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- Advanced Practice in Psychological Wellbeing
PGCert — 2024 entry Advanced Practice in Psychological Wellbeing
On this course, you'll learn how to effectively assess and treat patients with mild to moderate mental health difficulties, and gain the skills to make a real difference to patients' lives using evidence-based talking therapies.
Why choose
this course?
- Spend part of your training in clinical employment to practise your skills in healthcare settings under the supervision of qualified practitioners
- Study a syllabus designed to meet the British Psychological Society’s (BPS) programme accreditation standards for the education of psychological wellbeing practitioners, and underpinned by the following core NHS values:
- Commitment to quality of care
- Compassion
- Everyone counts
- Improving people’s lives
- Respect and dignity for all
- Working together for patients
- Get the academic requirements needed to register with the BPS or BABCP as a psychological wellbeing practitioner
- Embark on a career change using your existing experience working in a healthcare setting.
Statistics
100%
Of our postgraduate psychology graduates are in employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2024, HESA)
9th in the UK
The University of Surrey is ranked 9th in the UK for overall student satisfaction (Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey 2023)
12th in the UK
Surrey is ranked 12th in the UK in the Complete University Guide 2025
Accreditation
![BPS logo](/sites/default/files/styles/medium/public/2018-11/bps-logo.jpg?itok=EA8oLM11)
What you will study
You’ll learn how to effectively assess and treat patients presenting with common mental health difficulties using a range of low intensity cognitive behavioural-based interventions. You’ll develop your competencies as a reflective practitioner who’s able to critically engage with literature.
You’ll gain an appreciation of diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism to support you to effectively work in an inclusive value driven service. We’ll prepare you for clinical settings by introducing you to the personal impact of working with clients in distress and the associated ethical concerns.
Professional recognition
PGCert - British Psychological Society (BPS)
Accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS) against the requirements for qualification as a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner.
Clinical experience
You’ll be employed by NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression in the local area during training. This will enable you to gain clinical experience. At work, you’ll have a supervisor who’s a senior clinician. They'll guide you through your experience and feed into your evidence portfolio. You’ll be evaluated on your clinical competence as part of your practical learning experiences.
Facilities
Our exceptional facilities will give you access to the latest equipment, including a virtual reality suite to simulate real-life scenarios and two observation labs. You’ll also have access to 20 bookable project rooms, a breakout space, equipment lockers and a computer lab.
The structure of our programmes follows clear educational aims that are tailored to each programme. These are all outlined in the programme specifications which include further details such as the learning outcomes:
Please be aware: the course content and modules listed for this course are subject to change for the 2024/25 academic year, whilst we undertake a curriculum design review. Please contact the programme leader if you have any queries about the course.
Modules
Modules listed are indicative, reflecting the information available at the time of publication. Modules are subject to teaching availability, student demand and/or class size caps.
The University operates a credit framework for all taught programmes based on a 15-credit tariff.
Course options
Year 1
Semester 1
Core
This module provides trainees with the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge of undertaking patient centred assessments. This is with adults who are presenting with mild-moderate mental health difficulties in NHS talking therapies for Anxiety and Depression contexts. Throughout the module, trainees are supported to develop themselves as resilient, reflective and professional practitioners who can critically engage with the literature that informs their practice. Skills developed in this module (e.g. interpersonal skills, use of empathy) will be fundamental in supporting trainees through subsequent modules (PSYM127 and PSYM129) where they will be required to carry out treatments with diverse individuals suffering with anxiety and depression.
View full module detailsSemester 2
Core
This module provides trainees with the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge of undertaking patient centred assessments. This is with adults who are presenting with mild-moderate mental health difficulties in NHS talking therapies for Anxiety and Depression contexts. Throughout the module, trainees are supported to develop themselves as resilient, reflective and professional practitioners who can critically engage with the literature that informs their practice. Skills developed in this module (e.g. interpersonal skills, use of empathy) will be fundamental in supporting trainees through subsequent modules (PSYM127 and PSYM129) where they will be required to carry out treatments with diverse individuals suffering with anxiety and depression.
View full module detailsThis module supports trainees to develop the competencies they require to be able to treat adult patients from diverse populations who are presenting with mild-moderate common mental health difficulties using evidence-based low-intensity interventions. The module builds on the engagement and assessment skills and knowledge that trainees developed in module PSYM126. Additionally, the module continues to help trainees to grow as reflective practitioners who can critically engage with their practice and the evidence base that informs this. Trainees will be encouraged to consider how treatments can be adapted to support individuals from a variety of different backgrounds thus providing them with knowledge for subsequent modules (PSYM129).
View full module detailsThis module provides trainees with opportunities to gain hands on experience of the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) role in a clinical context. This is important in enabling trainees to advance themselves as autonomous professionals who are capable of problem solving and ethical decision making. It also helps trainees to develop the transferable skills required by PWP employers and is designed to strengthen the application of their learning from modules PSYM126, PSYM127 and PSYM129 in practice. This is achieved through supervised clinical practice which helps trainees to make theory-practice links and to accrue the clinical experiences required to pass this module i.e. the clinical and supervision hours and experiences specified in the national PWP training curriculum.
View full module detailsSemester 1 & 2
Core
This module supports trainees to develop the competencies they require to be able to treat adult patients from diverse populations who are presenting with mild-moderate common mental health difficulties using evidence-based low-intensity interventions. The module builds on the engagement and assessment skills and knowledge that trainees developed in module PSYM126. Additionally, the module continues to help trainees to grow as reflective practitioners who can critically engage with their practice and the evidence base that informs this. Trainees will be encouraged to consider how treatments can be adapted to support individuals from a variety of different backgrounds thus providing them with knowledge for subsequent modules (PSYM129).
View full module detailsThis module is designed to support trainees’ critical engagement with values, diversity and context. Its overarching aim is to enable trainees to develop themselves as resourceful, critically reflective practitioners who exhibit sophisticated levels of meta competence in their work with individual differences. The module also emphasises ethical practice and trainees’ ability to work within the limits of their competence. This module should further support trainees to assess and treat individuals from diverse backgrounds therefore building on the learning from the previous modules (PSYM126 and PSYM127).
View full module detailsAcross academic years
Core
This module provides trainees with opportunities to gain hands on experience of the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) role in a clinical context. This is important in enabling trainees to advance themselves as autonomous professionals who are capable of problem solving and ethical decision making. It also helps trainees to develop the transferable skills required by PWP employers and is designed to strengthen the application of their learning from modules PSYM126, PSYM127 and PSYM129 in practice. This is achieved through supervised clinical practice which helps trainees to make theory-practice links and to accrue the clinical experiences required to pass this module i.e. the clinical and supervision hours and experiences specified in the national PWP training curriculum.
View full module detailsThis module is designed to support trainees’ critical engagement with values, diversity and context. Its overarching aim is to enable trainees to develop themselves as resourceful, critically reflective practitioners who exhibit sophisticated levels of meta competence in their work with individual differences. The module also emphasises ethical practice and trainees’ ability to work within the limits of their competence. This module should further support trainees to assess and treat individuals from diverse backgrounds therefore building on the learning from the previous modules (PSYM126 and PSYM127).
View full module detailsYear 1
Semester 1
Core
This module provides trainees with the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge of undertaking patient centred assessments. This is with adults who are presenting with mild-moderate mental health difficulties in NHS talking therapies for Anxiety and Depression contexts. Throughout the module, trainees are supported to develop themselves as resilient, reflective and professional practitioners who can critically engage with the literature that informs their practice. Skills developed in this module (e.g. interpersonal skills, use of empathy) will be fundamental in supporting trainees through subsequent modules (PSYM127 and PSYM129) where they will be required to carry out treatments with diverse individuals suffering with anxiety and depression.
View full module detailsSemester 2
Core
This module provides trainees with the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge of undertaking patient centred assessments. This is with adults who are presenting with mild-moderate mental health difficulties in NHS talking therapies for Anxiety and Depression contexts. Throughout the module, trainees are supported to develop themselves as resilient, reflective and professional practitioners who can critically engage with the literature that informs their practice. Skills developed in this module (e.g. interpersonal skills, use of empathy) will be fundamental in supporting trainees through subsequent modules (PSYM127 and PSYM129) where they will be required to carry out treatments with diverse individuals suffering with anxiety and depression.
