Supplementary regulations for the Degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) before September 2017

The regulations for the Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) are those which govern the University of Nottingham (UoN) PhD available at:

Research programme regulations

University of Lincoln - Research Degrees Regulations for MA and MSc by Research MPhil and PhD 2014-15

except where the following modify or supplement them.

1.1   A candidate for the Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsy) degree must

(a)   be a graduate of this or any other approved university holding a Bachelors degree in Psychology or an equivalent subject recognised by the British Psychological Society as conferring Graduate Basis for Chartership. This will normally be a first or upper second class honours but candidates with a lower second-class honours degree or other equivalent qualification may be considered if they have a postgraduate degree at Masters level or higher. The only entry to the programme is at the beginning of Year 1. There is no provision for advanced entry based on ROL or ROEL.

(b)   Meet the essential characteristics of the NHS person specification for a Clinical Psychologist in Training and course specification. 

(c)   Have the personal and intellectual resources to pursue a challenging and demanding research oriented programme. 

(d)   Have previous supervised practical experience relevant to clinical training.

(e)   The programme covers a wide geographical area and teaching is provided at both the University of Nottingham (UoN) and the University of Lincoln (UoL) (the universities).  It is therefore a requirement that students are able to make their own personal arrangements to travel to and from the universities and their respective work placements. Students should expect to have to travel for at least 3 hours a day (e.g. between universities and from base to placement).

(f)   Candidates will be subject to an interview process and must complete Disclosure and Barring Scheme checks and health checks for acceptability as an NHS employee. 

(g)   Candidates whose first language is not English and who have not previously studied in Higher Education in English, must as a minimum, have one of the following:

• • A British Council IELTS overall minimum score of 7.5 with no element below 7.0, achieved no more than 2 years prior to admission.
  • Pearson Test of English Academic 73 (minimum 67).
  • CELE pre-sessional course final assessment of “Pass with High Distinction”

2.1   A candidate for the degree of DClinPsy must have pursued at one of the universities a full-time course of study comprising a taught component, clinical placements and one research project. Completion of the DClinPsy programme requires a minimum of 3 years of full-time supervised study.

2.2   The universities’  Regulations for Taught Masters Degrees, Postgraduate Diploma and Postgraduate Certificate courses shall apply with regard to satisfactory progression on the taught element of the degree.  All modules on the programme are compulsory and non-compensatable. The Regulations may be accessed at:

University of Lincoln - Taught Postgraduate Regulations 2014-15

Regulations for students admitted from September 2016 and before September 2017

2.3   Students on the DClinPsy programme are called ‘trainees’. Each trainee on the programme is registered at both the University of Lincoln and the University of Nottingham, and on successful completion shall be awarded the degree by one or other of the universities.

2.4   The University of Nottingham’s Fitness to Practise procedures, as set out at Annex B, shall apply to all trainees.  Annex C - G specify which of the two universities’ regulations shall be followed in respect of Extenuating Circumstances; Student Complaints; Academic Offences (UoL)/Misconduct (UoN); Academic Appeals; and Student Discipline.

3.1   Structure of Awards

The standard modules in the DClinPsy award are multiples of 5 credit points, as appropriate to the level of study, with 1 credit point equating to 10 notional learning hours. The modules will be at Master (M) or Doctoral (D) level according to Table 1 below:

3.2   The programme shall be structured according to the following principles:

• 140 credits of taught provision
• 120 credits of placement - taught provision
• 150 credits of placement - research provision resulting in production of Placement Research Portfolio  (maximum 15,000 words plus appendices, etc)
• 130 credits of research project provision resulting in production of Research Project Portfolio (maximum 45,000 words plus appendices, etc)

It shall have 260 credits (8 modules) designated as taught and 280 credits (6 modules) designated as research.

It shall have 100 credits at M level; the remaining 440 credits being at D level. 

A description of the programme structure is at Annex A.

4.1   Compensation cannot be offered for failure of any component within a module.

4.2   All placement assessments are graded on a pass or fail basis.

4.3   Where no formal extension has been agreed, a late submission will be deemed a failed submission.

4.4   All placements are assessed by the trainee’s supervisor, Clinical Tutor and, where appropriate, Co-Director (Clinical Practice). Supervisor assessments for taught placements are regarded as recommendations to the Programme Directors with the final decision to pass or fail the placement made by the Board of Examiners.

4.5   Supervisor assessments for the research placements are regarded as recommendations for consideration as part of the research annual review process (UoN) or to the College Research Degrees Board (UoL); the research placements are also examined by the research examiners at viva voce alongside the final Research Project who then makes a recommendation to the final Board of Examiners as part of the final examination process for the degree.

