Full details of the Assessment schemes and criteria can be found in the programme specification. An overview of this process is provided in the programme completion and failure processes document.

Scheme of assessment

From 2018 cohort onwards, to obtain the award students are required to complete all three elements of the programme. These comprise: –

1. All five (for trainees in 2018-2020 cohorts) or three (for trainees in 2021 cohort onwards) clinical placements
2. Passing all seven coursework assignments
3. A doctoral thesis

Coursework and evaluation of clinical placements are considered at regular programme exam board meetings. The thesis is examined towards the end of the trainee’s registration on the programme.

Requirements for pass

Clinical placements:  Students up to the 2020 cohort undertake five clinical placements, and students in the 2021 cohort onwards undertake three (usually longer) placements. In the event of a placement failure, the student may be required to re-take the placement (and completion of the programme may be extended accordingly – which may be on an unfunded basis). Details on the fail criteria for an individual placement are available on the placement failure pages. Students who fail more than one placement are deemed to have failed the programme and are not allowed to proceed.

Coursework: The student is required to pass all seven distinct pieces of assessed coursework. These comprise three ‘Broad Skills’ assignments and four ‘Live skills’ assignments. The broad skills assignments are the Self-Assessment Exercise, the Placement Assignment -Service Evaluation, and the Thesis Preparation Assignment. Students are permitted three attempts to pass each of these assignments. The live skills assignments comprise the Service Improvement Poster Presentation the three Placement Assignments – Live Skills (#1, #2 & #3). Students are permitted two attempts to pass each of these assignments.  If a student fails all allowed submission attempts of a given assignment, then they are deemed to have failed the programme and is not allowed to proceed. Details of the marking process and outcomes are available in the online handbook. Please note that the details of coursework requirements above only apply to trainees beginning training in 2018 onwards; in earlier cohorts a different assessment scheme was in place for this.

Thesis: This is examined in accordance with the University regulations for doctoral theses.

Appeals

There is no right of appeal for trainees prior to the failure of the whole doctorate. Details of the Appeals process under such circumstances can be found on the Appeals programme handbook page.

Useful documents and links

Programme completion and failure processes
Criteria for placement failure
Marking process, passing and failing assignments – 2018 intake onwards
Examination of the thesis
Fitness to practise
Appeals

What is it?

It is an opportunity for the programme to directly assess the practical application of psychological knowledge and clinical skills through the use of a standardised role play approach. The implementation of this assessment ensures that the programme is adhering to guidance laid out in the British Psychological Society (BPS) Accreditation Criteria (2014).

How does it work?

Trainees are asked to take part in a standardised role play scenario (SRPS) with a simulated client (played by an actor). The SRPS is in two parts.

The first part is a simulated initial assessment session which lasts for 12 minutes. During this time trainees are expected to do the following:

• Appropriately open the session with the client (e.g. introduce self, introduce role, inform client of confidentiality, gain consent to proceed)
• Ask appropriate questions to explore the reason for the client is attending
• Develop a rapport with the client
• Be prepared to address/manage any issues/challenges which may arise (e.g. risk)
• Close the session appropriately (e.g. not ending abruptly)

The second part is a simulated formulation session which lasts for 17 minutes with a 3 minute reflection on performance following on. During this time trainees are expected to do the following:

• Appropriately open the session as if it is several sessions into the series of appointments
• Share/collaboratively develop a formulation which is based on or significantly draws from one (or more) recognised evidence based psychological approach
• Maintain the rapport with the client
• Be prepared to address/manage any issues/challenges which may arise
• Close the session appropriately (e.g. not ending abruptly)
• Comment and reflect on own performance and clinical competence

Trainees will be given an initial referral letter to read before entering the first simulated session. Trainees will be given background information for the simulated client after the Initial Assessment session and will be given a minimum of an hour to prepare for the simulated Formulation session. Trainees can either pre-prepare a formulation or can develop one with the client in the session.

The simulated role plays are video recorded for assessment purposes.

A schedule for the assessment day will sent out to trainees in advance of the assessment day.

What happens if I am ill on the day?

If you are ill you will need to submit a sick note signed by your GP as it is classed as an examination day by the University. Please alert us to your sickness absence in the usual way (i.e. call the absence phone).

What happens if I am late on the day?

If you are going to be late, please let us know as soon as possible by contacting the programme office. Depending on scheduling we will try and reschedule your slot on the same day. If this cannot happen we will reschedule the assessment as soon as is practically possible.

What will happen if I ‘freeze’ on the day?

If you come so anxious you ‘freeze’ or are unable to enter into the simulation process, time will be allowed for you to regain your composure before making a second attempt. If you are unable to enter the simulation process at the second attempt, advice will be sought from the Chair of the Exam Board or their deputy as to how to proceed.

Fitness to practise/professional behaviour concerns arising during the assessment process.

If a trainee engages in behaviour which would raise questions about their fitness to practise OR behaves in a way which could be considered to be gross professional misconduct, this will be brought immediately to the attention of the Clinical Director or their deputy as to how to proceed.

What are the competencies being assessed?

• Skills of engagement and rapport
• Communication skills
• Professional behaviour
• Session management
• Psychological knowledge and application
• Being respectful of difference
• Resilience

Further description and details of the competencies being assessed can be found in the indicator booklet for examiners.

How is it assessed?

Recordings of the Initial Assessment simulated session and the Formulation simulated session for each trainee will be put together in a video ‘bundle’ for examiners. Each video ‘bundle’ will be viewed by two internal examiners who will independently collect evidence of behavioural indicators and give a rating per competence before comparing evidence and ratings with the second examiner and agreeing final ratings and feedback.

This assessment is subject to the usual external examiner ratification processes and Exam Board processes of the DClinPsy.

What do I need to prepare?

The content of the assessment process is designed to be a simulation of clinical work undertaken with a client. The trainees will have had experience of the facets of the assessment through the Communication Skills training sessions and theory to practice sessions within the teaching programme and should be familiar with the features of the simulated role plays through practice on placement (e.g. how to open and close a session, how to explain the role of a trainee clinical psychologist, how to gain informed consent, how to ask exploratory questions, how to work with a client on a formulation/apply psychological knowledge/understanding). Trainees therefore should not need to undertake any specific preparation, however trainees may wish to consider the following:

• Re-famliarise self with the 5P’s approach to formulation as a starting point
• Refresh yourself in terms of your ‘patter’ about introducing psychology, confidentiality and trainee role
• Think about some good opening assessment questions
• Consider how you might address/manage any issues/challenges if they come up e.g. risks
• Think about how you are developing your style in relation to working with a client on formulation e.g. do you want to pre-prepare a formulation to take into the simulated formulation session, or would you prefer to develop/co-create the formulation live in the simulated session

You may bring reference materials with you to support your development of a psychological understanding of the client’s presentation during the 60 minute preparation time. You may also use the COW lap tops in the base room to access reference materials. However, please be aware that you cannot take reference materials into the simulated formulation session with you, unless it is something which you have developed specifically (e.g. formulation diagram). You can take pens/paper/appropriate creative supports into the simulated session with you. If you are unsure please ask the tutor facilitator in the base room on the day.

DACS-SRPS instructions to markers
DACS-SRPS marker booklet
DACS-SRPS trainee feedback form

The Direct Assessment of Clinical Skills – Placement Portfolio (DACS- PP) is a summative assessment to be undertaken by the 2015 and future cohorts. It has been developed in response to the most recent British Psychological Society (BPS) Accreditation Criteria which was published in May 2014.

The model proposed by Miller has been widely adopted in the literature as a framework to guide consideration of how to assess the complexities of competence in professional practitioners (Muse and McManus, 2013). It has been adopted here to inform the development and structure of the Direct Assessment of Clinical Skills.

The Direct Assessment of Clinical Skills – Placement Portfolio has several elements which are allied to placements 1 & 2 and placements 3 & 4 which address all four levels suggested by Miller (1990). The elements of the assessment are outlined in the table below.

