Doctor of Clinical Psychology

General Regulations

• 1. The Oxford InstituteDepartment of ClinicalExperimental Psychology Training shall have power, on behalf of the Medical Sciences Board, to admit Students for the Degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology.

• 2.  The Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training shall make a return to the Registrar by the end of the first week of Michaelmas Full Term, showing the names of all persons admitted in that term as Students for the Degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology, and the Registrar shall keep a register of such students.

• 3. The Medical Sciences Board shall have power, on the recommendation of the Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training, to remove temporarily or permanently the name of a student from the register. This power shall include cases where students have been found under the procedures of the course and the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust guilty of gross misconduct or in breach of the Health and Care Professions Council or the British Psychological Society's Code of Ethics and Conduct.

• 43.  Students shall be admitted to the doctoral programme for a probationary period. The externalBoard examinerof Examiners shall conduct a formal mid-course review during the secondfirst half  of the second year of the course (i.e. between twelve and eighteen and twenty-four months  after the commencement of the course). Candidates shall be required to complete successfully all elements of the work required before they are permitted to progress ontofrom the secondprobationary partperiod. Failure to meet mid-course requirements within 18 months of registration will usually result in withdrawal from the courseprogramme without award.

• 54. Subject to the provisions of clauses 32 and 43 above, students for the Degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology may hold that status for a maximum of five years.

• 65. TheStudents Proctors shallwill be responsible for overseeing the proper conduct of the examinations for the Degree in Clinical Psychology. They shall have powerexpected to investigatekeep anystatutory concernresidence regardingwhile the conduct of any candidate for the examination and to impose any penalty equivalent to that which may be imposed upon a member of the University in similar circumstances.

• 7. An appeal against a decision of the Board of Examiners for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology must be made to the Complaints & Academic Appeals Panel of the Oxford Institute of Clinical Psychology Training in the first instance, through procedures laid down in the course handbook. A candidate who is dissatisfied with the decision of the Institute’s Complaints & Academic Appeals Panel may submit an appeal through the University’s Procedures for Handling Complaints (including Academic Appeals) laid down and published by the Proctors under section 22 of Statute IX. No procedures arising from a candidate's status as employee or former employee of the Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust may affect a decision of the examiners.

• 8. Should any Studentsregistered for the Degree of Doctor of Clinical Psychology. haveExceptional accessrequests to Universitylive servicesoutside andthe facilities,statutory theyresidence willarea may be requiredmade toin observeaccordance with the appropriateRegulations statutes,for regulations,Residence and/or rules governing the use of such services and facilities. The Proctors shall have power to investigate any alleged breaches of those statutes, regulations, and/or rules and to deal with the matter and impose any penalty equivalent to that which they would have been empowered to impose upon a member ofin the University. inRequests similarto circumstanceslive outside the NHS Thames Valley and South Midlands area are unlikely to be supported by the department.

   

Special Regulations

• 1. Candidates shall follow a course of training in Clinical Psychology for a period of at least three years. The training shall consist of Clinical, Academic, and Research elements, and candidates will be required to demonstrate their competence in all three elements. The precise periods of training, and the amount of time to be spent on each element, will be notifiedspecified to candidates byin the Course Director prior to the commencement of the courseHandbook.

• 2.  Candidates shallmust besatisfy examinedthe examiners in all of the following ways: 

  • (a)  Clinical Activity

    Each candidate shall develop competence in five or six supervised clinical areas normally including the following:

    (i) Adult; 

  • (ii) Child; 

  • (iii) Learning Disabilities; 

  • (iv) Older People; 

  • (v) Specialist (to be chosen by the candidate in consultation with the course tutors, subject to the availability of appropriate supervision. Final year candidates will normally either develop competence in one (twelve month) or two (six month) elective areas).

  • Candidates shall submit to the Board of Examiners aan integrated clinical report on five of the above clinical areas. Normally, at least one report will concern clinical work which is other than individually based. Each report shall consist of not more than 64,000 words including tables and diagrams but excluding references and appendices. Candidates shall also submit to the Clinical Tutor a notebook (Log Book) for each clinical area. The candidate's supervisor in each clinical area shall complete, in consultation with the Clinical Tutor, an Evaluation of Clinical Competence (ECC). The Reports and ECC Forms (a minimum of five) shall be assessed as part of the examination. The notebooks shall be available to the examiners.

