply directly to the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. The only reason you would need a Masters is if you didn’t have a psychology degree that is equivalent to the UK’s second class honours. The masters in clinical psychology courses do not teach you to do clinical work. Only the doctorate in clinical psychology trains you to be a clinician.

Hi Tarh, if you wanted to become a Clinical Psychologist in the UK you’d need to show that your undergraduate psychology degree meets the Graduate Basis for Registration with the British Psychological Society. You’d then need to take a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in the UK. However, if you are already a practicing Psychologist you may want to check with the Health and Care Professions Council https://www.hcpc-uk.org/ to see if your qualifications would be accepted in the UK.

If you’re applying to the UK clinical psychology courses you will need to demonstrate that you have the Graduate Basis for Registration from the British Psychological Society. You could apply to them to find out if you current degree would be accepted. If it isn’t then you may need to do a conversion course. Some courses require a grade higher than 60% so depending on the course you may need a better score in your masters course to make you eligible. The UK is currently discouraging immigration so it might be difficult to become a clinical psychologist in the UK. Mainly the aim of the UK courses is to train clinical psychologists to return to their home countries. As an international student you won’t be paid as a practitioner. You have to pay for the course fees and living costs. The main problem with training in the UK if you are from overseas is the very high costs.

Hi Anagha, if you have the Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR) with the British Psychological Society then you wouldn’t need to do an MSc to apply for the clinical psychology doctorate courses in the UK. You can apply to the BPS to determine whether your undergraduate degree would be equivalent to a UK degree. If it is not equivalent then it is possible that you would need to do a Masters Conversion in order to gain the GBR.
You have a good GPA so you probably don’t need to do another postgraduate course in order to get on the clinical psychology training courses. You will need to get some work expeirence but you can do that in your own country and it will be recognised. Unfortunately, you will need to fund yourself for three years and pay the tuition fees for all three years if you are an overseas applicant.

Hi Tanishka, congratulations on getting your degree. You are correct in thinking that it is not necessary for you to do a Masters. Your degree will be sufficient. The doctoral courses generally understand that it may be difficult for overseas applicants to get the sort of work experience that British applicants may have. It’s more about what you’ve learned from your experience than having the right job title with the right people. I think the main aim of the work experience is to ensure that applicants are aware what it is like to work with people in distress (i.e that it can often be challenging and difficult). It’s really difficult to know what the UK will be doing in terms of employment for people from overseas in a few times. The whole mess with Brexit makes it difficult to predict. In the past the UK would be quite welcoming of people who had a professional qualification that was in need (and historically there was a shortage of clinical psychologists).

Hi Devyani,

I’m less familiar with the US but I’ve tried to answer your questions below:

1. The US is quite unusual in requiring 5 or more years of study to become qualified. Given most courses require self-funding it probably means only wealthier which won’t be good for diversity in the field. That’s one of the reasons why most countries keep training to two or three years. Any good psychologist recognises that training is just the beginning of their learning.

3. If you have a UK DClinPsych you’d need to do an examination in the U.S state that you want to practice in. You’d also need to take an examination like this if you’re moving between states in the US. Theoretically it should be easier to do that exam if you’ve been taught in the US style.

4. Each state has different rules so I think you’ll need to look this up.

5. You can take a masters in Clinical Neuropsychology after you have your DClinPsych. There are only a few courses available which you should be able to find online.

6. Yes, Singapore does have licensing requirements but if you have a US or UK qualification you should meet them (my UK qualification was fine when I worked there in 2013).

7. It’s difficult to tell what the job possibilities will be like in the UK at the moment!

8. Studying a DClinPsych in the UK is very costly. So it is usually not that competitive to get onto a UK course as an international student.

Hi Sophia,

If you have the funds to study on a UK DClinPsych course you should have a good chance of getting on a course providing you meet the minimum criteria. Courses are usually looking for people that demonstrate an ability to critically reflect on their experiences and learn from them.
I’m not sure what you mean by a non-conversion masters.

Hi Shi Yee,
1. Yes, working as an ABA therapist would be considered as related experience. However, the most important thing is being able to critically evaluate your experience. Some experts think that ABA is not very helpful – you could look into why. It would also help to
2. I think it’s always helpful to have some working experience in jobs that have nothing to do with psychology. It gives wider experience of the world which is helpful when you talk with clients.
3. Yes, one of the advantages of training in the UK is that their are a lot more psychologists and there are a lot of other services for people with psychological difficulties.
4. No, in fact the university has to pay the placement for trainees to work there. Generally, it takes the placement more time and resources to supervise trainees than they get back in work by trainees.
5. I last spoke to Nottingham UK’s DClinPsych course a few years ago. They were certainly open to international students then. The main challenge with studying clinical psychology in the uk is finding the funds to do so.

Hi Elene, unfortunately I don’t think the process works the way that you’re hoping it will. The main challenge for overseas students who wish to study clinical psychology is the cost of doing the doctorate course. As an overseas student you won’t be eligible for a UK (NHS) funded place on the doctorate in clinical psychology (DClinPsych) even if you have a working visa.

You don’t need a Masters in order to do the Clinical Psychology courses. Some British students take a Masters courses in the hope that it will increase their chances of getting onto the competitive Clinical Psychology training courses. Overseas students don’t have the same level of competition so you don’t need a Masters degree as long as you have a good undergraduate degree in Psychology. The Masters courses do not teach you to do anything clinical. So the only job that it might help you get, that you wouldn’t already get with an undergraduate degree, is a university based one (eg research assistant or lecturer).

If your aim is to become a clinical psychologist then you’d need to find funding to do the 3 year course in the UK. If it seems unlikely that you’ll find those funds (it is extremely expensive!) then you may need to look at options for training in you own country or a country which is recognised by your own country where clinical training is less expensive.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news ….

Hi Yeung, Assistant Psychologist posts are extremely difficult to get because so many people apply for them. I think it’s the same for the Low Intensity CBT roles. For this reason it may extremely difficult if not impossible to find one of these jobs as an international student. Employers are less likely to go to the trouble of applying for a visa when they can just employ a local with a similar skills set and academic background. I think the pay and training costs for CBT therapists comes as a package. So I don’t think they’d split them up so that you can get the pay but not the training.

Working as HealthCare Assistant sounds much more hopeful. I think many of the European staff have left due to Brexit so they may have more vacancies. I don’t know if they are able to support a work visa but it may be worth applying to find out.

Hi Abraham, I don’t know what the rules are in regard to the NHS funded places. Perhaps you could check with the course themselves. If you already have some training in Clinical Psychology you may wish to contact the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) to see if any part of your training is recognised in the UK. I know in the past they would require psychologists from some countries to do top up training rather than the full course. It will very much depend on your training and experience but it may be worth getting their advice.

Hi Shreya, thanks for your kind words about our blog. To answer your questions:
1. As an international student you will not receive a salary from the NHS. The local applicants compete for the NHS training places. The NHS pays the trainees, it pays the university for the training and it also pays the placements where the trainees gain work experience because it’s recognised that hosting trainees leads to more rather than less work for the placements.
2. It is difficult to know what the visa or work situation will be in the UK in a few years time. Brexit and the current government make that even more difficult to predict. The justification the universities used for opening training up to international students was that they would go back to their own countries and benefit psychological services there. It is possible to apply for a work visa once you become a clinical psychologist but you would need to find a job first and then get the employer to apply for your work visa.
Whether it is a sensible option to pursue this course depends a lot on your own personal situation. It’s a huge amount of money and I don’t know of many sources of sponsorship (clinical psychology training in the UK is not a PhD so you can’t get funding in that way). Training in the UK is really good but if it is financially out of reach you could train locally and then pay for good online courses (e.g those at psychwire.com) and find a good supervisor.
I hope that helps.

