Oxford

Professional accreditation.

The Oxford Course is accredited by:

• Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)
• British Psychological Society (BPS)
• British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) Level 2 course accreditation
• Association of Family Therapy (AFT) - Foundation and Intermediate Level course accreditation
• Neuropsychology Accreditation of Prior Learning

The length of the course cannot be reduced through the accreditation of prior learning or experience: all trainees are required to complete the full programme of training in order to qualify.

Approach and theories

The Course supports trainees in the process of becoming highly competent and flexible scientist-practitioners, who are confident in their ability to meet a range of needs in health and social care contexts. This is achieved through a research-led academic and skills training programme; high quality placements in a broad range of specialty areas; and excellent research support and supervision. The philosophy of the Course stems from the reflective scientist-practitioner model, and the Course is committed to drawing on a range of empirically supported and grounded theoretical orientations including Cognitive-Behavioural Therapies and Systemic (Family) Therapy. Graduates from the Course will be equipped to practice at a high level of research and clinical competence, and within an empirically grounded reflective and ethical framework which will provide a foundation for further learning and development. The Course also prepares trainees to take leadership roles and enables them to develop the skills, competencies and meta-competencies needed to contribute to and influence services in which they work. This broad range of skills is attractive to future employers, and past graduates from the Oxford Course have gone on to occupy senior positions in clinical, academic and research settings. Course team members are all clinically and/or research active and use this experience to enhance the provision of clinical psychology training at Oxford. Course staff are engaged in research including but not confined to anxiety disorders, CBT, clinical health psychology, eating disorders, intellectual disabilities, neuropsychology/neuroscience, older adults, psychosis, stigma, Systemic/Family therapy, transdiagnostic psychological processes, and working with children.

The Course is part of the Oxford Centre for Psychological Health, which also includes and integrates the Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre (OCTC) and the Oxford Health Specialist Psychological Intervention Clinic (OHSPIC). The course also has close links with specialist mindfulness, neuropsychology and spinal cord injuries units. Trainees are given the opportunity to develop competencies in most areas of clinical psychology practice. Training takes a life-span developmental perspective. As training progresses trainees are supported in developing their own personal styles of working.

The Oxford Course frequently updates the way in which training is delivered. This reflects our commitment to work at the cutting edge of clinical psychology training and research and to fully meet the requirements for approval by the Health & Care Professions Council. We have achieved intermediate level accreditation of the programme with the Association for Family Therapy and Systemic Practice (AFT), and the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP) - level two. We are committed to the meaningful involvement of Experts by Experience within all strands of the training programme including within Admissions. 

Placement locations

Clinical placements are located throughout the counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, and Northamptonshire,  and potentially beyond as required, and are allocated primarily on the basis of training needs. Therefore, trainees must be prepared to travel within this area, and potentially beyond as required. 
All Trainee Clinical Psychologists on the Oxford Course must be able to drive and have access to a car for the duration of the three-year training course.  This forms part of your training contract and is an essential criterion for the post. Reasonable adjustments are made as required for those trainees with a disability that may prevent them from driving.

Travel expenses are given for trainees’ journeys to clinical placements where that journey distance exceeds the distance from trainees’ home to base. Expenses are also provided for required travel within placements (e.g., community visit to a client’s home). NHS travel expenses policy does not reimburse travel from home to base, however travel to placements is currently reimbursed subject to the NHS policy for mileage in excess of the usual home to base journey.

For the current intake (2023), and likely to continue for the next intake (2024), the course is establishing a number of bases within the region: Aylesbury (Buckinghamshire), Brackley (Northamptonshire), Bracknell (Berkshire), in addition to the course centre and base at the Warneford Hospital in Oxford (Oxfordshire). Trainees will be asked to select a base if offered a position on the course. 

Location of Teaching, and Residential Requirements

The Course has its own purpose-built building, the Isis Education Centre, located in the grounds of the Warneford Hospital, Oxford, which has well-equipped teaching rooms, seminar rooms, offices, computer facilities, kitchen and a common room. New teaching spaces are being created in other Trust locations in Oxford for this academic year. Teaching may also take place in other Trust locations and within the Thames Valley footprint, as well as on-line as required.

Trainees are required to live within the limits dictated by the University of Oxford for the duration of training (although individuals may apply for exemption under exceptional circumstances).