University of Southampton

There are two stages to our selection procedure:

Stage 1 – Shortlisting

First, we screen all applications to make sure they meet our minimum requirements for work experience, academic and research requirements. Applications are then rated using a competency-based rating procedure. The competencies cover the following key areas: academic/research competence, clinical competence, reflective practice/resilience. Our Selection Team is managed by our Admissions Director and comprises members of the Programme Team, as well as local NHS Clinical Psychologists, who teach and/or supervise on the Programme. Each application is screened independently by two people.

Stage 2 – Interviews

We invite short-listed applicants for interview. We aim to interview around 150 applicants.

The Southampton Doctorate in Clinical Psychology Programme covers a wide and rural geographical area. Hence, all applicants to Southampton must possess a full valid Driving Licence at application (subject to reasonable adjustments for disability). All applicants must submit their full driving licence one week before ents for disability). All applicants must submit their full driving licence one week before interview date. If applicants cannot submit their driving licence documents they might be ineligible for interview.
 
Interviews have taken place remotely for the past three years. The intention is for this to continue, although we are continually reviewing the suitability of this and the preferences of our applicants, so this may be subject to change.

In 2024, we aim to have one main interview panel which will focus on personal, clinical, research and academic competencies. The aim is that the interview panel consists of a University Programme member, a local NHS Clinical Psychologist and an Expert by Experience. Across the interview panels, we try to reflect a range of knowledge, skills, and specialities, as well as a gender and ethnic diversity mix, where possible.

Support on the day

On the interview day, some of our current trainees are available to talk to and answer any questions applicants may have. A new initiative that started in 2022 involves providing applicants from racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds the opportunity to meet with our trainees who identify as being from these backgrounds. This is not part of the assessment process but an opportunity for applicants to learn more about the Programme from the trainees’ perspective and to ask them any questions. 

Values

As a Programme, we pride ourselves on creating a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive interview environment, to ensure we can get the best out of applicants.

Interview outcomes

Our interviews take place over a full week and are followed by a final selection meeting in which we decide which candidates will be offered places on the basis of their performance across the two panels. The Programme Team informs all applicants whether they have been successful following the selection meeting.

All applicants who attend an interview with us are sent written feedback outlining key strengths and areas for development. We regret that we are unable to provide any feedback to candidates who are not short-listed for interview.

Equal opportunities

As a Programme, we are committed to increasing the diversity of the Clinical Psychology profession and we welcome applicants from diverse cultural and personal contexts and encourage applicants to be open and reflective about their life experiences.

The programme is fully committed to Equal Opportunities for all students and follows the principles set out in the University of Southampton's Equal Opportunities Policy Statement. All individuals are selected and treated on the basis of their relevant merits and abilities. We welcome applications from students with disabilities and have experience of making reasonable adjustments as necessary for students with disabilities to complete the programme. Please note, however, that we do not currently invite applicants for interview on the basis of the Disability Guaranteed Interview Scheme.

Contextual admissions

Our Programme is considering developing contextual recruitment processes. This is based on evidence that contextualising individuals' achievements using additional information about their educational, social and economic background can lead to fairer and more inclusive selection processes. In particular, this information could help us to recognise individuals with strong potential for success at Doctoral Level and within the profession, who otherwise might not have been identified.

The Clearing House will circulate a survey to collect Contextual Admissions data separately from the application form. The Group of Trainers in Clinical Psychology have agreed the questions in this survey, which have evidence for improving the inclusivity and equity of recruitment processes. Completion of this survey is optional, however if you are able to answer any of the questions which provide some additional background about you, and you are happy to provide this to us via the Clearing House, then we would encourage you to do so.

We will, in due course provide further details on our website about how we will use the data collected in the survey to inform our selection processes; for audit/research purposes to consider developments to selection processes in future years; to create reports for external agencies such as Health Education England (which commissions many of the training programmes).

Accessibility

As a Programme, we pride ourselves on giving everybody a fair chance in the interview process. If you have a disability, of any kind, we encourage you to contact our Accessibility Lead and discuss whether we can make any reasonable adjustments to support you. Information about how to do this is made available to all applicants when invited to interview.  We aim to make our interviews accessible for everybody, but also make additional reasonable adjustments for people who need them.