Hi Kirthiga, yes you’d need to do each of those steps to get onto the DClinPsych (Doctor of Clinical Psychology) courses in the UK. You’ll need the equivalent of an Upper Second Class Degree. I’d probably check your degree is BPS accredited as soon as you graduate because you can do a conversion programme and seek work experience at the same time if necessary. You can try to apply to the DClinPsych courses without work experience but I don’t know how many will accept you onto the course. Most will understand that there are restrictions on opportunities for work experience in clinical psychology in many international applicants home country (particular during a pandemic). The idea is to get some idea of what it is like to work with people who have the sort of difficulties you’ll be working with once you become a clinical psychologist.

Hi Shreya, the most important part of the work experience is what you’ve learnt from it and your ability to critically evaluate it. My first thoughts might be what sort of platform would allow you to do online counselling (unless you already have a counselling qualification)? What sort of training and supervision did you receive? Is the service really helpful to the people that seek help? Would you have run the service differently? If you’ve thought those sort of questions through then it should be useful experience.

Hi Cindy, there are many more opportunities for the funding of a research PhD than the DClinPsych Professional Doctorate. There should be some funded PhD places that you can apply to (although some will require that you have the right to live and work in the UK). The other alternative is to find a supervisor who is supportive and then apply for funding for your proposed project with their support.

I don’t think having a working visa in the UK would help much in terms of funding because the university would still have to apply for a visa for you. However, my knowledge of immigration into the UK is a bit limited so you may want to get some advice from a specialist on UK visas and working permissions.

Hi Jena, I’m not sure how our regulator makes the decision on who meets the criteria to be recognised as a Clinical Psychologist (or Practitioner Psychologist which is the term they use). In the past it was the British Psychological Society that made the decision. They would sometimes require that overseas psychologists do some extra coursework or extra supervision to gain equivalence with the UK qualifications. However, that role has now been taken over by the regulator, which is the Health and Care Professions Council. Their website is https://www.hcpc-uk.org/. You can apply to them to see if your qualification meets the requirements in the UK. This page https://www.hcpc-uk.org/registration/getting-on-the-register/international-applications/how-to-apply/ on their website details the process for overseas applicants. I hope that helps!

HELP and UKM are the older, more established masters of clinical psychology courses. I am not very familiar with the newer courses – if you are considering them perhaps you can ask to be put in contact with the current trainees so they can give you their opinions of the course.

Hi Vivien, most UK clinical psychology courses do not allow local students to apply for self-funded places. This means that overseas applicants are usually competing against other overseas applicants for places on the DClinPsych courses in the UK. One book that has been popular amongst people applying for clinical psychology courses is this one Formulation in Psychology & psychotherapy. It should give you an introduction to the way that some clinical psychologists try to approach helping others.

All of the UK DClinPsych courses need you to have the equivalent of an undergraduate degree in psychology. If your degree was in another field then you will need to take a conversion masters or taught masters that confers BPS graduate basis for registration.

Most courses will want to know that you have the academic ability to complete a doctorate. If you have a 2:1 that is usually sufficient. If you do not have a 2:1 then one way of demonstrating that ability is to complete a masters and obtain a higher grade. However, before embarking on a Masters in the hope of getting onto a clinical psychology course it might be helpful to contact the courses to ask what that course would require of you.

Good luck !

Hi Neerja, I would not recommend that your daughter study a Masters in Clinical Psychology in the UK. A masters will not teach practical clinical skills that allow you to work as a psychologist. A Masters in Clinical Psychology from the UK is only an academic qualification. In other countries such as Australia their Masters qualification does allow you to work clinically but that is not the case in the UK. The only reason your daughter may need to study a Masters is if her degree does not get her the Graduate Basis for Registration from the British Psychological Society (links to the BPS page are in my article above). If the BPS decides that her degree is not equivalent to a UK psychology degree then she will need to take a Masters that confers to Graduate Basis for Registration. If she is granted the Graduate Basis for Registration then she can apply directly to the DClinPsych courses after she has gained some work experience. I don’t know of any funding options, unless India has some specific funding options for its citizens then you are likely to need to fund it entirely (it’s not really feasible to work or get paid while you are doing the 3 year doctoral course). The UK qualification is usually well regarded overseas so I expect it would allow her to work in India – but it may be a good idea to confirm this with your local authorities. For more information you could contact this group of current international trainees which includes some students from India https://www.dclinpsy-international.co.uk/

Hi Jo, as a result of Brexit the UK immigration system is even more of a mystery to me. The risk is that things are changing fast so the immigration rules could change once you get to the end of a DClinPsych course. I think in practice some international students do stay and continue to work in the UK. I’m not sure on what basis that they have managed to do that. You could try asking this group of international trainees (https://www.dclinpsy-international.co.uk/) as they may have more information than me about the practicalities of trying to get a visa and work in the UK.

Hi Marilla, I think it would depend on which country you wanted to study your doctorate in. Most countries recognise the British Psychology degrees or have a system to ‘upgrade’ the UK degree to be equivalent to their own degree. You could look into the clinical training courses in the country that you are interested in and check their requirements. The other option would be to contact the organisation that accredits psychology degrees in that country and check what the system is for validating degrees from overseas. As an example, the British Psychology Society, which accredits psychology degrees, has the Graduate Basis for Registration which international students can apply for (https://www.bps.org.uk/join-us/membership/graduate-membership). Most countries have something similar.

Hi, to apply for a DClinPsych in the UK you need to have the Graduate Basis for Registration from the British Psychological Society. They will evaluate your degree and either grant you the Graduate Basis for Registration or recommend that you do an accredited Masters course that would give you the Graduate Basis for Registration. You can see the requirements and how to apply to have your degree assessed here: https://www.bps.org.uk/join-us/membership/graduate-membership. Based on the title of your degree my guess is that it might not have the 50% of psychology content that the BPS requires. That means you may have to do a Masters that’s recognised by the BPS but I’d recommend checking with the BPS to confirm this.

Hi Himadri, my understanding is that all UK Clinical Psychology Training courses (DClinPsych) require the Graduate Basis for Registration from the British Psychological Society (https://www.bps.org.uk/join-us/membership/graduate-membership). So if you wanted to apply for the UK courses then you would need to get the Graduate Basis for Registration. That usually means taking a Masters course – there’s a list on the BPS website of those that would automatically give you the GBR.

Hi Tina, in order to study a DClinPsych in the UK you need the Graduate Basis for Registration from the British Psychological Society. If you don’t have a psychology degree then you will probably need to study a Masters that gives you the Graduate Basis for Registration from the BPS. You can double check here https://www.bps.org.uk/join-us/membership/graduate-membership but I doubt an MA in Clinical Psychology will give you the Graduate Basis for Registration.

HI Himadri, there’s a list on the BPS website of conversion courses that would give you the Graduate Basis for Registration. You would need to take on of those if you wanted to do a DClinPsych. There’s a new scheme in the UK (launching July 2021) which gives undergraduate and masters students two years to work (You can read about it on the UK’s Home Office Blog). However, if you want to work with the NHS then the jobs that you would be able to find with a Masters in Psychology will be low paid by UK standards. It’s extremely difficult to find work as an Assistant Psychologist. You are more likely to be able to find work as a Health Care Assistant (e.g working in psychiatric hospitals as an assistant to the nurses).