1. Assessment and Action Plan

For each core (or relevant) placement, trainees will be required to submit an Assessment and Action Plan (AAP). This will be a short report (AAP 1 & AAP 2 are up to 2000 words, AAP 3 & 4 are 2750 words with an additional allowance of 300 words for a context paragraph which means the total word count cannot exceed 3050 words) relating to a specific piece of clinical work that will provide details of an assessment strategy based on presenting/referral information, and, drawing on live client information provide a provisional psychological formulation/synthesis of understanding and, based on this, provide an evidence-based action plan. This could relate to an individual client, a group of clients, or a piece of indirect clinical work with staff.

The purpose of the report will be to demonstrate that the trainee has the ability to competently assess the need for psychological intervention, can synthesise this information into a meaningful understanding of the information (psychological formulation/synthesis of understanding) drawing on appropriate psychological models/approaches, and generate a robust, evidence-based action plan based on that understanding. The report will detail what the trainee plans to do, and how these fit within the current evidence-base, psychological theory, and specific therapeutic models/approaches. The implementation of the clinical intervention itself does not need to be reported.

The reports will be submitted prior to the end of placement in accordance with the fixed deadline schedule.

Competencies assessed by the Assessment and Action Plan Report will be: Written Communication Skills, Knowledge and Skills, Analysis and Critical Thinking, Professional Behaviour and Contextual Awareness.

Level assessed in relation to Miller’s (1990) Model: Levels 1 & 2 – Knows and Knows How.

2. Clinical Recording

After core placements 1 & 2 and again after core placements 3 & 4, (or relevant placements) trainees will be required to submit a video or an audio recording (of at least 30 minutes) of a piece of direct or indirect clinical work to the programme in order for clinical skills to be assessed in a real-life setting. Video recordings are preferred for submission, but one audio recording can be submitted for either CR 1 or CR 2 if video recording is not an option, but not both (unless there are circumstances considered to be exceptional). Thirty minutes of recording will be assessed with the trainee being asked to nominate at the point of submission which section of 30 minutes (of continuous recording) they would like to be assessed from within the recording. This can be from either of the core placements undertaken in that time period (e.g. either Child or Adult, and either Older Adult/Health/Neuro or Learning Disabilities) or any other relevant placement(s).

The recording will be submitted as a password-protected encrypted digital video/audio file, and will be stored and transported securely, in accordance with guidance regarding information governance requirements from the NHS Trust in which the clinical work takes place (e.g. Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust – Procedure and Guidance for Health Professionals Video or Audio Recording Clinical Sessions, 2013). It is the responsibility of each trainee to seek out local policy guidance once on placement and to inform the assignment coordinators if there are any issues. Trainees will be required to seek informed consent for the recording from the client/professionals and record this within the appropriate record (e.g. clinical record). The trainee’s placement supervisor will be required to submit a declaration to the programme that appropriately informed consent was sought and given, and that the work submitted, to the best of their knowledge, is an account of the work undertaken on placement. The process of the supervisor declaration is in line with current practice on the D.Clin.Psy in relation to ensuring appropriate consent has been gained to use confidential material.

The recording could be of work with an individual client, a group of clients or could be a piece of indirect clinical work with staff. The purpose of the recording is for the trainee to clearly demonstrate their skill in conducting evidence-based therapeutic or psychologically informed work on placement. The specific content of the recorded work can vary, but the recording must demonstrate the application of therapeutic techniques/principles/concepts, and must allow for the observation and rating of the specific competencies being assessed. Example content could include carrying out an assessment, sharing a formulation with a client or staff group, summarising an intervention action plan, or applying an intervention with an individual client.

Some placement settings may be less easy for trainees to record sessions or secure informed consent to do so (e.g. secure in-patient settings or clients’ homes). After discussion with both placement supervisors and their clinical tutor, trainees may be encouraged to consider all possible settings for clinical recordings if recording of direct clinical sessions is not possible, e.g. consultations or discussions with staff team members, or appropriate discussions during clinical supervision (e.g. describing a complex formulation to a supervisor). Clinical tutors will be in regular contact with trainees to discuss potential clinical recording opportunities and will liaise with supervisors when necessary to ensure that sufficient opportunities for recordings are provided on each placement.

The Clinical Recording and Report will typically be submitted in the month following the completion of placements 2 and 4 in accordance with the fixed submission deadline.

Competencies assessed by the recording will be: Communication Skills, Engagement and Rapport, Professional Behaviour, Respectful Acknowledgement of Difference and Session Management (these are the same competencies considered in the D.Clin.Psy Direct Assessment of Clinical Skills – Standardised Role Play Simulation)

Level assessed in relation to Miller’s (1990) Model: Levels 3 and 4 – Shows How and Does

3. Clinical Recording Report

Trainees will also submit a report based on the recording submitted for assessment. The report will begin with an introductory section (up to 500 words) outlining relevant contextual background information to accompany the work within the recording, i.e. to provide examiners with information about why the work took place, the setting in which it is being conducted and the stage of the work from which the recording is taken.

Trainees will be asked to pick two five minute sections from the recording (which can be concurrent) which demonstrate their competence in applying a particular therapeutic technique/ principle/ concept and produce a written transcript of each five minute section selected. The transcript is not included in the final word count.

This is to be accompanied by a ‘line-by-line’ commentary (of up to 2000 words) during which the trainee highlights areas such as the application of specific therapeutic techniques, decision making points in terms of why they used a particular technique over another, comments on responses of the other person(s) in the session and how they responded.

The report will end with a reflection on and critique of the session (up to 1500 words), highlighting the evidence base for the work and possible ways in which the work could have been improved or carried out differently and what the trainee has learnt from the session.

The Clinical Recording and Report will typically be submitted in the month following the completion of placements 2 and 4 in accordance with the fixed submission deadline.

Competencies assessed by the Clinical Recording Report will be: Written Communication Skills, Knowledge and Skills, Analysis and Critical Thinking, Reflection and Integration, Professional Behaviour.

Level assessed in relation to Miller’s (1990) Model: Levels 2 and 3 – Knows How and Shows How

Marking and Trainee Feedback

Each element of the DACS-PP will be single or double marked by clinical tutors or other markers (local clinicians) all of whom will have undergone the necessary assessment-specific training. Markers will independently view written material / listen to recordings, collect evidence and rate each competency. If there are two markers each marker with do this separatelybefore sharing their ratings with their co-marker and jointly agreeing a final mark. The Clinical Recording and associated Clinical Recording Report elements will both be marked by the same marker or marker pair for each trainee unless there is a reason why an original marker is not available in which case another marker will be nominated.

The marks for all elements will be provisionally released to trainees once they have been returned to the programme and checked. External Examiner moderation will take place following this.. The marks will then be formally ratified at the relevant Exam Board. Occasionally there may be a circumstance in which provisional marks cannot be released prior to the Exam Board. Trainees affected by this will be informed.

Submission of the Placement Portfolio

Each element of the DACS-PP has formative and summative submission points. Work submitted at the formative point by the agreed deadline is marked in exactly the same way as at the summative point, and feedback and a mark is then provided to the trainee. If a mark of 50 or above is achieved for the formative submission, then this is automatically carried forward to become the summative mark and no further submission of that element is required by the trainee. If the formative mark is 49 or below, then the trainee will be asked to make a summative submission.

If all elements achieve a passing mark (of 50 or above) by the summative stage, the final overall mark for the assignment will be the average of all summative marks. If a trainee fails one or more of the elements at the summative stage then the final overall mark for the assignment (i.e. the DACS PP- 1 or 2) will be the average of the summative marks given for the failed elements only. This means that failing any single element of the placement portfolio at the summative stage will always result in the failure of the assignment as a whole.

