Doctorate in Educational Psychology - (DEdPsych) (4883)
This three year DEdPsych Doctorate in Educational Psychology training programme prepares students for a professional qualification which will enable them to work in Children’s Services and to provide help with the major developmental and educational problems presented by children to parents, teachers in schools, and in other agencies.
Introducing your degree
Do you want to use your psychological knowledge to help make a difference for children and young people (CYP)? Educational psychologists (EPs) do this every day as they work with CYP in their schools, homes and wider communities. EPs use psychology to help CYP develop their social mental & emotional health, and to learn effectively. Working to help CYP overcome difficulties and develop their potential, EPs use a strengths-based approach that pays attention not just to the CYP, but to the context in which they live and learn.
EPs are also involved in wider activities such as applied research in schools, training and policy development. By applying for and completing our course, you will be to apply for chartered status with the British Psychological Society, and be able to apply to the Health Care Professions Council to use the title of Educational Psychologist.
Through academic study and research, allied to extensive placement learning experience, this educational psychology doctorate will equip you with the skills necessary to meet the challenges of this rewarding work.
If you would like to know more about this DEdPsych please contact the administrator for the programme, Angela Goodall Email: [email protected] (telephone +44 (0)23 8059 5321).
The programme is for people wishing to become an educational psychologist and meets the requirements for chartered status with BPS, and enables those completing the programme to apply for registration with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC).
Applications for September 2025 entry into the Southampton Educational Psychology Doctorate training programme:
Application start date - 4 September 2024, midday
References deadline - 29 October 2024, 5pm
Application deadline - 30 October 2024, 5pm
Interview and shortlisting deadline - 21 March 2025, 5pm
Offer release - 26 March 2025, midday
Candidates will have 7 days from receiving an offer to accept or decline their EPFT place.
The next Open Evening will be in person at the Highfield Campus in September 2025 from 5.00pm to 7.00pm. Please register your interest here.
The recent Open Evening comprised an initial presentation of information, followed by an informal question and answer session with tutors and current trainees. For more information, please watch the videos on YouTube.
A detailed DEdPsych programme specification and handbook are available at the bottom of this page.
To Apply
Application for this DEdPsych Doctorate in Educational Psychology is through the Association of Educational Psychologists and requires on-line application for up to three training providers. The University of Southampton is a member of the SEEL Consortium, linking five programmes offering training in London, East and South East England. Application is however direct to individual providers, and selection is conducted at programme level. Please note, for the current contract from 2024 onwards, the consortium no longer includes UCL.
The Doctoral Programme in Educational Psychology at the University of Southampton aims to promote equality of opportunity for all persons and welcomes applications from a wide range of candidates meeting the essential criteria on the person specification. If you are selected for interview, you will be required to complete a Self-disclosure form as part of an application for a trainee place.
The trainee place for which you have applied is an exempted occupation for the purpose of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. All "spent" and "unspent" convictions must be declared. Having a "spent" or "unspent" conviction may impede your application for the course. This will depend on the circumstance and background to your offence in relation to the university place that you are applying for. Evaluation of information is based on strict confidentiality and discretion.
Please note that Southampton does not require any specific additional information in this section of the application form. For further information about Educational Psychology and associated training please see: www.bps.org.uk .
All successful DEdPsych applicants are required to apply for an enhanced Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check (formerly CRB). Disclosure of criminal convictions will be assessed on an individual basis according to the University student convictions policy and the School of Psychology Fitness to Practise policy. Further information regarding DBS can be obtained from the DBS website .
Successful applicants for this educational psychology doctorate are also expected to confirm their fitness to study and practice at the start of the programme. Potential applications need to be aware of these requirements prior to application. Once on the DEdPsych programme, trainees are expected to maintain their health and well-being throughout the duration of the programme and in line with the HCPC's guidance on conduct and ethics, to let the education provider know if their health status changes.
If you would like to know more please contact the administrator for the programme, Angela Goodall Email: [email protected] , tel.+44 (0)23 8059 5321.
Accreditation
This DEdPsych Doctorate in Educational Psychology programme meets the requirements for chartered status with BPS, and is approved for registration with the HCPC.
