References / Suitability statements

You need two Suitability Statements:

• one academic and
• one relevant experience

You need to nominate one person to write your Academic Suitability Statement and a different person to write your Experience Suitability Statement. Each suitability statement can only be provided by one person.

The deadline for Suitability Statements is 6 December 2023.

Please allow yourself and your nominees plenty of time to get them organised.

What do the Suitability Statements cover?

Some course centres have specific requirements for the format of Suitability Statements.

• Please see the Courses section for details of the requirements of individual course centres

Getting a fully completed Suitability Statement

Please ensure that your nominees can comment on the areas covered by the type of Suitability Statement you are asking them to write.

We encourage all nominees to complete the Suitability Statement on our website but if, for example, an organisation has a policy to only provide their own standard document they can email this to us if it is provided by the person/organisation you have nominated.

However, please bear in mind that if a nominee can only provide a standard document which does not address the questions in the Suitability Statement, or they cannot answer several of the questions asked in the Suitability Statement, this could affect your Application.

See the questions that are asked

Download sample copies of the Suitability Statements to see the questions your nominees need to answer:

Who can you nominate?

Some course centres have specific requirements about who can provide your Suitability Statements.

• Please see the Courses section for details of the requirements of individual course centres

Academic Suitability Statement

Your Academic Suitability Statement should be written by someone who can comment on your academic ability. Where possible they should be from an academic institution where you have studied and they should have direct experience of your academic performance.

Experience Suitability Statement

Your Experience Suitability Statement should be written by someone who has direct experience of, and is able to comment on, your performance in a relevant role.  Your role should be relevant to clinical psychology and be in a clinical context (and/or research context if appropriate). The Experience Suitability Statement should be from your current employer where possible.

You may choose to nominate a previous employer if there is a good reason e.g. you are not currently working in a relevant role, or you have only worked in your current role for a few months, or your current employer can only provide a standard HR document. However you must explain, in the Personal Statements section of your Application, why you are not nominating your current employer to provide your Experience Suitability Statement.

Personal connections

You should not normally ask your close relations, members of your immediate household or your business partner to provide a Suitability Statement. In other words, you should not nominate someone with whom you have a personal connection. If, however, you cannot avoid nominating such a person, you must explain why and state the nature of your relationship in the Personal Statements section of your Application.