Resubmission

When the assignment as a whole is failed, trainees are only required to revise and resubmit the failed elements for re-marking. There is no formative submission stage in the resubmission process. If the elements resubmitted receive a passing mark (i.e. of 50 or above), then the final overall mark for the Placement Portfolio resubmission will be calculated as above (i.e. an average of all the marks for the individual elements). If however any element fails at resubmission, then the Placement Portfolio resubmission as a whole will be failed for the second time. This will be recorded as two fails (i.e. at first attempt and the resubmitted attempt). As with other assignments on the programme, there is no third attempt required following a second fail of the whole assignment.

DACS Information for Trainees
DACS Consent Form
DACS-PP supervisor declaration form (to be used from Oct 2017)

CR supervisor declaration form (for use until Sept 2017 only)
CR Submission Form
CR instructions to markers
CR marker booklet
CR trainee feedback form

AAP supervisor declaration form (for use until Sept 2017 only)
AAP Structure and Style Guide
AAP information for clients
AAP instructions to markers
AAP marker booklet
AAP trainee feedback form

CRR Transcription Style and Structure Guide
CRR instructions to markers
CRR marker booklet
CRR trainee feedback form

This guidance relates to the preparation of all documents except the thesis

In this guide

• If you have a specific learning difficulty
• Submitting on time
• Things you must NOT do
• What to include – making a complete submission
• Getting the right layout
• Making sure your file isn’t too large
• Uploading your submission to Moodle
• Potential problems using software not controlled by Lancaster University / NHS
• What happens after submission

General Guidance on submissions

All written coursework for the programme needs to be submitted online via the University’s Moodle virtual learning environment. This page provides a guide to let you know how to prepare and make your submissions, and tells you what happens after they are submitted.

If you have a specific learning difficulty

You have the opportunity to highlight this to markers. More information on marking in relation to a specific learning disability is available in the online handbook.

Submitting on time

The standard deadlines for the submission of each assignment in the current academic year can be found in the programme’s annual plan and on the assignment suite overview. These deadlines will apply to you unless your deadline has been changed as the result of an approved extension or an individual training plan review. The deadline will always be at 9.30am on the day identified.

It is very important to submit work before your deadline for each assignment. The deadline policy is strict and there are severe penalties for submitting work late. After a deadline has passed you can still submit work on Moodle for another 72 hours, but anything submitted will have ten marks deducted (for trainees in 2017 cohort and earlier) or will result in a concern being raised (for trainees in the 2018 cohort onwards). It is not possible to submit work more than 72 hours after a deadline, and if work is not submitted then a fail mark will be given. More details on the consequences of late submission and the criteria for and process of applying for extensions can be found in the programme’s deadline policy pages.

Things you must NOT do

1. Include identifiers in your written work. See the page on identifiers in assessed work for details.
2. Plagiarise any part of your assignment. See the programme plagiarism policy for details.

Making a complete submission

For your submission to be accepted, all the required elements need to be included. It is your responsibility to make sure your submission is complete. Until a complete submission is made it isn’t counted, and programme staff only check whether submissions are complete after the deadline for submission has passed. This means that if you don’t make a complete submission first time around, you are likely to be penalised for lateness.

Here are details of what a submission for each assignment must include to be considered complete:

Getting the right layout

General Presentation

Apart from specific exceptions (e.g. the SAE), trainees are required to submit their written work in APA (American Psychological Association) style. This includes all citation and referencing. Copies of the latest APA manual are available from the DClinPsy library resources. The APA style website also gives lots of advice.

The 2021 cohort and later cohorts should use APA 7^th edition. The 2020 cohort and earlier cohorts may use APA 6^th or 7^th edition, but the style chosen should be stated on the assignment cover sheet.

APA 6^th recommends 12-point Times New Roman. APA 7^th allows a variety of fonts including sans serif fonts 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode and serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or normal (10-point) Computer Modern. The programme’s choice in its documents is 12-point Trebuchet. The text should be black on a white background. Use at least 1.5 line spacing for the main body of text. Tables can be 1.5 spaced or single spaced

The guides in the appendices below give general guidance on the use of APA referencing.

The Title Page

The title page should include the following aspects:

• Title – all submissions should have a title descriptive of the specific content (e.g. NOT just ‘PALS1 initial report’, but ‘PALS1 Initial report regarding work with a staff team around a client with anxiety difficulties’)
• Trainee number – your trainee number is provided by the programme, it is not your university ID number
• Word count – this must be accurate and work will be returned to you if it is over the word limit (or if it claims to be over the limit), even by one word. Like completeness, we only check this after the deadline, so this is another way of being penalised for lateness. For assignments that have separate word limits for specific sections you must list the word count for each section here.
• You might also wish to have a running head and some further detail (name of assignment, place of study) but this is not essential.

Making sure your file isn’t too large

All assignments should be submitted as a single file. It is important that you make sure all files that you submit are no larger than 10MB in size. You will not be able to submit a file over 20MB via Moodle as this is the maximum file size for the system. It is your responsibility to ensure your assignment is small enough to be submitted on time.

Below are some ways for reducing the size of your files and for merging multiple PDF and Word documents into one.

Scanning documents

Wherever possible we recommend that you use electronic documents to avoid the need to scan. If necessary, the multifunction printers in the Furness building can scan documents and email them to you. You can change resolution settings when scanning to obtain the smallest possible file size. However, smaller text may not be easily legible. If you have this problem, you should increase the darkness of scan while keeping the other settings.

Ensuring images in Microsoft Word are optimised

Images will significantly increase the file size of your document if they are not appropriately optimised. This is particularly the case where scanned documents are inserted as images. If you are using images, the following process will reduce their impact as much as possible.

1. Click on a picture in your document
2. On the Picture toolbar, click the Compress Pictures button (it’s the one with arrows at all four corner)
3. In the Compress Pictures dialog box, you are presented with options for the way Word handles your images. The target output for email (96ppi) will give the smallest file size
4. To apply your changes to all the pictures in your document, click the button beside All pictures in document in the Apply to section

Saving as a PDF from Microsoft Word at minimum size

If you are outputting your Word document as a PDF so that you can merge it with other PDF documents for a submission, the following steps will tell Word to ensure the size is kept to a minimum.

1. Click on the File tab and choose “Save As”
2. Choose “PDF” from the “Save as type” dropdown menu
3. Under the “Optimise for” option choose “Minimum Size (publishing online)”

Further reducing the size of PDF files

Once you have a PDF, you can further reduce its size by using Adobe Acrobat DC which is provided via the Cloudpaging player.

1. Open Adobe Acrobat DC
2. Open the PDF file you want to reduce in size
3. Click on the File menu and choose Save As -> Reduced Size PDF
4. Choose to make the PDF compatible with Version 9 and save the file
5. More advanced settings to reduce the file size further can be accessed in Acrobat Pro by choosing to save your file as an “Optimised PDF” from the “Save As” menu.

Combining multiple PDF files

If you have a number of PDF files which you need to combine into a single document, this can be done easily with Adobe Acrobat DC.

1. Open Adobe Acrobat DC
2. Click on the File menu and choose “Create”
3. Choose “Combine Files into a Single PDF”
4. Drag and drop the files you want to merge into the window (or use the add files button)
5. Move them into the order you want them when merged and click on “Combine Files”

Combining multiple Microsoft Word files

If you have a number of Word documents which you wish to combine into a single document, this can be done easily within Word.

1. Open the document you want to merge another into
2. Place your cursor at the place to add the document
3. Click on the Insert tab on the ribbon
4. Click on the Object button in the “Text” group
5. Choose “Text from File…” and select your Word document which contains the content to add

Uploading your submission to Moodle

Please name your file in the following format before uploading it:

[Trainee Number]+[Assignment name]+[Month & Year] (e.g. 2201PALS1February2018.docx)

To make your electronic submission, you should log in to Moodle and click on the link for the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology VLE section and then the assignment submission area.

