Doctor of Clinical Psychology 2024-25

Academic Regulations: Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences

School	Psychology
Final Award	Doctor of Clinical Psychology
Programme(s)	Doctor of Clinical Psychology
Last modified	April 2024

The Academic Regulations apply to and regulate the programme(s) listed above.

On occasion, programmes can be exempted from one or more of the clauses in the Regulations; one or more of the clauses can be varied; and programmes can impose additional requirements.

Exemptions are characterised by the omission of the relevant clause.
Variations are characterised by the replacement of the clause with alternative wording.
Additions are characterised by requirements in addition to those detailed in the Academic regulations.

The programmes listed have approval from the Academic Quality and Standards Subcommittee for the exemptions and/or variations and/or additions to the regulations noted below.

Exemptions

The clause(s) listed below describe where an exemption to the Regulations exists.

Existing University regulation

Regulations for Research Degrees

Approved Exemption

Additional requirements for Professional Doctorates

Professional doctorates including the Doctor of Education (EdD), Doctor of Clinical Psychology (DClinPsych), Doctor of Education Psychology (DEdPsych), Doctor of Clinical Practice (DClinP), and the Engineering Doctorate (EngD), shall additionally contain a combination of taught compulsory and/or elective modules, individual and/or group projects and the preparation of a thesis. The combination of these elements, including specific pass marks, are detailed in the Academic Regulations. Research students who fail to complete the requirements as set out in the Academic Regulations will be deemed by the relevant Faculty Education and Student Experience Subcommittee to have failed the degree.

Candidates are exempt from the right to repeat any taught modules (internally or externally) following a failure of more than half the modules in a Part, or following resubmission.

Variations

The clause(s) listed below describe where a variation to the Regulations exists:

Existing University regulation

Regulations for Research Degrees

Approved Variation

Additional requirements for Professional Doctorates

Taught modules are passed at 50 but placements are marked on a pass/fail basis only.

Additional Requirements

The clause(s) listed below are in addition to the Regulations.

Existing University regulation

Regulations for Research Degrees

Approved Additional Requirement

Additional requirements for Professional Doctorates

Continuation on the programme is subject to specific health requirements (consistent with the provisions of the Equality Act 2010). Students are required to inform the Faculty of any health problems throughout their period of enrolment, relevant to their future employment as a professional.

A candidate will be deemed to have failed the programme, without the right of re-entry, on one or more of the following grounds:

i) Candidates must pass at least 50% of the credits in each part at the first attempt.
ii) Failure of a practical placement will lead to failure of the programme unless there has been successful corrective action.
iii) Failure to complete all elements of summative assessments to a satisfactory standard within 5 years of first registration or by such a date as will have been agreed by the Board of Examiners.
iv) Failure of a resubmission. There is no right to repeat a Part.
v) In exceptional circumstances, such as gross misconduct or a serious breach of the Code of Conduct of the British Psychological Society, or if the placement is terminated or suspended after disciplinary action, the Board of Examiners reserves the right to fail a candidate without permitting re-entry.

Recognition of Prior Learning

Students who have been awarded the MSc Foundations of Clinical Psychology, MSc Health Psychology or MSc Research Methods in Psychology degree by the University of Southampton and who enrol for the degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology within two years of the date of that award must have recognition of prior learning applied to the following modules:

RESM6009 Applied Research Methods: Qualitative Methods
RESM6010 Applied Research Methods: Statistical Analysis of Comparisons & Group Differences
RESM6011 Applied Research Methods (ARM): Correlational Methods
RESM6012 Applied Research Methods (ARM): Planning and Designing Research

The above modules are a core requirement for the Master’s programmes named above and, as such, students will have been required to achieve a Pass Mark of 50 in each to be eligible for their previous award. Students who meet the above conditions will be awarded equivalent credit for these modules again in order to be eligible for the award of Doctor of Clinical Psychology. Doctor of Clinical Psychology trainees must account for their time as NHS employees and therefore students will be required to audit all modules where recognition of prior learning has been applied.

There will be no fee reduction where recognition of prior learning has been applied.

These regulations should be read in conjunction with the programme specification.

Disclaimer

As a research-led University, we undertake a continuous review of our programmes to ensure quality enhancement and to manage our resources. As a result, these regulations may be revised during a student’s period of registration, however, any revision will be balanced against the requirement that the student should receive the educational service expected. Please read our Disclaimer to see why, when and how changes may be made to a student’s programme.