Key facts
The programme at Southampton is designed to enable you to work in partnership with a diverse population of children, young people, their families and services in a range of contexts and settings. The research requirements are integrally linked to the placement and academic components and culminates in a thesis which aims to address an issue relevant to an educational psychology context.
The Educational Psychology Funded Training (EPFT) scheme provides government funding in partnership with employers for 204 trainee educational psychologists. It is a six-year commitment made up of a three-year doctorate degree course, followed, by a period of employment immediately after graduation as an educational psychologist within a local authority (or alternative setting which supports the statutory work within a local authority) within England for at least three years. Find more information on the Educational Psychology Funded Training (EPFT) scheme.
You have a 2:1 or first class psychology degree or have completed an approved conversion course or a Master’s degree with a significant psychology component at Merit level, AND be eligible for the British Psychological Society (BPS) Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC). You must have the qualification that grants you eligibility for GBC before the application deadline.
Sustained and relevant work with children in education, childcare, or community settings. A minimum of 1 year's full time (or equivalent part-time) at the time of application. This can be all paid employment or at least nine months full time paid and 3 months voluntary relevant experience. It is important that the experience enables you to demonstrate:
Effective communication and engagement with children, young people and families.
Knowledge of a range of ages and contexts e.g. Mainstream, Special, Social Care, Health, Justice, PRU, Voluntary Groups, Independent sector.
An ability to manage competing demands.
An ability to critically reflect upon and improve your practice in response to feedback.
An understanding of inclusion equality and diversity and an awareness of how the roles in which you have worked have enabled you to promote these principles.
Applicants are short-listed based on the evidence in their application which must show evidence of:
the application of psychology in working with children and young people
your thinking about your practice
that you have kept psychology as an on-going interest and a regular part of your CPD
the skills and competencies that demonstrate your readiness to join a doctoral training course and to design and carry out a piece of publishable research
Please note we do not use references at the shortlisting stage.
You must be able to demonstrate a good command of English. If English is not your first language you must be able to evidence a good standard of written and spoken English (100 for internet-based TOEFL, 250 for computer-based TOEFL, 600 for paper-based TOEFL or Level 5 for International English Language Testing System (IELTS) Academic Version which is an overall score of 8.0 and a minimum of 8.0 in each component.
Selection process
Selection for this Doctorate in Educational Psychology is undertaken in collaboration with educational psychology service managers from neighbouring local authorities who participate in the short-listing and interview process. The programme welcomes applications from people with disabilities and from ethnic minority communities.
The Doctorate in Educational Psychology at Southampton does not accept self-funders therefore potential applications need to meet the criteria set out by the Association of Educational Psychologists for funded places.
This educational psychology doctorate is based within the School of Psychology at Southampton, which has an international reputation for research and innovation. As a programme it aims to develop your knowledge, understanding and application of theory, empirical evidence and interventions at the core of the professional practice of educational psychology. We place great emphasis on developing your research skills across the three years. The programme is designed to equip you to become a reflective and adaptable practitioner, who can apply both casework and research skills in a variety of contexts.
The first year of the DEdPsych Doctorate in Educational Psychology is spent studying full time, although this includes regular placement days within a primary and secondary school under the guidance of a field tutor. In the second and third year trainees work for three days a week in two different local authorities. By Year 3 trainees are expected to take increasing responsibility for their own practice and negotiate with service users appropriate activities. While Supervisors remain in close touch with trainees, the level of supervision is reduced and more independent practice encouraged.
Trainees at Southampton have the opportunity to take up a placement with the SEEL Training Consortium of local authorities in the area. Members of the Consortium make a financial contribution to the bursary scheme and offer placements to year 2 and 3 trainees. Trainees are required to accept a placement within the consortium.
Year 1 trainees at Southampton currently receive a bursary of £16,266.
Professional Placements in Years 2 and 3
Southampton is part of the SEEL consortium consisting of Institute of Education, Southampton, Tavistock, UCL and UEL and placements are arranged for all trainees across these training providers in Years 2 and 3 by means of a placement panel which is held in June each year. In May of Year 1 trainees will be asked to nominate, according to the specific requirements and in order of preference, 5 of the bursary placements that have been pledged in the SEEL/SEAL region. Placements are for 130 days during term time, which equates to approximately 3 days a week.