  • Candidates must meet the subject area requirements through their Clinical Activity as detailed in the Course Handbook. Candidates may choose to offer case presentations to meet some subject area requirements, as set out in the Course Handbook.

  • (b)  Academic Activity

    Candidates shall be required to follow a programme of study, as prescribed by the Director ofin the Course Handbook, normally in each of the following areas:

    (i) Adult mental health; 

  • (ii) Children; 

  • (iii) Learning Disabilities; 

  • (iv) Older People; 

  • (v) Specialist teaching.

  • Candidates are required to submit an extended essay in three of these areas. The essay shall not exceed 53,000 words including tables and diagramsfurther butinstructions excludingare references, and shall be on a subject approvedprovided in advance by the InstituteCourse Handbook. One essay will take the form of a Critical Review.

  • (c)  Research Activity

  • Candidates shall offer thea followingresearch portfolio comprised of:

    • (i) One service-related improvement project of approximatelybetween 43,500000 and 5,000 words in length including tables and diagrams but excluding references and appendices. The project shall normally be carried out within a clinical context within the first two years of training and shall be of direct relevance to the clinical work.

    • (ii) A research dissertationreport of between 153,000 and 25-5,000 words, including tables, diagrams, references, and appendices. The Research Dissertation shall consist of a research report ofconcerning a significant and substantial investigation with human participants andwhich shall be of clinical relevance. The subject of the Researchresearch Dissertationreport must be approved in advance byaccording to the Instituteinstructions in the Course Handbook.  

    • (iii)  A systematic review of 3,000-7,000 words which may include theoretical work in a clinical subject.  The subject of the systematic review must be approved in advance according to the instructions in the Course Handbook.  

      (iv)  A reflecting connective narrative of 1,000 words.

      The word count for each element of the research portfolio does not include references or appendices. 

  • All candidates will be examined on the Dissertationresearch portfolio viva voce.

• 3. Candidates are required to pass all assessments in four units. The four units are:

  • (i) Three professional/academic assessments 

  • (ii) Three assessed research proposals  

  • (iii) Six clinical placement assessments, each with an evaluation of clinical competence and two ratings of direct observation of clinical work except the fifth, which will have only one. The first five placements also require a separately marked integrated Clinical Report.

  • (iv) A Research Dissertation in the form of a portfolio of publishable papers with a connecting and reflective narrative and executive summary.   

• 3.Resits Candidatesare shallpermitted bein requiredthe event of up to satisfytwo examinersinitial failure marks in each unit. A total of five or more initial failures across the four units or a second failure at resubmission for any assessment will normally be deemed to constitute a failure of the assessmentdoctorate unitsand describedwithdrawal infrom clausethe 2 aboveprogramme.  

• 4. Guidelines on the preparation and submission of all written work will be updated annually as required and will be included in the Course Handbook.

• 5. Deadlines for the submission of all assessed work (i.e.including essay titles, essays, service-related improvement projects, integrated clinical reports, critical reviews, dissertationresearch proposals and dissertationsresearch reports) will be published annually by the Institute in the ‘Annualcourse Coursehandbook Syllabusand Book’on the course VLE at the start of the academic year. They will also be posted in the Course Office.

• 6. All material submitted for examination must be sentsubmitted via the approved online submissions platform according to the Chairdeadlines of Examiners for the Doctoratepublished in Clinical Psychology, c/o the Course ManagerHandbook.

• 7. Once the board has granted a candidate leave to supplicate, Isisthey Educationmust Centresubmit an electronic version of their finalised copy of the thesis, Warnefordas Hospitalapproved by the examiners, Headingtonto the Oxford Research Archive. These should incorporate any corrections or amendments which the examiners may have requested of the candidate. The examiners must confirm in writing in their report to the board that any corrections required have been made. No corrections, Oxford.changes Itor additions of any kind shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by the candidate indicating that it is the candidate's own work, except where otherwise specified. In the case of the integrated clinical report, service-related project, and dissertation, this must be supported by a signed statement from the candidate's supervisor indicating that the material submitted is the candidate's own work. These certificates must be submitted separately in a sealed envelope addressedmade to the Chairthesis of Examiners forafter the Doctorateboard inhas Clinicalgranted Psychologya candidate leave to supplicate.