You will see the name of the assignment, which has a TurnItIn icon next to it. After clicking on the assignment you are presented with the Summary page outlining the name of the assignment. To submit your assignment, you should now click on the tab labelled “Add Submission”.

Drag and drop the file to submit. You must tick to accept the declaration in the form before clicking the Add Submission button.

If you have queries about the technical elements of the submission then please email Jen Whitfield (Programme Assistant – Academic).

Potential problems using software not controlled by Lancaster University / NHS

The Programme are aware that a variety of software bugs exist in common office programs, some of which have the potential to cause problems with assignments submitted via Moodle.

These problems can include the omission of spacing and other formatting requirements which can then adversely affect marks on specific competencies relating to written communication etc.

It is your responsibility to ensure that any software used, which is not controlled by Lancaster University or the NHS, is fully patched to minimise these difficulties. This would typically involve ensuring that all service packs and security updates available from the relevant software vendors are applied. Both Lancaster University and the NHS have an automated procedure in place to ensure that the latest update for centrally distributed software, such as Microsoft Office, is applied to all onsite machines.

All submissions to the programme should be checked by you prior to uploading to Moodle to ensure that the document is as expected. The responsibility for the quality of a submission lies with you and it is not possible to re-submit an assignment after the given deadline if it later appears that formatting changes have occurred.

After submission

Once submitted, the assignment will appear on the current page, showing it has been added to the system successfully. You can download the current assignment you have submitted by clicking on the download icon on the “My Submissions” page.

After we receive the submission, we will process it using Turnitin. This is an on-line software plagiarism detection programme which analyses each piece of work and checks to see whether parts of it can be found anywhere on the internet, in academic articles or other texts, or in any previously submitted coursework by other students from around the world . It produces a report for each piece of work, highlighting any parts that match anything found on the internet, and indicating where the original text can be found. More information is available in the programme’s plagiarism policy.

Once assignments have been checked, they are sent out to be marked. Following marking some are also sent out for moderation by the programme’s external examiners. From 2018 cohort onwards assignment outcomes and feedback will be sent to trainees prior to the moderation by the external examiners. The marks for all assignments are ratified via the programme’s examination board, and trainees notified of their ratified mark.

Assignment submission dates
Change to submission terminology, assignment support and responsibilities
APA style: a general guide
APA 7 quick reference guide
Clinical Recording submission form
Specimen title page

Introduction

The SIPP assignment involves groups of trainees recording videos of themselves working together on a service development project during their project block, and producing a poster and 500 word summary of the project. This is followed by the group delivering a 30 minute presentation on the project. At the end of the process, each trainee submits a short report summarising their reflections on their contribution to the process.

The SIPP assesses trainees’ individual skills in interacting and working together with others, and in presenting verbal and visual information within group meetings, presentations and documents. It is classed as a live skills assignment, which means that trainees will normally be allowed up to two attempts at passing (first and resubmission).

Domains actively assessed

1. Collating information and knowledge (gathering)
2. Performance skills (performing)
3. Communicating information effectively (communicating)
4. Interpersonal skills & collaboration (interacting)
5. Responsive to impact and learning from experiences (responding)

Preparing for the assignment

There are several teaching sessions which help orient trainees to the assessment. The first of these specifically focuses on what to expect in the assessment process of the SIPP itself, and also provides trainees with some teaching on key incidental skills, such as production of the poster and presentation.

Following this, trainees will receive teaching sessions on service development, which include the content of the activities undertaken during the recorded parts of the SIPP assignment.

Structure of the assignment

Trainees are allocated to small groups.  Each group is assigned a service improvement issue which will be the focus of their work together. Issues are usually proposed by one or more people in the field (project stakeholders).

1. Group work sessions

During the project block, each group is required to submit six, 30 minute videos of the trainees working on a series of service development exercises. The videos need to be submitted in a certain order according to a suggested submission schedule.

2. Project poster & service development proposal

Prior to the final week of the project block, each group of trainees must produce and submit a digital A0-sized poster which summarises their project work, and a short written executive summary of up to 500 words.

3. Presentation day

During the final week of the project block, each group of trainees will attend an event where they will display and answer questions on their poster, give a live 30-minute presentation of their project proposal (which each trainee will present a segment of), and answer questions on this from markers and an invited audience, which will include their project stakeholder(s).  This event will last around 90 minutes for each group of trainees.

4. Reflections

Following the presentation session, each trainee will submit an individual report of up to 500 words which summarises their reflections on the process of completing the SIPP and their performance in the different tasks, and their learning from the experience.

Process of Assessment

All trainees within each group are assessed by two markers. Markers will assess the submitted videos and rate each trainee individually on the relevant competencies (performing, communicating and interacting competencies). During the presentation exercise further evidence on these competencies is collected through live observation of trainee behaviour throughout the process.

Following the presentation, markers will assess the poster and summary document for competency evidence (gathering and communication competencies), as well as each trainee’s reflective summary (responding competency).

The final rating of competencies will be agreed by the marker pair on the basis of evidence collected across all of the above.

The following documents are being reviewed and should not be used at present: –

SIPP – how to guide
SIPP – FAQ
SIPP – trainee feedback form

Introduction

The PASE is a report based on a piece of audit or service evaluation work carried out on placement. For trainees in the 2020 cohort and earlier, the work outlined in the first submission of the assignment can be from any one of the second, third or fourth core placements. Following the other three core placements trainees submit a Placement Assignment – Live Skills (PALS). For trainees in the 2021 cohort and later, the work outlined in the first submission of the assignment is taken from the Indirect Skills placement.

Actively assessed domains

The PASE actively assesses the following domains: –

1. ‘Gathering’ – Collating information and knowledge for specific purpose
2. ‘Analysing’ – Critical analysis & synthesis
3. ‘Deciding’ – Strategy for application
6. ‘Communicating’ – Communicating information effectively

Preparing for the assignment

Trainees discuss the PASE with their placement supervisor(s) at the start of the placement to establish what opportunities there are to conduct a service evaluation. Trainees will need to adhere to the R+D processes specific to the Trust they are on placement within, including gaining formal approval from the Trust in most cases. Trainees then write a brief proposal for the work (using the proposal form, which can be downloaded from the bottom of this page) and submit this to the programme for approval. The proposal will be reviewed by at least one tutor on the programme and will provide feedback and / or approval that the work can be used as the subject of a PASE report. The trainee may be required to amend and resubmit the proposal before approval is given.

For trainees in the 2020 intake and earlier, the proposal form must be submitted within the first 18 days on placement. For trainees in the 2021 intake and later, the proposal form must be submitted within the first 22 days on placement. The longer time to complete the proposal for trainees in the 2021 intake and later is due to the longer placement length.

As well as the proposal form, supervisors must complete a supervisor declaration form and submit this to the programme before the PASE can be approved. Once approved, the conduct of the evaluation is overseen by the placement supervisor, just as other placement work is. The trainee’s DClinPsy programme tutors are available for the supervisor to consult should any issues arise on which they need specific advice or support.

Structure of the Assignment

The Service Evaluation Project is a 3,000 word (maximum) report which will usually take the following form:

• Summary
• Introduction – describing the context for the evaluation or audit
• Audit standards – if applicable
• Methods
• Results
• Action plan – including a short discussion of the findings in relation to key literature and plans for re-audit if applicable
• References (in APA format)
• Appendices

Tables and figures are included in the word count.

Process of Assessment

First submissions are marked blind by one or two markers. Second submissions and resubmissions are marked by two markers. Where two markers are involved, they will discuss their marking to reach a consensus outcome. Occasionally there may be a need for a third marker to be involved, which is typically a member of the programme team. All marking processes are subject to moderation processes before being ratified by the Exam Board.