Hi Sowbarnika, the BPS accredits academic courses (e.g undergraduate psychology and masters courses) but these academic courses don’t necessarily train you to work as a clinician. If you have a Psychology degree or a Masters degree that gives you the Graduate Basis for Registration from the BPS then you would already be eligible to apply for a DClinPsych course in the UK. I don’t think you would improve your job prospects much by doing a Masters in Child Psychology. It would be better to save the money you would spend on a Child Psychology Masters get some work experience and apply to the Clinical Psychology courses.

Hi Fatima,

1. If you get a 2:1 (upper second class honours) from a UK BPS accredited psychology degree course then I don’t think it will matter if you don’t have A-levels (there are a number of international clinical psychology trainees currently on the courses who have qualifications other than A-levels).

2. Volunteer work and experience from your own country would be fine – the main thing the courses want to see is your ability to reflect and learn from your experiences. They also want you to have had the opportunity to find out if you really enjoy working with people who are in psychological distress.

3. If you have the opportunity to work alongside or observe the work of a clinical psychologist that would be great. However, that’s often not possible, even in the UK. Working with groups of people that would often require help from a clinical psychologist would support your application (people in psychological distress, people who have a mental health diagnosis, children with autism, adults with global learning difficulties etc).

4. Unfortunately, the other thing that you will need to demonstrate is that you have the funds to finance the three year doctoral course. You’ll need enough to cover the fees and living expenses because you won’t have time to do any paid work.

5. You can read around to help yourself with the interviews. This book (well an older edition – I think quite a bit has been added in newer versions) was really helpful when I was trying to get on the doctorate courses: https://www.routledge.com/Formulation-in-Psychology-and-Psychotherapy-Making-sense-of-peoples-problems/Johnstone-Dallos/p/book/9780415682312. This website has insights from well-known psychologists: https://psychwire.com/ask/ that might be worth reading through. The video at the end of this page https://resolve.my/cbt/ that I wrote on CBT might also give you an idea of how a CBT session should look.

6. The visa situation in the UK keeps changing but I think it’s not a problem once you get onto a doctoral course as the university should assist you.

7. Actually the biggest problem for international students is paying the very high course fees and living costs. That means that there is much less competition for international places than there is for the local places. Some of the top universities, such as UCL and King’s have arrangements with overseas governments which make it more competitive (but not impossible) for other international applicants. The University of East Anglia and the University of Exeter are both particularly open to international students. Although do take note that those universities are quite rural so you wouldn’t get as much diversity in your client groups as you would in more urban universities.

I hope that helps!

Hi Fernado, As I mentioned in the article the requirements for most courses are that you have (1) Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (2) a proven ability to write and speak in English (3) some experience of the settings that clinical psychologists work in. You state that you already have the GBC so from here you’ll need to demonstrate your English proficiency, get some experience and be able to pay the tuition fees and living costs (that last financial one is often the most difficult).

In the UK a PhD is only a research qualification. A PhD will not qualify you as a clinical psychologist even if you study a topic related to Clinical Psychology. The only way to become a clinical psychologist in the UK is to do a DClinPsych. In other countries, such as the USA, it’s different and you can become a clinical psychologist if you get a PhD.

If you study a DClinPsych in the UK you’ll be eligible for registration with the HCPC and British Psychological Society. I know of some international students who have remained to work in the UK. However, there may be some restrictions depending on the visas and the immigration policy in the future.

International students have to pay for their tuition fees and living costs themselves. This is usually the major challenge for international students. I listed approximate costs in the article above.

Hi Vani, No you will not be able to practice clinical psychology by taking any of those courses. The only UK based course that allows you to practice as a clinical psychologist in the UK is the DClinPsych (Doctorate in Clinical Psychology). You will need to do an undergraduate Psychology course first and then take the DClinPsych. That will be at least 6 years of education.

Hi Sukriti, if you wanted to train to be a clinical psychologist in the UK you would first need to do a MSc conversion course. Assistant Psychologist jobs are low paid and extremely competitive. This is because many British aspiring clinical psychologists apply for Assistant Psychologist roles to help them get onto the clinical psychology courses. To gain work experience you could work as a healthcare assistant in a mental health, learning disabilities or brain injury rehabilitation unit. However, these roles are even less well paid. I doubt you’ll be able to earn enough in the UK to pay for the tuition fees unless you can work as a medical doctor using your MBBS. I don’t know of any organisations who would sponsor a DClinPsych (it’s very expensive).Once you have the Graduate Basis for Registration with the BPS (which you would get by completing a MSc psychology conversion course) there is no time limit by which you need to start the DClinPsych. Some of the trainees on my course had completed their psychology degrees more than 20 years before starting the DClinPsych. If you have completed your MBBS have you considered specialising as a psychiatrist? Once qualified you could study psychological interventions such as those on psychwire.net.

Hi Upashna, I’m not sure how the Australian courses view the psychology conversion masters – if you contact the Australian courses to find out please let us know what they tell you!

Hi Momina, I don’t think it’s that competitive to get a place on the UK DClinPsych courses as an international student because it’s so expensive and consequently not as many people apply (although it is difficult to get on some of the most well-known university’s programmes). I think Canada and Australia have really good training programmes that are well regarded across the world. The challenge with the Netherlands is that the Masters Course does not include a practical component. My understanding is that you are expected to go and find work experience with a qualified Dutch Clinical Psychologist after you finish the Masters in order to complete enough supervised hours to be qualified as a clinical psychologist. It’s difficult for Dutch trainees to find a supervisor I think it would be much more difficult for international students. If you do look at Dutch courses do check with them about the practical component. If you can’t get accredited after completing the course it may not be a good investment. I don’t know of any country that’s particularly welcoming for international students – although many international students have been successful at finding jobs overseas. Good luck!

Hi Afrin, the good new is that if you qualify as a clinical psychologist in the UK then you can do the work of a neuropsychologist straight away (although it is advisable to do an additional neuropsychologist qualification afterwards to develop your knowledge). The bad news is that in the UK you need to take a 3 year DClinPsych (Doctorate in Clinical Psychology) to work as a clinical psychologist. In the UK a Masters in Clinical Psychology is just an introductory course and not really worth doing if you are from overseas.

Hi Fernando, there’s actually a table in the text above that lists the UK courses available for overseas students. You can also go directly to the UK’s Clearing House Website here: https://www.leeds.ac.uk/chpccp/internationalfunding.html

Hi Ejeh, if you have relatively good grades (Upper Second class 2:1 equivalent), you can demonstrate a good level of English and you have some work experience then you should have a high chance of finding a place on one of the UK’s clinical training programmes. However, things can get competitive at some of the better known universities because they tend to have more applicants.

Hi Marinos, I don’t know of any formal way to appeal. You can try directly asking the department of clinical psychology at the University of Oxford. Unfortunately, there are a number of reasons why individual courses decide not to take international students. The most common of which is that a course has limited resources that prevents them from adding any additional training places.

Hi Janelle, that sounds like good experience to me! I don’t think the courses would be expecting you to deliver therapy. If you have contact with people with mental health and/or learning difficulties whilst also consulting with a clinical psychologist that should give you plenty to reflect on and learn from (the course’s will mainly be interested in what you’ve learnt from your experience rather than just the length of time you have been there).

