Putting service users at the heart of decision making

We’re proud to be putting the views of service users at the heart of our professional doctorate programme in Child, community and educational psychology (M4) – so their voice can help establish a more diverse and representative profession.

Every academic year the trust takes on 16 trainee psychologists to the three-year doctoral program. This program is accredited by both the British Psychological Society (BPS) and the Health Care Professionals Council (HCPC) and is one of a limited number of professional doctorate courses in the country from which trainees qualify with the protected title ‘Educational Psychologist’.

The course is highly oversubscribed with over 300 applicants for the 16 places and so the process for recruitment and selection is of critical importance. In line with updated professional standards, which emphasise centering the service user, the course regularly consults with those young people, families and settings that use the services of Educational Psychologists.

This academic year, the parent of a child who worked with a qualified Educational Psychologist in a local authority setting, acted as a consultant in our recruitment process. This included overseeing the questions asked at interview, making recommendations regarding what service users value about the professionals they work with and contributing advice on the accessibility of the recruitment process overall. 

This is the first time service user views have been sought in this way. The objective is to reinforce their feedback as a key component of the admission and selection process for the next cohort of trainee child, community and educational psychologists.