Assessment guidance and forms

PASE – proposal form
PASE – how to guide
PASE – supervisor declaration form
PASE – trainee feedback form

Assignment submission dates

Assessment on the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology is guided by a number of different frameworks including the Health and Care Professions Council’s (HCPC’s) standards of education and training and standards of proficiency, the British Psychological Society’s (BPS’s) accreditation through partnership framework and Lancaster University’s own guidance for postgraduate students. Links to all relevant documentation are included at the end of this section.

The programme’s assessment strategy is developed and monitored by the Assessment Development and Implementation Group (ADIG). The aims of the ADIG are to monitor and review each academic assignment, and to develop the framework of academic assessment to best fit trainee competencies. Each assignment is reviewed annually by the Assessment Development and Implementation Group. Once results have been ratified by the Exam Board, the coordinator for each assignment submits a report for discussion by the ADIG on the process of the assignment, including feedback from external examiners and other stakeholders. Any proposed changes to assignments are initially discussed at the Assessment Development and Implementation Group, and then brought to the Operational Management Group for approval.

The programme’s assessment strategies are informed by the HCPC’s standards of proficiency for practitioner psychologists and the BPS’s learning outcomes and objectives. For trainees up to the 2017 intake, assignment evidence for specific competencies is collected and rated for each assignment. For the 2018 intake onwards, this system of competencies has been replaced with an updated system of assessment domains. Under both systems, evidence within specific areas is collected and rated for each assignment. This approach to assessment means that each competency or domains (e.g., critical analysis & synthesis) will be assessed repeatedly throughout training but the way trainees are required to demonstrate these will vary according to the specific assignment.

It should be noted that only by successfully completing the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology can trainees become eligible to apply to the HCPC to be registered as a clinical psychologist. Furthermore, only HCPC approved programmes can confer eligibility to apply for HCPC registration. The programme does not offer any other route except to the full award of the doctorate in clinical psychology: no aegrotat award is offered.

The HCPC Standards of Proficiency for practitioner psychologists
HCPC Standards of education and training
BPS Standards for the accreditation of Doctoral programmes in clinical psychology

Introduction

The Self-Assessment Exercise (SAE) is designed to help trainees identify what their strengths are and what their areas for development are from the beginning of their training. It enables trainees to become active and engaged participants in their own learning and development and provides an opportunity to engage in different exercises to understand themselves and their needs better.

The assignment comprises a brief written reflective report and a ‘clinical viva’ with the markers (usually the trainee’s individual clinical and research tutor). The report is based on a series of essential and desirable activities with the viva being based on the report. It is a ‘broad skills’ assignment.

Actively assessed domains

The SAE will actively assess the following domains: –

1. Collating information and knowledge
2. Critical analysis & synthesis
3. Strategy for application (deciding)
4. Responsive to impact & learning from experiences
5. Communicating information effectively

Preparing for the assignment

Trainees undertake a number of essential and desirable formative activities prior to submitting the written component of the assignment. This begins with a broad self-appraisal exercise (see form below) and then includes a range of other self-assessment exercises covering a range of knowledge and skills (e.g. statistical ability, writing skills, basic clinical engagement skills, and engaging with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) student code of conduct). Trainees are expected to identify strengths and areas of development needs or challenge together with strategies to address identified areas of development or challenge and write about these in the 1,500 word report which is submitted to markers in advance of the clinical viva meeting (more details can be found in the ‘how to’ guide).Trainees are offered the chance to meet with their individual tutors on two occasions to discuss and reflect on their progress on these activities prior to submitting their written report.

Preparation for the ‘clinical viva’ will involve the trainees being familiar with what they have written in the report and be able to answer any questions about how they reached the conclusions they have in the report about their strengths/needs and strategies to address.

Structure of the Assignment

The written component of the SAE is completed using the SAE form (link below) and comprises a 500 word initial self-appraisal section and a 1,000 word consideration of the outcome of the self-assessment process. Trainees also append the outcome of all formative activities undertaken (with the exception of the Quick Scan assessment) to the submission. Trainees who have additional considerations (e.g. adjustments the programme needs to be aware of) that they wish to discuss as part of the SAE can be permitted to submit a form with a higher word count (see trainee ‘how to’ guide for details).

The clinical viva focuses on discussing with the trainee their identified strengths and development needs and the path by which they identified these as being most important.

Process of Assessment

The submitted SAE form is read by the tutor pair prior to the viva. During the viva the tutors ask questions based on the contents of this form.

Trainee performance in the viva is assessed by the markers who will jointly determine domain ratings together. The trainee feedback form, including the outcome, will be sent to the trainee following the viva.

If a Pass is awarded the trainee is not required to do anything further with the SAE. If no fails, but at least one ‘pass with conditions’ rating is awarded for a domain, the overall mark will be pass with conditions. Under these circumstances the trainee will be required to make some amendments to their SAE form (which will be detailed to them in the trainee feedback form) and resubmit these. If approved, the mark will then be converted to a full pass. A fail will require the trainee to have a second attempt viva and they may be required to make changes/amendments to the SAE form in advance of the viva.

Assessment guidance and forms

SAE – guide to materials
SAE – how to guide
SAE – trainee feedback
SAE – trainee form

Exercises and tools

SAE – initial self appraisal exercise
SAE – Moodle resources

Introduction

The Placement Presentation and Report (PPR) is an assessment linked to placement activity. It consists of:

• a 1500-word initial report which is handed in at the end of each core placement
• a presentation by the trainee and subsequent discussion with the trainee and markers (to be held after placements 2 and 4)
• a 5,500-word main report (handed in following the presentation and discussion). The initial 1,500 word report will be combined with this main report bringing the maximum acceptable word count to 7,000 words. Should the initial report be less than 1,500 words, the word count for the main report should still be a maximum of 5,500 words. Word count is not transferable between the two reports

The initial report

The initial report should be between 1,000 and 1,500 words. The word count should be presented on the document and any reports not within this word count will be returned to the trainee. This report should reflect some aspect of a formal clinical/service related communication which was conducted in relation to the piece of clinical/service related work the trainee decides to present. This could include a final letter to a client, report of the outcome of a group or an evaluation of an intervention/training targeted at staff. It should include a brief statement concerning: how the work came about, context of the service and consideration of consent. The main content of the initial report could contain background information; assessment methods; formulation/synthesis of psychological understanding; intervention and outcome. A figure or diagram may be attached but should not have a substantial written component. The introductory paragraph and references (where appropriate) are to be written in APA style. The remainder of the initial report does not have to conform to APA style.

The initial report will be submitted at the end of each of the four placements. For those initial reports submitted after the first and third placements, the office will hold the report and it will not be considered for assessment until the presentation element of the assessment takes place. Where a placement is subsequently failed, the trainee will not be able submit a PPR from that placement and, consequently, the initial report will be returned to the trainee. The trainee will not be allowed to retrieve an initial report, once submitted, even though it might not be examined for up to six months (or longer if a trainee intercalates), unless in exceptional circumstances and this will be authorised by the Chair of the Exam Board. The initial report will not be accepted by the office unless a declaration form completed by the clinical supervisor is also submitted for that work, indicating that it is an accurate representation of the trainee’s work and that appropriate consent has been obtained from those involved to us the material for the assignment. Should the trainee not pass the placement (but not fail it, for example, if the trainee has been seriously ill and therefore not been able to complete the placement), a decision will be made by the Chair of the Exam Board, in consultation with another Director and the trainee’s review tutors, on whether an initial report can be submitted. Where it is felt that a trainee is not able to submit an initial report from such a placement, two may be submitted from one placement. Where this is not possible, a decision will be made by the Chair of the Exam board in consultation with others as to how to proceed.

The presentation and discussion

The two markers for the PPR will be taken from the DClinPsy list of approved markers who have undertaken specific training on the requirements of the PPR and its assessment procedures. The marker pair will be made up of at least one clinical psychologist working in the speciality in which the trainee is presenting and at least one marker who has examined the PPR before (this may include a member of the programme team). Markers will have a minimum of one year post qualification experience and none of the markers will be known to the trainee in any of the following capacities: placement supervisor, individual clinical/research tutor, personal tutor or having any other close personal or professional relationship with the trainee. A system has been created to allow both the marker and trainee to indicate any such relationships.

