British Psychological Society: Partnership and Accreditation Visit: 23rd February 2016
The School received confirmation from The British Psychological Society (BPS) on 24th May 2016 of ongoing accreditation of the MSc Health Psychology. Therefore, graduates from the programme are deemed to have met stage one of the requirements for Chartered Membership of the Society (CPsychol) and full membership of the Division of Health Psychology. The BPS is the learned and professional body, incorporated by Royal Charter, for psychologists in the United Kingdom. The Society has a total membership and subscribership of approximately 60,000, and is a registered charity’. Under its Royal Charter, the key objective of the Society is “to promote the advancement and diffusion of the knowledge of psychology pure and applied and especially to promote the efficiency and usefulness of members by setting up a high standard of professional education and knowledge”.
This is an excellent result following the preparation for the visit in February and is shared with our collaborative School, namely: Psychology and Neuroscience.
Professor Gerry Humphris stated: ‘I am especially pleased with this BPS report as we were given special Commendations that the visiting party wished us to note’. They were listed as follows:
- The programme benefits from outstanding teaching provision and integration of research into teaching.
- The programme offers a good variety of placement and has strong connections with local health care providers.
- The programme offers a diverse learning environment due to it being co-located within two separate schools.
- The approachability of and support provided by the programme team are commendable.
- The programme benefits from comprehensive statistical support mechanisms and uses varied and relevant forms of continuing assessments, which are seen as being commendable and of high value.
There were no conditions requested for continuance of the accreditation. Some recommendations were made for enhancement that consisted of focusing the skills component closer to health issues and to concentrate on the distribution of credit levels for some modules. These will be attended to for the next visit planned for 2021/2. The MSc Health Psychology students were involved closely with the BPS visitors to give feedback at first hand on the course. Thanks, therefore, go to them and the Administrative Team, especially Julie Anderson. All academic staff, including the Dean, IT Services and our NHS colleagues involved in the MSc programme are acknowledged gratefully for their help in the process of this Partnership and Accreditation Visit.