View full module detailsThis module supports trainees to develop the competencies they require to be able to treat adult patients from diverse populations who are presenting with mild-moderate common mental health difficulties using evidence-based low-intensity interventions. The module builds on the engagement and assessment skills and knowledge that trainees developed in module PSYM126. Additionally, the module continues to help trainees to grow as reflective practitioners who can critically engage with their practice and the evidence base that informs this. Trainees will be encouraged to consider how treatments can be adapted to support individuals from a variety of different backgrounds thus providing them with knowledge for subsequent modules (PSYM129).
View full module detailsThis module provides trainees with opportunities to gain hands on experience of the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) role in a clinical context. This is important in enabling trainees to advance themselves as autonomous professionals who are capable of problem solving and ethical decision making. It also helps trainees to develop the transferable skills required by PWP employers and is designed to strengthen the application of their learning from modules PSYM126, PSYM127 and PSYM129 in practice. This is achieved through supervised clinical practice which helps trainees to make theory-practice links and to accrue the clinical experiences required to pass this module i.e. the clinical and supervision hours and experiences specified in the national PWP training curriculum.
View full module detailsSemester 1 & 2
Core
This module supports trainees to develop the competencies they require to be able to treat adult patients from diverse populations who are presenting with mild-moderate common mental health difficulties using evidence-based low-intensity interventions. The module builds on the engagement and assessment skills and knowledge that trainees developed in module PSYM126. Additionally, the module continues to help trainees to grow as reflective practitioners who can critically engage with their practice and the evidence base that informs this. Trainees will be encouraged to consider how treatments can be adapted to support individuals from a variety of different backgrounds thus providing them with knowledge for subsequent modules (PSYM129).
View full module detailsThis module is designed to support trainees’ critical engagement with values, diversity and context. Its overarching aim is to enable trainees to develop themselves as resourceful, critically reflective practitioners who exhibit sophisticated levels of meta competence in their work with individual differences. The module also emphasises ethical practice and trainees’ ability to work within the limits of their competence. This module should further support trainees to assess and treat individuals from diverse backgrounds therefore building on the learning from the previous modules (PSYM126 and PSYM127).
View full module detailsAcross academic years
Core
This module provides trainees with opportunities to gain hands on experience of the Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner (PWP) role in a clinical context. This is important in enabling trainees to advance themselves as autonomous professionals who are capable of problem solving and ethical decision making. It also helps trainees to develop the transferable skills required by PWP employers and is designed to strengthen the application of their learning from modules PSYM126, PSYM127 and PSYM129 in practice. This is achieved through supervised clinical practice which helps trainees to make theory-practice links and to accrue the clinical experiences required to pass this module i.e. the clinical and supervision hours and experiences specified in the national PWP training curriculum.
View full module detailsThis module is designed to support trainees’ critical engagement with values, diversity and context. Its overarching aim is to enable trainees to develop themselves as resourceful, critically reflective practitioners who exhibit sophisticated levels of meta competence in their work with individual differences. The module also emphasises ethical practice and trainees’ ability to work within the limits of their competence. This module should further support trainees to assess and treat individuals from diverse backgrounds therefore building on the learning from the previous modules (PSYM126 and PSYM127).
View full module detailsTeaching and learning
You’ll be taught by a team of experienced clinicians, including senior psychological wellbeing practitioners, clinical and counselling psychologists, and psychotherapists. This will help to ensure that everything you learn is up-to-date and relevant to employers.
- Group work
- Lectures
- Role play
- Tutorials
- Independent study
Assessment
We use a variety of methods to assess your competence. These include coursework, an observed structured clinical examination, audio recordings of your clinical work, an oral presentation, essays, a case report and a written examination. When you’re working in service, your clinical competence will be assessed by your service supervisors.
Check individual module information to see full details at a module level.
General course information
Contact hours
Contact hours can vary across our modules. Full details of the contact hours for each module are available from the University of Surrey's module catalogue. See the modules section for more information.