Hi Juwairiya, I don’t know whether you need to have an honours degree to apply to DClinPsych programmes. What you can do is apply to the British Psychological Society to see if your degree would get you the Graduate Basis for Membership with the BPS (if you have GBR then you should be eligible to apply for the DClinPsych). You can see how to make the application for GBR on this page https://www.bps.org.uk/join-us/membership/graduate-membership.

In the UK the Clinical Psychology Doctoral courses are called DClinPsych. In the USA (and maybe Australia) some Clinical Psychology Doctoral Courses are called PsyD.

In Australia it is still possible to do a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology to become a Clinical Psychologist. In the UK you can only become a clinical psychologist by doing the DClinPsych Doctorate. As an international student I recommend that you do not spend money on a Masters in Clinical Psychology in the UK (see the article above for more information).

Hi AJ, I’m glad you found the page helpful. I don’t know much about the US system. I think the courses there are more diverse and what you get taught varies more by who is lecturing on the course. Also when you qualify in the US you qualify in the state that you studied. To be able to move to work in another state you may have to do additional examinations. It is technically possible (but difficult) to get funding for training in the US by doing it as part of a research PhD.

In the UK the courses are required to teach a certain core content because the local students are all funded by the UK’s National Health Service which states it’s expectations of what clinical psychologists should know. There is still some variation between the courses though (e.g King’s College is known to be very CBT and research based whereas the University of East London is known for a Social Constructionist approach despite also being required to teach CBT).

Based on what you have written your work experience sounds good to me (it will be important to show that you can reflect on those experiences and learn from them in the interviews). One requirement is that you will need to demonstrate that your qualifications are at least equivalent to the UK psychology undergraduate degree. You can do that by applying for the Graduate Basis for Registration (https://www.bps.org.uk/join-us/membership/graduate-membership).

I think the courses that follow the Clearing House will tell you that you need to wait until next year to apply (although you could always contact them directly to check). You should still be able to apply to the courses that allow direct applications.

I hope that helps!

Hi Jude, yes, now that the graduate visa exists you should be able to do exactly that! There’s a huge shortage of Health Care Assistants and Mental Health Support Workers for psychiatric wards, brain injury rehabilitation, learning disabilities and dementia services in the UK. Such a job, whilst not particularly glamorous, would get you great experience, particularly if it put you in contact with a Clinical Psychologist or allowed you to see the work they are doing. Many people focus on getting an Assistant Psychologist post but they are extremely competitive because of the number of local applicants. A number of trainees from overseas have recently managed to get Clinical Psychology jobs in the UK once they graduated so that seems a possibility too. Good luck with it.

Great to hear!

Hi Rabiya, thanks for your kind words and sorry for the slow reply as I was away for Christmas.

It sounds like you have some great experience which is very helpful. However, to be eligible for the DClinPsych (the only course in the UK which will qualify you as a Clinical Psychologist) you will need to demonstrate that your degree gives you the Graduate Basis for Registration from the British Psychological Society. You can apply to the BPS to have your qualifications assessed to determine if they are equivalent to a UK degree.

If your degree is not considered equivalent you would need to do a conversion masters (some of these are available as distance learning courses so you wouldn’t need to be in the UK although studying a Masters in the UK does now give you a 2 year work visa).

Unfortunately, I do not know of any avenues for financial help for doing a doctorate of clinical psychology as an international student in the UK. I know some countries do sponsor their citizens to study the Doctorate of Clinical Psychology in the UK but I’m not sure of the funding situation in India.

You could try applying to the HCPC but I think they regard educational qualifications as an important requirement and your qualifications need to match the UK equivalent quite closely so I don’t think there’s a high likelihood of success despite your strong work experience.

Hi, I’d recommend applying to the UK’s HCPC which is our regulating body: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/registration/getting-on-the-register/international-applications/ . They’d be able to tell you if your qualifications and experience would qualify you to work as a clinical psychologist in the UK.

Hi Marina, I’m not sure whether the Malaysian qualification would be accepted in UK. I think it probably isn’t as the Malaysian courses have a lower number of clinical and supervision hours than the UK courses to which the qualification will be compared (if anyone reading this knows different please let me know). However, it is the UK’s regulatory body, the HCPC that would be able to give you an official decision: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/registration/getting-on-the-register/international-applications/.

The Malaysian courses state that an undergraduate psychology degree is a requirement for entry onto the Clinical Psychology courses. However, I would contact them to ask if your strong postgraduate qualifications and academic experience would allow you entry without undergraduate psychology.

In the UK gaining life and alternative work experience prior to qualifying as a Clinical Psychologist is seen as a significant positive. That’s a position that I strongly agree with. There were trainees in their 40s on my doctoral course although the majority were younger. I felt it was a great asset to the course to have people who had different backgrounds (we had a police officer, an actor and health service manager to name a few). I’m not sure what the Malaysian courses view is but I doubt there would be any problem if you’re in your thirties.

Hi Marina, it is unfortunate that Educational Psychology is not a recognised profession in Malaysia. It is an important and very well-established profession in the UK. I’m not sure what you were actually taught on your course in the USA. If you were only taught research methods then I think the expectation would be that you would need to study clinical subjects (eg CBT, neuropsychological assessment, behavioural interventions etc) before you could then work and be supervised in order to be fully qualified. If you have been taught those subjects and just need the placement and supervision I would start by going back to your course to see if there is a way they can help (perhaps by a combination of remote and local supervision?). You could try writing to the UK’s BPS Division of Educational Psychology. However, I would imagine that unless you are on a higher education course there would be visa issues with regard to working there.

Your other option is to qualify as a clinical psychologist in Malaysia and then choose to specialise in working with children.

HI Nazish, if you qualify as a Organisational Psychologist or Educational Psychologist then you cannot work as a Clinical Psychologist. However, if you qualify as a Clinical Psychologist then you can do the simialr work to a Educational Psychologist or Organsiational Psychologist. Clinical Psychology is seen as the umbrella qualification that allows you to focus on many areas. Organisational or Educational Psychologists generally have to stay within those specialisations.

To be able to study to be a Clinical Psychologist in the UK (i.e to get onto the DClinPsych course) you must have a psychology degree that confers the Graduate Basis for Registration by the British Psychological Society. That’s usually undergraduate psychology or a masters courses that is accredited as a conversion course by the British Psychological Society. You can apply to the BPS if you aren’t sure if you’re undergraduate or masters will be accepted. If you do a Masters in Organsational Psychology from Malaysia (online or in person) it is unlikely that the BPS will consider that to meet it’s requirements. It is likely that you would need to do a conversion course.

Hi Nazish, once you have the Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR) from the British Psychological Society (by doing an undergradaute psychology degree or a BPS recognised conversion masters) and some work experience then you have met the requirements to be able to apply for the DClinPsych programmes. It is not necessary to do another Masters Degree before applying. Some British applicants do another Masters to increase their chances of getting onto the DClinPsych courses because of how competitive it is for local applicants. However, that shouldn’t be necessary for overseas applicants.

Hi Jude, your first question came through but I’ll delete that one and just reply to this. I set the forum up so that I have to moderate all messages before they get posted on our website. I do that to prevent spam or people being offensive to others but it can mean it’s difficult to know if your message went through as it won’t immediately be posted on the website.