5.1   Trainees who have failed modules shall be offered one opportunity to be reassessed with the following exceptions:

5.1.1   Taught modules assessed by a Practice Based Learning Assessment (PBL):

Only one PBL module may be reassessed.  If a trainee fails one component or more of a second PBL module assessed by a PBL assessment, no further reassessment will be allowed and the trainee will not be permitted to continue on the programme.

5.1.2   Placement modules:

Placements are assessed by a combination of case studies (written and oral) and clinical assessments.  Trainees will be permitted one opportunity to resit one placement module. If a trainee fails one component or more of a second placement module, no further reassessment will be permitted and the trainee will not be permitted to continue on the programme.

5.1.2.1   Trainees who require funding to re-sit a placement failed by the clinical assessment will need the agreement of NHS Commissioners to continue funding an extension of the trainee’s employment and studies during the course of the three-year programme (see below).

5.1.2.2   Where a trainee requires an extension of the training contract, the University may be asked to confirm that the trainee is expected to satisfactorily complete and  is suitable to work as a registered Clinical Psychologist, adhering to the expectations of NHS employment practice.

6.1   The Board of Examiners shall have responsibility for assessment in respect to the taught elements of the programme (see programme structure above) which will feed into the considerations of the College Research Degrees Board (UoL)/Research annual review panel (UoN) who shall have responsibility for assessment of the research elements of the programme and confirming progression.

6.2   Determination of a student’s entitlement to conferment of the final award shall be the responsibility of the Board of Examiners.

6.3   All meetings of the Board of Examiners are deemed to be held jointly between the universities and no restrictions on the exchange of information shall apply.

6.4   In recognition of the link between academic progression and employment status the programme will communicate directly with trainees who are in danger of programme failure and thereby of losing their employment.

7.1 Taught Components

7.1.1   In order to progress through subsequent years trainees shall have passed all the required elements of the taught modules at each stage of the programme.

7.1.2   Research Components (see programme structure above).

7.1.3   Each candidate will have at least two academic supervisors for the Research Modules that comprise the Research Project Portfolio.

7.1.4   Progress records shall be confirmed by the College Research Degrees Board at UoL, or the annual review panel at UoN, on at least an annual basis.  The Progress Board/panel shall take account of internal marking of taught and research modules and performance on placement (supervisor report and case studies) to satisfy itself of satisfactory progress.

7.1.5   Upon receipt of the progress record, the trainee transcript and any additional information that it has required, the Research Degrees Board/annual review panel shall either:

A)   confirm that the enrolment of the trainee shall continue or

B)   confirm that the enrolment of the trainee shall continue and the student must be reassessed in failed elements of the annual review

C)   confirm that the trainee’s course of studies be terminated and the award of the MSc in Applied Psychology be considered or

D)   recommend that the trainee’s course of studies be terminated and no award  be made

8.1   The candidate shall submit a Research Project Portfolio (Volume 1) for examination, which shall comprise of a draft journal paper, an extended paper (including an updated literature review and extended methods, analysis, results and discussion sections), a critical reflection and a poster.

8.2   The Research Project Portfolio shall be of a standard to indicate the creation and interpretation of new knowledge through original research, which extends the forefront of the discipline. 

8.3   The work reported shall be of a quality to satisfy peer review and merit publication in a scientific journal. Volume 2 (comprising placement case studies and service related research) must also be submitted before the Research Project Portfolio can be sent for examination.

8.4   Both Volume 1 and Volume 2 must be submitted before the student is recommended for examination.

9.1   The Examiners may recommend the following outcomes of examination for candidates:

• Pass the research component of the degree
• Pass the research component of the degree subject to minor corrections within one month
• Pass the research component of the degree subject to minor amendments to be completed within three months
• Require the candidate to attend for a second viva voce examination and resubmit the same portfolio (which may be subject to minor amendments to be completed within three months), or Resubmit the portfolio in a revised form within twelve months with/without attending a second viva voce examination
• Fail the research component of the degree and no further opportunity for resubmission

10.1   The degree of DClinPsy will be conferred on candidates who

a)   have successfully completed the taught component of the programme and

b)   have satisfied the Examiners as to the standard of the Research Project Portfolio and

c)   have achieved all standards of proficiency required by the HCPC and core competencies required by the BPS and

d)   have supplied all raw data for the research portfolio to the school administrators and

e)   have obtained confirmation from the primary research supervisor that they have prepared a submission ready journal paper and

f)   are not subject to any Fitness to Practise Proceedings.

10.2   The DClinPsy degree is awarded as a simple Pass, without classification or distinction/merit categories.

11.1   A candidate for the degree of DClinPsy who achieves less than 540 but 180 or more credits may be eligible for the award of Master of Science Degree in Applied Psychology. To be awarded this MSc trainees must have successfully completed a total of 180 Level (M, D) credits with at least 60 credits from research modules.

11.2   There is no provision for the award of a Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma.