Forensic Psychology (Practitioner Programme) - PgD

Course Overview

This course is approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and, upon completion, provides students with eligibility to apply to the register to practice as Forensic Psychologists in the UK. The course is designed to be placement based, with various workshops for students as well as clinical and academic supervision. Workshops are usually delivered in block teaching sessions and students are expected to be in Cardiff for around 15 days over the course of their study. We have students from all over the UK so we aim to make access to workshops as straightforward as possible for those students who have to travel long distances to attend. Each student will be allocated both a clinical supervisor and an academic supervisor – at least one of these supervisors will be an appropriately qualified and experienced Forensic Psychologist. Students should consider the availability of a forensic psychologist who is willing and able to offer supervision in their workplace or placement site for the duration of their studies.

Assessment

Students are assessed for competency and professionalism, these issues are reviewed in tri-partite supervision sessions every quarter for full time students. There are 6 modules that students will complete. The largest of these are the Portfolio modules where students will gather exemplars of their work with forensic psychology service users following the processes of assessment, intervention, evaluation and recommendation. Additionally, students will complete four reflective report modules on aspects of their practice; Functional Assessment and Formulation, Ethical and Professional Practice, Teaching and Training and Consultancy.

Employability & Careers

The purpose of the PG Dip in Practitioner Forensic Psychology is to allow students to progress on from Masters level study towards Practitioner status, thereby boosting their employability. At the end of the programme successful students can apply to the HCPC to be registered as Forensic Psychologists. This course is essentially for students who wish to progress on to clinical work within forensic settings or more widely with forensic clients. The programme is placement based and provides supervised support towards developing the competencies required to be an autonomous practitioner.

Applicants will be expected to have a BPS accredited Undergraduate degree and a BPS accredited Masters Degree in Forensic Psychology (or equivalence of BPS Stage 1 training in forensic psychology). In addition to the academic qualifications detailed above, applicants will be expected to demonstrate extensive experience in applied forensic psychology. This can be demonstrated by being employed as a forensic psychologist in training, or a similar role where you have practiced, under supervision, forensic psychology with forensic service users. We recommend at least 1 year (full time) experience in these roles.