In reply to your question. If you are an overseas applicant it would be perfectly appropriate to gain experience overseas. Most, if not all DClinPsych courses, would be aware that it would be practically very difficult for overseas applicants to get experience in the UK. They will be most interested in what you managed to learn from the experience so it’s a good idea to keep some notes for yourself to help remember your experiences prior to any interviews.

Hi Ayushi, as I mentioned in the article above you cannot take a Masters in the UK and qualify as a Clinical Psychologist. In the UK, the only qualification you can take to become a Clinical Psychologist is a DClinPsych (Doctorate in Clinical Psychology). Other countries do have Master’s courses but you would need to be fluent in the language of that country because most of the clients will be speaking in their mother tongue. If you decide to study in an English speaking country you’ll also need a high level of English. Both for writing academically but also in order to understand the slang and low frequency words that clients may use.

Hi Reet,
1. If your degree is assessed by the BPS and seen as equivalent to a UK Psychology degree then you will have the Graduate Basis for Registration (GBR). You need the GBR, some relevant work experience and proof that your English is of a high enough standard. So you probably need some time to gain work experience after you graduate.
2. If your degree is not seen as equivalent then you will need to do one of the Masters Conversion courses listed by the BPS to get the GBR. You will still need work experience in order to apply to the DClinPsych courses. Doing a conversion masters is equivalent to an undergraduate degree so it does not qualify you to work in clinical settings.
3. International students have to pay for themselves or find funding from their home country. This is often the most challenging part for most applicants. If you get a DClinPsych from the UK you would need to do further examinations in the US in order to work there. The examination depends on the state that you want to work in.
4. In order to study or work in the UK you will need the GBR first.

Hi Joseph, if you would like to work in the UK as a psychologist then it’s important that the qualifications you take are recognised and allow you to practice according to the UK’s regulatory body the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC) (https://www.hcpc-uk.org/registration/getting-on-the-register/). An MSc in Developmental Psychology does not qualify you to work as a psychologist. I think Neuropsychology and Health Psychology require more than a Masters in order to get registered (but you can check the requirements as I may have missed something). If your qualifications are not recognised by the HCPC then you would be applying for jobs such as a Health Care Assistant which tend to be paid more poorly.

Hi Ola, the UK system works a bit differently in that the clinical psychology placements (residencies) are part of the university clinical psychology doctoral courses. Once the doctorate finishes then the new clinical psychologist can apply for registration with the Health & Care Professions Council. As the UK doesn’t use the same residency system it’s unlikely that you’ll be able to do a residency in the UK. If you want to work in the UK once you have your full license you may be able to apply to be registered in the UK via the HCPC’s website: (https://www.hcpc-uk.org/registration/getting-on-the-register/international-applications/). They will let you know if your qualifications allow you to be registered in the UK or if you’ll need to additional training.

In the UK a PhD doesn’t allow you to work as a Clinical Psychologist. It would be preparing you for an academic career (researcher, lecturer etc). Sometimes universities will offer funded PhDs as part of a research project they are doing. If you’re funding the PhD yourself you can contact an academic who has done research on the area you are interested in and ask if they have any projects you can join or write a proposal of the research you would like to do whilst supervised by them. Sometimes they will help you write a funding proposal for the project which may include some funds to cover the cost of studying for a PhD and living costs. I’m less familiar with searching for PhDs as it’s not my area but there should be plenty on the internet suggesting how you can proceed.

Hi Priya, if Rhea’s aim is to qualify as a Clinical Psychologist in the UK then this is what she would need to do:

1. Apply to the BPS to determine if Rhea’s degree is equivalent to a UK degree. You can do that by applying for the Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC). For more details you can check this page on the BPS website: (https://www.bps.org.uk/join-us/membership/graduate-membership). If Rhea’s degree is considered equivalent then she would need to gain some work experience and then she could begin applying to the Doctorate of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych) which is the only course in the UK which qualifies you to work as a clinical psychologist.

2. If Rhea’s degree is not equivalent to a UK degree she will need to take an accredited conversion course. These courses are listed on the BPS website here. For more information on the GBR you can view this page on the Clinical Psychology Clearing House Pages. Once she has completed the conversion Masters she would then be able to apply for the DClinPsych doctoral courses (she’d also need some work experience but she may be able to get that whilst studying for the conversion Masters).

The Masters in Neuropsychology at Kent are academic courses – they would not train you in how to work clinically. If Rhea’s aim is to be a clinician I would not recommend those Master’s courses. She could use the money to invest in the UK ClinPsych or other courses in other countries that would qualify her as a Clinical Psychologist.

I hope that helps!

Hi, I hope you’ve been enjoying living in the UK! To be able to work as a psychologist or therapist in the UK you should apply to the legal registering body which is the HCPC rather than the BPS. Here’s the link for overseas applicants to register: https://www.hcpc-uk.org/registration/getting-on-the-register/international-applications/. They should let you know if there are steps you can take to make your qualifications equivalent to those required in the UK. You can’t use the titles or do the work (such as seeing clients in the UK who are Turkish) protected by the HCPC because there are laws forbidding you from doing so. However, I think it would be legal for you to work remotely from the UK (via Zoom) with clients who are in Turkey if you are registered and qualified there.

Hi Ugi, thanks for your kind words. Unfortunately, I can’t tell whether the combination of your masters and undergraduate degree would be sufficient to get you the GBR (Graduate Basis for Registration) from the British Psychological Society (BPS). The Clinical Psychology Courses wouldn’t be able to tell either so they’d probably require an official statement from the BPS. So you may be stuck waiting until you hear back from the BPS. However, that might not delay you by much as the most of the Clinical Psychology courses are closed to applications at this time of year (April to September). Most of the courses use the Leeds Clearing House for Clinical Psychology Courses. They usually open applications in October with a deadline for the applications by mid-November for admission in the autumn of the next year. There are a few exceptions but that might restrict your choices. It’s a long process but you can always use the time to gain more experience. It would help your application if that experience was related to psychology but I (and some of the courses) think it’s really helpful to have other forms of life experience too (e.g working in an office, teaching etc).

(PLease note the following only applies if you are a British Citizen) ….Hi Amelia, I’m not sure about the requirement for having been resident in the UK for the past three years in order to apply for a funded place. However, in practice it might be necessary to live in the UK for at least a year in order to get the necessary work experience to be able to apply for an NHS funded DClinPsych place. The NHS funded places are only open to UK citizens but these are extremely competitive. Many courses want you to have had experience working for the NHS. This usually means having a low paid NHS job (e.g Health Care Assistant, Support Worker, Research Assistant) in the hope of gaining experience that will get you onto the DClinPsych course. Unfortunately, due to the level of competition for NHS funded places on the DClinPsych course there’s no guarantee that you will be offered a place even if you do get some experience. I’m sorry if I sound a little negative. If you are really keen on being a Clinical Psychologist then you should go for it! However, I wanted to alert you to the risks which are a bit higher if you’re already established in your career and living abroad.

As a UK citizen you might not be eligible to apply for the self-funded DClinPsych courses as most courses require you to be from overseas in order to self fund (there are some exceptions such as Hertfordshire). However, you could look into a Doctorate in Counselling Psychologist which can be self-funded. That would give you the title of Counselling Psychologist rather than Clinical Psychologist but you can often apply for similar jobs in the UK.