A member of the programme team will chair the presentation process. The Chair’s role is to keep the PPR to time and, where necessary, provide guidance or an alternative viewpoint on any areas of disagreement between markers.

The marker pair will receive the relevant initial report, the one from the work which the trainee will present to read prior to the trainee presentation. It is expected that the markers will discuss (without the trainee present) the contents of the report prior to the presentation. The markers will not usually have had sight of this report prior to this time. The other initial report will not be formally assessed but kept by the office in case it is needed in case of failure by the trainee of the first PPR.

The trainees will be told on the day of the presentation, around 30 minutes before they are due to present, which presentation they will be asked to deliver. More guidance on what the presentation should cover is contained within the document Placement Presentation and Report (PPR) information for trainees. They will present for 15 minutes, and this will be kept to time by the chair of the presentation process. They will then have around 10 minutes of discussion with the trainee in which the trainee is encouraged to discuss and reflect on their work. After a brief time in which the markers reflect together (without the trainee) on the presentation and the evidence collected, the trainee is invited back in to receive verbal feedback. A copy of the feedback is sent out to trainees following the presentation process with a copy stored electronically by the programme office. Feedback given by markers includes strengths and areas for development. Trainees are required to reflect on the feedback points in the main report section of the PPR. All scoring schedules are detailed in the scoring booklets.

If the presentation is considered unacceptable (i.e. trainee discloses something which raises serious professional or ethical issues), the process needs to be halted. Markers are asked to progress through the process to their private discussion time and during this time to make contact with the PPR Co-ordinator/Chair of the Exam Board. Consultation will take place between the PPR Co-ordinator/Chair of the Exam Board and the markers as to why it has been necessary to halt the process and seek advice. The Chair of the Exam Board will consult with colleagues (including the Clinical Director if the concern raised is a serious professional concern). If the concern is deemed sufficient to require action by the employer, the PPR assessment process will be suspended whilst advice is sought from the employing body as to how to proceed. Other outcome options following consultation with the Chair of the Exam Board are the resumption of the original presentation process, the presentation of the PPR material from the alternative placement and/or referral to the Exam Board about how to proceed. If it is decided that the trainee needs to present their alternative PPR material, this will be scheduled in as soon as is practically possible with a different marker pair.

If the trainee presents extremely poorly (so would score Unacceptable on the Presentation Skills competency), this will be communicated to the trainee after the private discussion between the markers (with advice from the Chair of the Exam Board if required). In this situation, the trainee will have one more attempt to give the presentation at that specific day of presentations where scheduling will allow. If s/he fails at this second attempt, then a fail has to be recorded for the whole PPR and the trainee must re-take the assessment (i.e. have an alternative initial report available and present the relevant presentation). The date for re-assessment will be confirmed by letter from the Exam Board. The re-assessment will be scheduled with a different marker pair. As the presentation skills competency is the only one which is not also assessed during the marking of the initial and main PPR reports, it is appropriate to inform the trainee at this point that they have failed.

It is important to note that trainees who cannot attend the presentations due to illness must provide the programme with a medical certificate. Failure to provide such a certificate will result in the presentation being awarded a fail mark. This will then indicate that the PPR is failed.

Main report

The main report should be no longer than 5,500 words. The main report and the initial report combined should be no longer than 7,000 words. This excludes any reasonable; appendices. Any work exceeding this will be sent back to the trainee immediately for editing. The report should reflect the piece of work already presented and will include the initial report (the word count for this is included in the maximum 7,000 word count), and a larger (main) report which can be structured to reflect the piece of work conducted. However, included within this larger report must be some reflections of the discussion at the presentation session. As with most written assignments on the course, the Main Report should be written to conform to APA style. The only exception to this is within the Main Report is that tables and diagrams can be included within the text as opposed to at the end of the report.

Assessment issues

All aspects of the PPR relating to one candidate will be marked by the same set of markers. The initial reports and main reports, as written pieces of work, will be available for external marker scrutiny in the normal way. All the presentations will also be video recorded and will therefore also be available for scrutiny. The programme’s external markers will be sent an example of a low, average and high submission (consisting of the initial report, video of the presentation, feedback and main report). The recordings of all instances where the trainee has failed the presentation skills aspects or, in the exceptional case, where trainees’ presentations have been stopped for professional reasons will be sent for external marker review. The two internal markers are required to reach an agreed grade for every competency assessed so externals should not have to adjudicate where markers disagree. If internal markers cannot reach agreement, a third marker will be introduced.

Where an identifier or identifiers are found in the work the markers are asked to note them and inform the chair of exam board/PPR co-ordinator. markers are asked to consider whether the identifier significantly compromises the confidentiality of the individual or service and take account of it in the evidence collecting process either under the Professional Behaviour or Standard Setting Competency. Where the identifier is found in the written elements of the assignment, the trainee will be asked to resubmit that part of the assignment.

The detailed marking schedule is available to markers during marker training & during the examination process. A blank copy of the feedback sheet given to trainees, which shows the competencies and score calculation system, is available here. In summary, the evidence collected from presentation and report are marked against a competency rating system. The competencies assessed are: knowledge and skills; reflection and integration; professional behaviour; analysis and critical thinking; effective verbal communication (only in presentation); resilience; standard setting; and effective written communication (in initial and main reports). A single grade (unacceptable, weak, appropriate for stage of training, advanced for stage of training, or exceptional) is given for each of the relevant competencies for the evidence collected from the presentation and main report as a whole, with a composite final grade across each competency being agreed by both markers. This grading then translates into a score. The pass mark is 50. A piece of work that is ‘satisfactory’ throughout (but no better) will receive a score in the mid 50s; pieces of work that are satisfactory in parts but have at least two areas of weakness will fail, and pieces of work that are good throughout will score in the low 70s. Specific guidance is given in the PPR documentation sent to markers on the final scores of work where one (or more) competencies are judged as unacceptable. However, it is important to note that one grade of ‘unacceptable’ would be sufficient to see the work overall failed. Where a piece of work fails, the trainee will be given guidance after the fail has been discussed at the Exam Board as to whether they can represent and resubmit the same piece of work or whether an alternative piece of work should be submitted. Assignment of the ‘unacceptable’ grade on any competency will mean the whole assignment needs to be resubmitted.

This assignment is only undertaken by trainees in the 2014 cohort and earlier.

Placement Presentation and Report (PPR) information for trainees

Placement Presentation and Report (PPR) guidance for markers

The PPR is for the 2014 cohort and earlier only. The structure of the PPR is as follows

The initial report and main report together are no longer than 7000 words. Word count cannot be transferred between the different reports if one is longer or shorter. The word count limits quoted above are upper limits for each report with the exception of the Initial Report which has a lower word limit also. Submissions falling outside of the word limits will be returned to trainees for editing and may be subject to the deadlines policy.

The assessment process

The PPR is assessed by two examiners. They collect evidence from all the different parts of the PPR process for each competency. With the exception of presentation skills, all the competencies will be rated at the end of the process (presentation skills will be rated by examiners at the time of the presentation, but the grade will not be given out at the presentation). The examiners are asked to give you a grade for each competency based on the evidence they have collected across the whole PPR process (with the exception outlined above). They will also give you some written feedback for each competency (sent out with your letter from the exam board following ratification of PPR marks). This is intended to be helpful and to be part of your overall learning and development. The grades are converted to a final mark which corresponds to the University marking procedure (i.e. distinction, good pass, pass, fail, poor fail).The grades examiners are asked to award for the competencies can be found below:

The competencies being rated in the PPR are based on research exploring the competencies required for training (Phillips, Hatton & Gray, 2001). They are not the BPS competencies. Appendix I outlines how the PPR competencies map onto the BPS competencies and also gives a definition for each competency.