Please note: The boundaries of the SEEL region extend from Norfolk east to Oxford, south to Dorset and west to Kent. The boundaries of the SEAL region (2024 contract onwards) DO NOT include the Eastern region. The bursaries can all be viewed as they come in on the website .
Accepting a place on any of the SEEL programmes (Institute of Education, Southampton, Tavistock, UCL and UEL) carries with the expectation that you will take a placement within the region covered by the consortium.
You may be allocated a placement in years 2 and 3 where a car is essential. Unless you have an authenticated medical condition that prevents you from driving, you must have a current driving licence and the use of a car for your placement days. If you do not have access to a car you will need to make necessary arrangements to allow you to undertake the full range of placement activities as if you had a car.
Fees for postgraduate research degrees vary across the University. All fees are listed for UK, EU and international full-time and part-time students alphabetically by course name.
List of tuition fees for this course and it's variations
Course Title
Award
Year of entry
Mode of study
UK/EU
International
Educational Psychology - years 2 & 3 (21/22 & 22/23)
Doctor (DEdPsych)
2020
Full-time
£7,125
not offered
Educational Psychology - year 1 in 22/23
DEdPsych
2022
Full-time
Fees Paid by HEE £14,250
not offered
Educational Psychology - years 2 & 3 (23/24 & 24/25)
DEdPsych
2022
Full-time
Fees Paid by HEE £7,125
not offered
Educational Psychology - year 1 in 22/23
DEdPsych
2023
Full-time
Fees Paid by DfE £17,795
not offered
Educational Psychology - years 2 & 3 (23/24 & 24/25)
Scholarships, bursaries, sponsorships or grants may be available to support you through your course. Funding opportunities available to you are linked to your subject area and/or your country of origin. These can be from the University of Southampton or other sources.
This DEdPsych Doctorate in Educational Psychology programme is taught via a range of educational and placement opportunities that are supported via academic teaching from the University of Southampton. In Year 1, a significant part of the curriculum is delivered using problem based learning. This is designed not only to encourage independent learning, but also to develop group collaboration skills and promote a direct application of what you learn to professional practice. On this course you are respected as adult learners who are aiming to become autonomous professionals with the integration of theory and practice being central to the curriculum.
A problem-centred approach is at the heart of Southampton's DEdPsych Doctorate in Educational Psychology programme. The models we draw on are the revised Problem Solving Framework (Monsen & Frederickson 2008), the Gameson & Rhydderch (2008) Constructionist Model of Informed Reasoned Action (COMOIRA) and the Integrated Framework (Woolfson, L., Stewart, A.,Whaling, R. & Monsen, J. 2003, 2008). The programme aims to give experience of applying the problem centred framework at a number of levels: individual, group, organisation e.g. school and policy maker e.g. local authority.
The DEdPsych Doctorate in Educational Psychology programme is structured as follows:
Year 1
Knowledge and skill development through problem based learning and seminars at university (2 days a week)
Research methods and statistics (half a day)
Applied Research Methods Course (I and II) (one morning a week)
Generic Research Skills (3 days a year)
Independent study (a day a week)
Placement in pairs with a Field Tutor for 1.5 days a week from Oct to July(approx 60 days) in Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton which is the context for both casework and research activity
Year 2
Knowledge and skill development (Mondays at university throughout term time)
Generic Research skills (3 days a year)
Independent study (2 days a week for thesis preparation, write-up of research projects and attendance at the university - see above)
Placement in a local authority through a bursary scheme for 130 days (usually 3 days a week) which provides the context for developing casework skills and applied research projects.
Year 3
Generic Research skills (3 days a year)
Independent study (2 days a week for thesis preparation, and 8 days university attendance)
Placement in local authority through a bursary scheme for 130 days (usually 3 days a week) which provides the context for extending professional practitioner skills.
Across the three years, your knowledge, intellectual and general skills will be assessed by:
Essays and academic critiques
Reports of Casework
Practical work files
Graduated Applied Research Projects with topics coming from schools and the wider LA community
A thesis: (20,000 word thesis containing a literature review plus empirical pape
Study locations
Highfield Campus
Some of the Foundation Year subjects will be taught on the Highfield C... Find out more