Hi Michael, that does sound like a difficult predicament. You could try applying to the HCPC to see if his Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology would allow him to be registered in the UK (https://www.hcpc-uk.org/registration/getting-on-the-register/international-applications/). If he was accepted onto the register that would allow him to apply for jobs as a psychologist in the UK. However, I’m not sure how likely it would be that the HCPC would accept his qualification. Another issue would be that even if he was accepted onto the register he would still need to find an organisation that would want to employ him and sponsor his visa.
He could apply for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology but as an international applicant he would need to self-fund which is very expensive. If the aim is to avoid conscription and that can be achieved by working overseas he could look into a job as a healthcare assistant in a psychiatric hospital, learning difficulties ward, dementia care or brain injury rehabilitation. It’s low paid work and I don’t know if the employers (the NHS and some private companies) would sponsor a work visa but because of the shortage of staff there may be a possibility. I wish him all the best in finding something.

Hi Noor, unfortunately I don’t know of any scholarships for Clinical Psychology courses that you would be able to apply to. I know that some countries (e.g Singapore) have sponsored their own citizens to train as clinical psychologists in other countries. You could look to see if there are any organisations in Pakistan which might offer scholarships but I don’t personally know of any.
Most of the countries which have globally well-regarded clinical psychology programmes are also very expensive. There’s some variation in that, for example Australia is a lot cheaper than the USA, but it’s still an expensive course. If you choose a country that offers clinical training for a much lower cost then you need to ensure that the course is fully recognised by your own country. You can usually do that by contacting the registering body, psychological association or clinical psychology society in your country.
If you qualify as a clinical psychologist in your own country you should be eligible to attend specialist training online or in other countries to improve your skills. For example, the website https://psychwire.com/ has some really good courses. I particularly like the ACT courses by Russ Harris.
I’m sorry I don’t have a better solution to the affordability of Clinical Psychology courses. It is unfair that so many people who would be great clinical psychologists aren’t able to train because of the cost.

Hi Ahmed, the criteria is written above on this page under ‘entry requirements’. You can check with the BPS whether your masters qualification would give you the required Graduate Basis for Registration. The BPS has just changed their website around but the page that you should look at is here: https://www.bps.org.uk/graduate-membership-mbpss. If your masters is not considered equivalent to a psychology undergraduate degree in the UK then you’ll need to do a conversion masters.

Hi Christian,

I would not recommend taking a Masters of Clinical Psychology in the UK if you are an international student. I’m copying this paragraph from the top of this webpage:

Unfortunately, there are many Masters courses in the UK with titles such as Masters in Clinical Psychology or Masters in Child Psychology. These courses are introductory courses. You will not be able to practice as a Clinical Psychologist in Malaysia or any other country if you complete one of these courses.

I don’t think your chances of being accepted will decrease if you take that Masters but I think you will be wasting your money. If you wanted to increase your chances of getting onto a US course you’d be better off taking a research methods course that is related to Clinical Psychology (such as this one: King’s College, Psychiatric Research MSc. If you wanted to get onto the UK DClinPsych course you could apply to the courses as an international student without having a Masters.

Hi Christian, the selection procedures and requirements of the Clinical Psychology Training Programmes in the USA vary a lot so it is difficult for me to say which UK based courses might increase your choices. I think research methods courses related to clinical psychology are likely to be helpful as an ability to understand research is important for all clinical psychologists and many of the training programmes in the USA put a lot of emphasis on research ability. It might be better to decide which university you wish to study at and contact them directly.

Previously you asked about professional registration vs BPS accreditation. Professional registration refers to whether the course will qualify you to work as a practitioner psychologist (e.g clinical psychologist or educational psychologist). This is now done by the HCPC not the BPS. The BPS accredits academic courses, such as undergraduate psychology and conversion courses. Having that accreditation is one way of demonstrating that the course you took is reputable.

Most overseas applicants apply directly to clinical psychology training programmes once they have the basic requirements such as an undergraduate psychology degree and some relevant working experience. This is because the clinical psychology training programmes are expensive and because of the cost there are fewer applicants so it’s not usually as necessary to compete academically by having an additional masters. You may find that gaining work experience will be more valuable to you than having an additional post graduate qualification. You could get that experience by working as a health care assistant in psychiatric hospitals or in brain rehab etc.

Hi Isabella, I’m glad you found the article helpful. That does sound like a difficult situation to be in. You could try applying to the HCPC https://www.hcpc-uk.org/registration/getting-on-the-register/international-applications/. However, I suspect the most likely outcome is that they will reject your application because your qualification is incomplete. You could look at other accrediting boards in counselling or other linked professions to determine if the training you have already done would make you eligible for accreditation although that wouldn’t be in clinical psychology. In the UK the only way to be recognised as a clinical psychologist is to complete the ClinPsych Doctoral training in the UK or gain a qualification overseas that is recognised by the HCPC. I don’t know of any training courses that offer a ‘top-up’ approach. Is there any option to complete your studies in the USA?

Hi Isabella, as I’m sure you already know it would not be possible to do a full Clinical Psychology programme via online learning because of the need to do placements and receive good supervision. So I’m fairly sure the HCPC would reject any qualification that was online only. However, you mentioned that you had already done much of the internship/placement component and in person learning. I’m not sure which part of the training you were not able to complete while you were in the USA. If you can find a university which will help you ‘top-up’ what you’ve done so far so it makes you eligible for registration in one of the US states then you may have more chance of being recognised by the HCPC. I don’t know exactly how the HCPC makes its decisions but I think it would be safer to find a mainstream training program in the USA to complete your training with. I would imagine that if your qualification was from a training course that was online only that would be a problem. The pandemic meant that many training programmes had to do more online so it may be that they are more receptive to some parts of the programme being done via distance learning. I doubt that will be reflected on their websites though so you may have to approach them directly. Good luck with it !

Hi Nimish, there is likely to be a gap between your receiving your degree and being able to apply and start on training course. If you complete your studies in June 2023 then the earliest you can start training in the UK would be September 2024. The clinical psychology training courses in the UK encourage potential trainees to gain relevant experience and also life experience before starting the course. This makes a lot of sense – future clients will appreciate you being able to draw on your life experience to better understand their circumstances. It’s why I always encourage aspiring clinical psychologists to take some time to acquire different types of experience. You’ll need some relevant work experience but you could also take the opportunity to work in other areas too (e.g office work etc).

Hi Rishika, you can check whether your Clinical Psychology qualification will be accepted in the UK by applying to the HCPC.

If it is not accepted by the HCPC you need to do a postgraduate qualification. To take a postgraduate qualification that allows you to be a practitioner psychologist (eg clinical psychologist or health psychologist) you first need to have an undergraduate psychology degree that is recognised by the BPS. You can apply here to determine if your undergraduate degree is recognised: https://www.bps.org.uk/graduate-membership-gmbpss.

If it is not recognised then you need to do a conversion masters that is recognised by the BPS before you can do a post graduate training course (it’s possible that the health psychology masters you mentioned counts as a conversion masters – you can check on the BPS website).

You’d need to follow the steps above to get on the DClinPsy courses.

As a note, I think you need to do more than one years study in order to become a Health Psychologist registered with the HCPC (which is necessary to work or get a job as a health psychologist in the UK).

Hi Saskia, there’s a page on the NHS website here: https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/psychological-therapies/roles-psychological-therapies that explains the different psychological roles that are available within the NHS. It’s usually the HCPC rather than the BPS that is important because they are the legal registrar.

If you decide on an alternative career (eg counsellor or CBT therapist) I’d advise checking that that career is recognised in your home country because it’s difficult to predict the UK’s immigration rules at the moment.