Choosing material for your PPR

It is important to choose a piece of work which demonstrates your development as a practitioner and allows you to provide evidence of the competencies being assessed. The piece of work chosen can take many different forms, but could include a clinical case, an aspect of a case, indirect work, consultation work, group work or any other piece of clinical/placement based work you have undertaken. The piece of work you choose should demonstrate your ability to reflect on the work undertaken; present a rationale for the work which links theory and practice; consider professional, clinical and ethical issues. It should also be a vehicle for you to provide evidence of your competencies for your examiners.

Examiners will be looking for evidence of presentation skills, ability to manage volume of information, reflections, effective communication skills, understanding of professional/ethical issues, ability to apply knowledge and skills and resilience.

A good or complete outcome from a piece of clinical work is not necessarily required as part of the PPR process. Often key learning points can arise from pieces of work where there have been challenges which might not have reached resolution prior to the end of your placement. How you demonstrate your learning and competency development is what the examiners are interested in.

In summary, key factors to consider when choosing material for your PPR are:

• whether the piece of work will allow you to provide evidence of all the competencies
• whether you can clearly demonstrate your learning and development
• it is OK to consider drawing on one or two key aspects of a more complex piece of work, but let your examiners know this is what you are doing and why
• you have been able to gain consent to use the piece of work for your PPR

Clinical tutors will discuss with you at your mid-placement meeting the work you are considering using for the PPR. You will also have an opportunity within each teaching block to discuss the piece of work you are intending to use for the PPR with a clinical tutor and your peers. Feedback will be given as to the suitability of the material you are intending to use.

If you are unsure about the suitability of the material you have chosen, please contact your clinical tutor as soon as possible to discuss it further.

Please ensure that any client/service related material you use as part of the PPR process is made anonymous in the write up to protect client confidentiality.

Consent

Please ensure that you have gained appropriate consent to use any confidential information and as a minimum you have undertaken the following:

• Shared the information from the PPR client information sheet with the intended individual(s) you would like to seek consent from
• Adapted the method of giving the information to match the ability level of the person/people seeking consent from to ensure that any consent given is fully informed
• Approached a suitable alternative person if the individual does not have capacity to consent i.e. a main carer (family member or keyworker) or an advocate who could act in their best interest
• Your supervisor is fully aware of the steps you are taking to gain consent and your progress in achieving this
• You have recorded the whole process undertaken in the individual’s clinical notes or in process notes if undertaking consultation or service related developments

Some services/supervisors have developed forms to be completed for client notes. Please complete them in line with the processes outlined above.

If a significant proportion of your write up is likely to cover and report on work with staff and it is possible they could recognise themselves in your write up (e.g. series of supervision/consultations) you will need to seek the consent of the individual staff members. As above please discuss with your supervisor and document carefully the steps you have taken in the most appropriate place (e.g. process notes/supervision records).

If you wish to present a piece of work based on a series of consultations and or supervision sessions with another professional which requires you to outline information gained about a client through this process, it is important that client consent is gained even though you have had no direct contact with them. It is important that you ask the professional concerned to approach the client on your behalf. Below are some suggestions about wording/considerations to support the professional to do this:

• That as part of their work and to ensure the quality of their work they have discussed the clients’ case with a psychologist to gain a psychological perspective.
• The psychologist is in training and wants to use the content of the discussions between me (the professional) and the psychologist as part of a piece of work they have to submit as part of their training.
• The focus will be on how the trainee is developing their skills in terms of how they have been helping/supporting me, but they will also need to give some background details about the discussions I have had with them about the work we have done together.
• The psychologist has asked me to ask you if this is OK. They will make sure that any details they give are anonymous.
• They have given me an information sheet to give/go through with you so you are able to make an informed decision about whether this is OK or not.
• The client can choose to say no – which will not affect their treatment in any way.

An information sheet is available for clients to help them make an informed choice about whether or not to consent to their material being used as part of the PPR process. This information sheet is appended to this document at the bottom of the page.

Please remember to give an indication that consent has been obtained and any steps taken to facilitate the process in the introduction to your Initial Report. It would be appropriate to append any adapted materials to the Initial Report to demonstrate part of the process you undertook to gain consent.

Initial report

Maximum word limit 1500 words (excluding references and appendices). Please note that the word limit is an upper word limit for this part of the PPR. Pieces of work with fewer words are acceptable (but no lower than 1000 words). Unused word count cannot be transferred to the main report.

The initial report is submitted at the end of each placement. You will need to ask your supervisor to complete a supervisor declaration form and return it to us via email (downloadable from the bottom of the page).

The initial report is designed to be as close to a written communication you have undertaken in the programme of your work as possible e.g. a final letter to a family/individual client, report of the outcome of a group, report of a period of staff consultation to the commissioner of the work etc. It can include additional material such as illustrations/pictures if this is appropriate to the communication and is suitably anonymised is required.

The initial report is submitted at the end of each placement and stored by the office. It cannot be altered between first hand-in and submission of full report. However, reflections on the initial report (e.g. omissions, ideas subsequent to doing the initial report or reflections on the style/structure for example indicated by service you are in) that may have come out of the presentation and discussion can be added to the main report. This is intended to be helpful to help you develop a sense of your own report writing style.

Examiners will read and use your initial report to orientate themselves to your work prior to your presentation. Evidence from the initial report will be collected at the same time as your main report. The key area of competence examiners will be assessing when they read your initial report is your ability to adapt your writing style to the intended audience (Written communication competency). They will also collect evidence of other competencies if present in your initial report.

The initial report can take various formats to reflect the piece of work you are reporting on. It must always be introduced by a short appropriately anonymised statement (written in APA style) to orientate the examiner to:

1. The service you are working in
2. How the work came about
3. The audience the content of your initial report is aimed at i.e. a letter to family/referrer/report of a group etc
4. What the content of the initial report is i.e. report, initial assessment letter, therapeutic letter at stage x, report of consultation, report of service development initiative
5. How consent was obtained to write up the piece of work (with any anonymous information appended if appropriate e.g. consent form, letter/e-mail from relevant individual). Please see section on consent

The remainder of the initial report should be written in the style you used on placement.

Please add in additional context where appropriate within the main body of the initial report to facilitate the examiners understanding. It is important that enough context is given to allow the initial report to make sense on its own i.e. a person with no prior knowledge of the piece of work is able to understand what kind of service the material is from, who the document is aimed at and what the issues were and how they were addressed. However, please be aware that the initial report is designed to capture a certain point in your work and is not meant to cover the entirety of the work undertaken. The additional context added is to facilitate understanding of the time point you are capturing.

Below are some examples of introductions to initial reports:

I was based in child & family psychology service in an urban area. A referral from paediatrician X was received requesting advice and input for the family around anxieties attending school. Below is an extended letter written to the family following my input with them. Consent was gained through discussion with parents and as the client was considered too young to give fully informed consent.

My placement was in a behavioural intervention team in a learning disability service. A referral was made by a local voluntary provider team leader Y for input around behavioural management issues with client Z. Following consultation with my supervisor and the team leader it was agreed that the main focus of my intervention would be with the staff team. Below is an account of the work carried out with the staff team written for the staff team to access. I consulted the staff team at a training event for their consent to use this piece of work for my PPR. I distributed the information sheet to them all as part of the process. The team consented to my using the material for the PPR. The client was unable to give their consent due to a lack of capacity, I consulted with their family advocate to seek consent to use the client’s material in my PPR. The family advocate consented to my using their family member’s material for my PPR.