Timetable
Teaching takes place mainly on Wednesday's and Thursday's and you’ll be in practice for the remaining days of the week. Course timetables are normally available one month before the start of the semester.
View our code of practice for the scheduling of teaching and assessment (PDF).
Location
Stag Hill is the University's main campus and where the majority of our courses are taught.
For the May intake teaching will be held at a venue in Kent.
You’ll have 18 face-to-face days at the Stag Hill campus for the September intake, or a Kent venue for the May intake. For the remaining 18 days, you’ll study remotely.
You’ll be expected to attend clinical employment off campus. Please see the clinical experience section for more details.
We offer careers information, advice and guidance to all students whilst studying with us, which is extended to our alumni for three years after leaving the University.
NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression look to improve access to evidence-based talking therapies within the NHS and through other qualified healthcare providers, by continuous growth of the psychological therapy workforce and its services. As a graduate of this course, you’ll become part of this workforce.
100 per cent of our postgraduate psychology graduates go on to employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2024, HESA). Our alumni work for NHS trusts and mental health organisations throughout the UK.
Learn more about psychology careers on the BPS website.
While many PWPs are psychology graduates this is not a necessity. Applications are welcomed from people with experience working in mental health or similar services who may not have been in education recently. Services will also have individual person specifications you are required to meet. For further details please visit the NHS careers website.
Postgraduate route
Accumulated credit volume of 360 FHEQ Level 4-6 credits (achieved to 2:1), of which at least 120 will be at FHEQ Level 6. Students should be working/ have recent experience in a relevant healthcare setting.
Other entry requirements: Each student that is employed by NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (1974) Section 4 (2) (Exemptions) Order 1975 and DHSS Circular HC (88)9 guidelines regarding police checks and child protection.
International entry requirements
Applicants must have the right to work in the UK. To qualify for salary support they must not be subject to any restrictions on their length of stay in the UK.
English language requirements
Academic IELTS: 6.5 overall including 6.0 in each category.
These are the English language qualifications and levels that we can accept.
If you do not currently meet the level required for your programme, we offer intensive pre-sessional English language courses, designed to take you to the level of English ability and skill required for your studies here.
Selection process
Application link is provided to apply post internal trust interview with University of Surrey representative. Applicants should apply through NHS jobs initially.
Fees
This course is normally conducted as a fully-funded placement through our partnered NHS trusts, and as such has no tuition fee costs to the student.
The full cost of tuition fees for eligible trainees are paid by Health Education England.
Additional costs
- Travelling expenses such as those incurred for travelling between the employer and the University or venue where teaching will take place
- General programme related costs such as study materials
- Potential costs involved in working/studying remotely e.g. internet connection etc.
Scholarships and bursaries
Discover what scholarships and bursaries are available to support your studies.
How to apply
All applicants should apply directly through local NHS talking therapies for anxiety and depression service providers with joint interviews taking place with University programme staff. There are two cohorts per year that typically start in May and September.
We are unable to consider direct individual applications.
Please look out for advertisements for this role in the relevant service providers’ websites or NHS jobs website.
Once you have been recruited by the PCT/service provider, you will be automatically sent to the University of Surrey for training on this course.
Admissions information
Once you apply, you can expect to hear back from us within 14 days. This might be with a decision on your application or with a request for further information.
Our code of practice for postgraduate admissions policy explains how the Admissions team considers applications and admits students. Read our postgraduate applicant guidance for more information on applying.
About the University of Surrey
Need more information?
Contact our Admissions team or talk to a current University of Surrey student online.
Terms and conditions
When you accept an offer to study at the University of Surrey, you are agreeing to follow our policies and procedures, student regulations, and terms and conditions.
We provide these terms and conditions in two stages:
- First when we make an offer.
- Second when students accept their offer and register to study with us (registration terms and conditions will vary depending on your course and academic year).
View our generic registration terms and conditions (PDF) for the 2023/24 academic year, as a guide on what to expect.
Disclaimer
This online prospectus has been published in advance of the academic year to which it applies.
Whilst we have done everything possible to ensure this information is accurate, some changes may happen between publishing and the start of the course.
It is important to check this website for any updates before you apply for a course with us. Read our full disclaimer.