Newcastle University

Successful applicants are more likely to:

• Meet the minimum academic and clinical experience requirements for interview
• Have strong references from people who have direct knowledge of their academic/clinical aptitude  
• Have been able to effectively communicate the relevance of their work experience to training and working as a clinical psychologist 
• Have been able to convey how this experience has supported the development of knowledge and skills relevant to the profession of clinical psychology 
• Demonstrate an appropriate level of clinical skill and experience, including an awareness of working as a reflective scientist-practitioner
• Have a level of research competence that would support successful completion of a doctoral training course
• Have a general awareness of key current professional and organisational issues
• Demonstrate values consistent with the NHS constitution
• Have an awareness of their own positionality and how this might have influenced their personal and professional development

Applications are shortlisted by a selection team that includes Programme staff, NHS Clinicians and Expert by Experience (EbE) collaborators. Forms are double rated using a standardised proforma that considers academic performance, relevant clinical experience, the personal statement, and references. This reflects our minimum criterion to progress to interview (see the Application Guide for DClinPsy on our website for more details). We do not conduct any short-listing tests.  

Approximately the highest scoring 25% of applicants at shortlisting, including all eligible Disability Confident candidates, are then invited to attend a 35-minute interview with a panel of Programme staff and NHS clinicians. In recent years this has taken place remotely via Zoom. We are likely to retain this format in future to promote accessibility. If a candidate requires reasonable adjustments for the interview, then they are encouraged to get in touch to enable us to meet these requirements.   

Prior to attending the interview, candidates are also required to submit a video recording of their response to a question posed by our Expert by Experience selection team. This is double rated by the Experts by Experience according to their standardised criteria.

Together, ratings from the EbE question, the interview, and the application form determine whether applicants are offered a place on the Programme.  

Candidates are given the opportunity to meet with a small group of our current trainees on the day of their interview. This does not inform the outcome of the selection process and is a confidential space for applicants to ask any questions they may have about the experience of training on our Programme. 

Candidates are informed about the outcome of their interview via email. Reserve candidates are made aware of their position on the reserve list and are provided with weekly updates regarding any movement. 

Offers of places are conditional upon the offer and acceptance of a contract of employment from the employing NHS Trust (Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear), subject to an enhanced criminal records check through the Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) and satisfactory reference, medical clearance and any other required pre-employment checks. 

As the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology is a qualification leading to professional registration, the University has an overriding duty of care to ensure that all individuals accepted on to, and graduating, from the Programme not only meet the academic requirements but are also physically and mentally fit to practise and are of good character (HCPC guidance; BPS Guidance) 

Candidates who have been interviewed and are not successful at gaining a place on any DClinPsy Programme that application year can request written feedback from the interview panel on their performance

Equal opportunities

The Programme is committed to ensuring that all applicants are treated fairly and confirm to Newcastle University's Equal Opportunities Policy. 

We are part of the disability confident scheme in line with the Equality Act (2010). This means that we will interview all who declare a disability on their application form, providing they meet our minimum academic, clinical and reference criteria (see here). 

We use anonymised Equal Opportunities data provided by applicants to inform any updates to our selection processes in an effort to promote fair access to the profession for people from underrepresented groups. 

We plan to publish on our website anonymised admissions and retention data, differentiated by the protected characteristics of applicants, to aid transparency around recruitment to our Programme

Additional information regarding Newcastle University’s Prospective Student data collection notice can be found here

We use positive action processes when candidates of equal merit are tied at selection. 

Contextual admissions

Our Programme is considering developing contextual recruitment processes. We will in due course provide further details on our website about the work we are doing in this area.

Disability Confident / Applicants with disabilities

We use the Disability Confident scheme so will interview all applicants who choose to self-declare a disability and who meet our minimum academic, clinical and reference standards for interview.