The only way to become a clinical psychologist in the UK is to attend a DClinPsyc course. A masters course won’t allow you to be a clinical psychologist.

Hi Rhea, I’m not sure what the rule on that would be either. The clinical psychology clearing house says that you just need to have permission to work in the UK without restriction. If the spouse visa gives you that right then I’d go ahead and apply for NHS funded places. There isn’t much to lose by applying!

HI Jashwika, I’m glad that my article helped you avoid the disappointment of getting an MSc that wouldn’t allow you to work clinically rather than the DClinPsy. It’s an easy trap to fall into. I’ve asked some senior people at the BPS to look into making it clearer whether a course is accredited academically or if it is accredited clinically.

I think UK DClinPsych courses are very positive about applicants who have obtained some life experience so I think your gap year will count towards your application rather than against it. There’s no particular rush to have applied by a certain age. ALthough, as mentioned in the article above it’s usually important to have had some relevant experience.

Hi Jashwika, there are currently 7 courses offering places to international students. You can find a list of them here: https://www.clearing-house.org.uk/applications/international-applicants/international-applicants-funding.

There are fewer courses and places than in previous years because the UK government has funded more places for locals on clinical psychology programmes for the next few years. However, I think it is still possible to gain a place on the course – previous applications don’t count against you so there shouldn’t be any harm in applying even if you don’t get a place this year.

My understanding is that if you successfully apply for a place on the clinical training course then you will be guided on how to apply for a student visa which is sufficient for the DClinPsy course.

Hi Zahra, Thanks I’m glad you found the explanation helpful.

You’ll need to check if your undergraduate degree will give you the graduate basis for registration with the British Psychological Society. You can apply to have your degree assessed by the BPS here: https://www.bps.org.uk/graduate-membership-gmbpss. If your psychology degree does give you GBR then you would not need to do a Masters qualification and you can apply directly to the DClinPsy programs once you have some experience. If your undergraduate degree does not give you GBR then you’ll need to do a Masters Conversion degree which is accredited by the British Psychological Society. You can search for accredited, conversion courses here: https://portal.bps.org.uk/Accredited-Courses

It’s unlikely that the HCPC would consider someone newly qualified with Masters qualification from Pakistan to have experience and qualifications that are equivalent to the Doctoral Qualification in Clinical Psychology from the UK. So my guess is that you would not be eligible to practice in the UK. However, that’s only my opinion so it would be a good idea to check. You can apply to the HCPC after you gain the qualification to determine whether they will grant you registration to practice.

Hi, if you’re looking at doing a Doctorate in Educational Psychology in the UK then you will need the Graduate Basis for Registration from the British Psychological Society. You can apply to see if the Masters you are doing would qualify you for the Graduate Basis for Registration on this page on the BPS’s website. As far as I know this is a pre-requisite for getting on an Educational Psychology training programme. There’s some more information on this page from the UK’s Association of Educational Psychologists.

Hi Rahat, no a one year Masters in Applied Psychology will not allow you to get a license to practice as a psychologist in the UK. To be a practitioner psychologist in the UK you need to have a qualification that is recognised by the Health & Care Professions’ Council. You should ask any course that you are planning to attend whether the qualification they are offering will allow you to gain registration with the Health and Care Professions Council or you may risk doing a course that does not prepare you to practice as a psychologist.

Hi Katarina, I like your thinking but unfortunately I don’t think that will work. I think the Global Talent Visa restricts you to 5 years of work (although you can renew) so it technically does have restrictions. They really intend for the NHS funded places to be for British Citizens or equivalent. Having said that I’m not an immigration expert so feel free to check into it further and let us know if you find any information to the contrary.

Hi Ved, unfortunately I don’t know of anywhere that offers scholarships for DClinPsy. I know that some countries offer scholarships (for example Singapore) but they are usually only offered to their own citizens.

Hi Mika, I don’t think there are any rules that would forbid you from working as a trainee in the UK to fulfill the requirements from your program in Cyprus. However, the difficulty might be finding a supervisor and a placement organisation that would be supportive of you working with them. Most placements see taking on a trainee as more work for them rather than them gaining from free labour. In the past, there used to be a system that allowed foreign qualified clinical psychologists to work under supervision in the UK to gain enough supervision hours so that their overseas qualifications would be viewed as equivalent to UK qualifications. I think it was more common for that to happen in private clinics or hospitals outside of our National Health Service. So you could try contacting those bigger health care groups (such has the Priory – priorygroup.com) to ask if it’s possible for you to have a placement with them (i think there would be very little chance of you being successful if you did not have working permissions in the UK). If you had contacts within the NHS as a consequence of your working as a support worker you could always try asking them too.

Hi Pranay, based on my (limited) understanding of the uk immigration system I don’t think that completing an MSc and working for two years will make you eligible for home fees. If you were looking to save money then you might not need to do the Masters. If your degree is already BPS accredited and you have graduate membership with the British Psychological Society (https://www.bps.org.uk/graduate-membership-gmbpss) then you can apply to the DClinPsy courses once you have obtained some work experience. You could get that experience in India.

Hi Daf, I’m aware that some people from Singapore have secured funding from the Singaporean government or other organisations in Singapore to be able to study on DClinPsy programmes in the UK. However, I don’t know if these are still available or where to access them if you are from Singapore. If you find out please do let us know here – I’m sure others would like to know.

Hi Othmane, Istanbul is an interesting city I’d like to visit one day – I hope you’re enjoying your course there. You’re correct in noting that it’s not necessary to do a MSc in Clinical Psychology. They are expensive to study and they aren’t as valued by the DClinPsy courses as a masters in research methods. So if you’re really interested in doing a masters in the UK to further your chances of getting on to a DCLinPsy course then it would be better to a research methods masters preferably with a learning towards epidemiology or clinical research. I took a Masters at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London (it was then called Mental Health Services Research but is now Psychiatric Research MSc) course which I’d recommend.
I should note that this assumes your BA in Istanbul will give you the Graduate Basis for Registration with the British Psychological Society (BPS). If your BA does not give you graduate membership of the BPS then you’ll need to do a Masters in order to gain equivalence. There’s information on how to check if you can get graduate membership here. You can search for accredited BPS conversion courses on the BPS website. I like the look of Edinburgh’s Psychology of Mental Health Conversion Masters because it’s orientated towards becoming a clinical pschologist (it’s a bit cold up there in Scotland though).
You will need to gain work experience in order to apply successfully for the DClinPsy courses but you don’t necessarily need work experience from the UK. You could also gain that experience from working in your home country. It’s more about what you learn from it and whether you understand what you’ll be doing as a psychologist in the future. If you decide to gain experience in the UK then you can usually do so if you have a student visa as it usually gives you the right to work part time. It’s highly unlikely that you’ll be able to get an Assistant Psychologist post. There are usually hundreds of applications to Assistant Psychologist posts by local British aspiring Clinical Psychologists and you’d be at a disadvantage if you didn’t have full rights to work in the UK. You could apply to work as a health care assistant in a mental health, learning disabilities or dementia unit as there is lack of people interested in those jobs although that’s mainly because they are poorly paid. You could try working part time if you were studying a masters but you won’t have time to work part time if you are studying a DClinPsy. I hope all that helps.

Hi Elias, if you are an international student applying for the DClinPsy in the UK then you should be able to find a place on a training course with one year of experience (although some of the top universities may prefer more). If you are British and you are hoping to get a funded place then that may require more experience as there is more competition for those places. A UK funded trainee is paid at Band 6 on the NHS payscale. If you get a job as a qualified clinical psychologist with the NHS you automatically move to band 7 (so your amount of experience before the course is irrelevant in terms of the band but employers may be more likely to give you a job if you have more experience prior to training). As an international student you would not be paid during training. But if you had working rights or were sponsored for a visa you would go onto Band 7 when you qualify.

Most countries accept the British Doctorate of Clinical Psychology as equivalent to their own qualification. So it is relatively easy to move overseas. THe USA is an exception in that their licensing is by state rather than the country (ie you’d apply to California rather than the US) and they usually require British Clinical PSychologists to take exams to prove their knowledge is equivalent to the US qualification.

Hi Nora, in most countries to train as a clinical psychologist you first need an undergraduate degree in psychology or you need to take a conversion Masters (that ‘converts’ your undergraduate degree to psychology). I’m not sure whether clinical psychology training courses in India have this requirement. If you took this route it might take longer than becoming a psychiatrist. If you did become a psychiatrist you can do postgraduate training to learn the therapy approaches that clinical psychologists use (the website psychwire is particularly good for online courses).

Hi Dr Mansi, in the UK there will be a few obstacles for you. Firstly, you will need an undergraduate degree in psychology or a Masters conversion course that is accredited by the British Psychology Society. If you are doing a Masters in Clinical Psychology you should meet the work experience requirement. Then you would need to complete the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy).

I don’t know of any scholarships or funding that is available from the UK or globally. Some people manage to get funding from their home countries to go overseas to study clinical psychology but I don’t know of anyone from India who has managed that.

You need to pay the fees and your living expenses yourself. There won’t be time to do part time work and the work you do on placements will be unpaid. The financial challenge is usually the hardest to meet – it’s a very expensive training process!

Hi Luca, most clinical psychology training programs appreciate the value of work experience. Many require that you have work experience with people who are going through psychological distress because they want you to know that you are comfortable being with people in psychological distress as that is what you will spend most of your time doing as a clinical psychologist. Most training courses are also positive about people gaining life experience and working in fields unrelated to clinical psychology. Consequently, gaining work experience in any field will be of advantage to you. So if you have the option I’d advise getting work experience first before committing to a masters.

In regards to your grades and whether you should do a masters, it would be a good idea to reflect on what has made it difficult to get the grades you need. Most clinical psychology training programs have a relatively high academic requirement (in the UK it’s the equivalent of a high upper second class honours). The clinical psychology training programs are usually quite academically orientated because they usually follow the scientist-practitioner model. So trainees need to understand statistics and be able to interpret and conduct academic research. If you naturally find those topics extremely difficult then it may be better to consider a career pathway that is more practically orientated rather than academically orientated. For example, some counselling courses are primarily practical and don’t have the same research and academic requirements.

If your grades were low because you were struggling with procrastination or some other issue then one way of demonstrating to the clinical psychology training courses that you have resolved those issues and are academically capable is to do a masters. The more academic the masters the more convincing it will be, providing you get a good grade. The most convincing masters are usually Research Methods courses but I’d only advise taking one of those if research is genuinely of interest to you.

Everything I’ve written above is quite general and some clinical psychology training may have their own specific requirements or recommendations. If you are targeting a particular course it is a good idea to find out what their requirements are directly. If you are currently at a university with a clinical psychology training course they might be more open to speaking with you. If you can’t speak to the training course or any of is staff directly you may be able to find out from current trainees or recent graduates.

I hope that helps!

Hi Betty, you’ll need to wait until you’ve completed your degree before you apply for graduate membership with the BPS as they state that they don’t evaluate partially completed degrees. If you want to be a clinical psychologist and study in the UK then your only option is to take a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (DCLinPsy). This is the only course in the UK that will qualify you to work as a clinical psychologist. So if you get a good grade in your degree and you get graduate membership from the BPS you shouldn’t need to do a masters. You should apply to the DClinPsy once you have enough work experience.
If you take the DClinPsy in the UK you don’t need to decide which group you want to work with in your career. The training programs teach you to be competent in working with children, adolescents, adults and older adults. You can choose which demographic you want to focus on once you qualify.

Hi Mahek, thanks for the kind words and I’m glad my article was helpful! Given that you have completed your degree and now you’re looking to do a DclinPsy in the UK, you should apply for Graduate Membership with the British Psychological Society on their website. If your degree is equivalent and you already have work experience then you can start applying for the DClinPsy without doing a Masters. As long as you got a reasonable grade for your undergraduate degree (equivalent to a 2:1) it shouldn’t be necessary to take a masters in order to get on the DClinPsy courses.
If your degree is not equivalent according to the BPS then you may need to do a conversion masters but that could be done online to save the costs of doing it in-person in the UK. It shouldn’t disadvantage you to do it online. Best of luck with it!

Hi Kar Poh, there’s no real benefit for overseas applicants to take a masters in clinical psychology in the UK because (as you say) you need a doctorate in clinical psychology in order to work as a clinical psychologist in the UK. British people sometimes take a clin psych masters because they hope it will improve their chances of getting a place on the Doctorate of Clinical Psychology courses. Universities provide those courses because they can make money from them. It’s questionable whether the clin psych MScs from the UK even helps British applicants because not all Clinical Psychology courses regard the Masters in Clinical Psychology programs as positive. Overseas applicants would be much better off saving their money so they can afford a DClinPsych or taking a masters that also has some value in itself (eg a taught research methods masters). Most people in Malaysia can’t afford to study clinical psychology overseas but nowadays there are a lot of online courses that can help improve your skills once you have qualified as a clinical psychologist in Malaysia (e.g psychwire.com). Unless you have a lot of funds that might be the best option!

Hi Niranjana, it sounds like you’re doing lots of good work! To get on a UK DClinPsy course you would first need to find out whether you have the graduate basis for registration from the BPS (you can apply to the BPS to find out – the links in the article above). However, the bigger problem is the cost of the DClinPsy course. You won’t get any money for the work you do as part of your DClinPsy and you won’t have the time to work part time. If you have lots of savings or your husband has a very high paying job then it may be possible but most people aren’t able to afford the combination of course fees and living costs. Sorry I don’t have better news!

HI Brittany, congratulations on getting a first in your psychology degree! If you are thinking of studying the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology as an international student you won’t be paid for placements and I don’t know any way round the home-fee situation. If you were a home fee student your training would be paid for by the NHS and you would be paid during your training. The only downside of the local route is that many more people apply for the DClinPsy than there are places available. This means some applicants aren’t successful and some take a few years to get onto the courses. I think your training and experience as a nurse will be thought of highly by the selectors but it could take time to be accepted onto the courses.

The only other option I can think of is if there is a way to leverage on the fact that the UK really needs nurses. Could you look into mental health nursing?

Hi Sanya, I wouldn’t apply to a masters in clinical psychology in the UK. They do not train you to be a clinician. Those masters are more theory based introductory courses and mostly taken by British citizens who are hoping to apply for the DClinPsy courses. There’s a difference between accreditation and what gives you the right to work as a clinician. If your degree isn’t accredited then to get on the DClinPsy courses you’d first need to do a conversion masters and then apply to the DClinPsy. That would be too expensive for most people. The other option is to look at counselling qualifications which don’t require a psychology degree. But I doubt that would secure you the right to stay in the UK after your qualification because, unfortunately, the UK is very anti-immigration at the moment.