I was based in a tier three Community Adolescent and Children’s Mental Health (CAHMS) service. A review of referrals by the CAMHS team indicated the need for running a group for adolescents with autistic spectrum disorder, aimed at improving social functioning. This was conducted by the trainee, together with a qualified clinical psychologist and an advisory teacher. Below is a short account of the content of the group sessions and client outcomes, along with some of the process issues highlighted within the group. Consent from the group and my co-facilitators was sought through discussion and distribution of the PPR information sheet. All consented to my use of the material from the group.

The Older Adult psychology service my placement was in provides regular consultation sessions to the staff working on [name] inpatient ward to discuss any clients they have concerns about. One of my tasks on placement was to lead these consultations sessions. The following report provides a summary description for the service manager on how I have conducted the consultations over the course of the placement, in what ways they have been helpful, and how they should proceed in the future, together with some relevant examples. Consent to use the information gained through the consultation sessions was gained through discussion with individuals attending the sessions and their seeking consent from their clients.

My placement was in an Adult Community Mental Health Team (CMHT) in a regional town. I was asked to run an anger management group for six clients during my placement. The following document was the summary of the group work which was sent back to the referrer of one of the clients once the group had finished. Consent to use the group material for my PPR was discussed with the group in the initial group session and revisited at the final session where I gained consent from the group.

Presentation & Discussion

The presentation is 15 minutes. For this reason it would be good to plan and develop a clear structure for your presentation. It may be that you choose to present one aspect of your work which demonstrates all of the above e.g. an issue/dilemma your work presented you with, or an overview of the piece of work. Areas to consider when developing your presentation include:

• Orientating your examiners to the piece of work e.g. very brief intro/background/service context (please bear in mind examiners will have access to your initial report just prior to your presentation.)
• Outlining what you intend to address and/or outline your rationale for focusing on particular aspects of the work (important if you are choosing to focus on a part of case rather than all)
• Key points from the work e. how you approached the piece of work/assessment material / formulation/synopsis of work/ outcomes
• Key learning points for you & your personal reflections on your own development
• Professional/ethical issues
• Critical reflections of the work
• Theory-Practice links

PowerPoint or other presentation aids are encouraged. Photographs or video material of clients are not encouraged even if identifying features are masked. Facilities for PowerPoint presentations will be available at the PPR presentation day. Please ensure you have your presentations on a memory stick and have also e-mailed them to yourself via your Lancaster University e-mail account for the presentation day. If you require any alternative presentation aids (e.g. OHP projector, flipchart, bluetac, pens etc) please inform the office two weeks before the presentation day. If you ask the office after this they cannot guarantee they will be able to provide the aid requested. Therapeutic material/props (e.g. puppets/pictures) can be used if they support and enhance presentation. Please do not use/bring if they are just for the examiners to look at following the presentation.

Please be clear in your presentation when you are using words which are your clients words and when you are using your own words to prevent confusion. Please ensure that you anonymise all client material to preserve confidentiality. Please make it clear you have done this in your presentation and that you are using pseudonyms.

Where you have chosen not to include a formulation, please be prepared to discuss why you haven’t included one (e.g. not applicable to approach used i.e. SFBT).

The presentation is 15 minutes. You will be given a one minute warning and asked to stop at 15 minutes. It is advisable to practice your presentations so that they do not over-run.

Following the presentation there will be 10 minutes of discussion with you about your piece of work led by the examiners.

You will then be asked to leave the room while the examiners discuss your work and agree feedback points (approximately 10 minutes). Following this you will be invited back into the room to receive brief feedback and be given your feedback points to address in your main report. The feedback points given will be based on your presentation. They consist of three strengths and three areas the examiners would like you to address in the context of your main report. Please ask for clarification at the time the points are given if you are unsure of anything concerning them.

Examples of possible feedback points:

• Please expand on the issue you raised concerning boundaries. Please discuss in relation to the impact on the work (both professional and personal), your reflections and policy/best practice guidance.
• We would like more evidence of your ability to adapt your work to best meet the needs/ability level of the client. Please also consider and discuss the implications of this issue in relation to working with his population.
• Please describe, discuss and comment on how the experience you described in your presentation in relation to the therapeutic alliance has impacted on your development as a clinician. What have you learnt from it?
• Please clarify your understanding of and application of XX theory to your piece of work. Please critique the approach you took and reflect on at least one other approach which you could have applied.

The feedback points will be copy typed and be made available to you as soon as possible (we aim to send them out by e-mail on the same day as the presentations).

The presentation will be video-recorded. The recordings are made available to examiners to help them decide what grades to award. Trainees will have access to the presentation, discussion with examiners and feedback recording as soon as possible following the presentation day. You will be asked to sign a disclaimer stating that you will not use the recording for anything other than your own learning (e.g. not post on YouTube).

Be aware that presentation skills is one of the competencies being examined and that the examiners are collecting evidence about your presentation skills.

Main report

The main report can be up to 5500 words long (excluding references and appendices). Please note the word limit quoted is an upper word limit, shorter reports are acceptable. The carrying over of word count not used in the initial report is not allowed. The main report style and format should conform to current APA guidance. Please write the main report in the first person.

The structure for the main report is deliberately fluid to allow:

• for variation in pieces of work
• for inclusion of material pertaining to the examiner feedback
• for one aspect of work within a complex case to be reported on (rather than all)
• your examiners insight into your ability to structure a piece of work (written communication competency)

The main report forms a significant part of the PPR process. It is important to ensure that you have provided evidence of your development/ability in relation to the competencies in the main report. In order to operationalise this, below is an outline of the key areas to cover in your main report divided into two main areas.

When the main report is sent out to your examiners, they are also sent the initial report and asked to read it again before they read the main report. You might want to consider this and the information your examiners have had access to in your presentation when writing your introductory paragraph to the main report.

The balance of how many words you allow per area/point will depend on the piece of work you are reporting on and the feedback points from the Presentation and Discussion. It is expected that areas highlighted in the feedback points will potentially carry more words, but will not form the sole foci of the main report. Depending on the feedback points you may wish to weave the points into the main narrative or address them in separate sections.

Examples of how trainees have previously structured their main reports are below:

• A traditional case report format i.e. background information, hypotheses, assessment, formulation, intervention and outcome.
• A ‘step by step’ approach documenting the journey through the piece of work and influences on decision making and their learning at different points
• A structure explicitly guided by the competencies (although be careful that this doesn’t lead to a disjointed report)
• Or a mixture!

Outlined below are areas you may wish to include/consider in order to provide evidence of the competencies in your report (please note this is not meant to be an exhaustive list):

• Key learning points
• Reflections on the processes of the work undertaken and how this is helping you to prepare to be a fully qualified clinician e.g. nature of the client group, the supervisory process, the nature of the work etc.
• Any ethical/professional/clinical/diversity issues in the work & what you have learnt from them.
• Critical analysis/evaluation of the literature & where/how this work sits within the literature/policy context (local, regional & national). To include a formulation/ synthesis of psychological understanding (with diagram where appropriate).
• Critical evaluation of outcome including critical reflections on the approach taken to measure change and critique of the relevant literature

Preparation for the PPR

Be mindful of all pieces of work you undertake on placement as they could be potential material for the PPR. Keep a reflective diary of the work you undertake – this will help you with the PPR process, particularly when you are trying to remember key decision making or shift points.

Gather information, literature and policies as you go along – again this will help stagger your prep for the PPR and help prevent being an additional stressor at the time of the PPR presentations.

Please be prepared to have materials available which support the PPR process before you leave your placements. This is in case you may need to append extra information to your main report (e.g. outcome of neuro assessment). Please be aware that you need permission from the author of any letters/reports/documents to use as part of the examination process. Please ensure that your client has given their consent for confidential material to be used. Please anonoymise all information to be stored and be mindful of how and where you store this information (i.e. if stored electronically that access is password protected. Hard copies of information are held in a secure place e.g. in a locked filing cabinet).

PPR organisational processes

Prior to the PPR presentation day you will be sent a list of examiners together with a form asking you to declare if any of the examiners are known to you in any capacity. We will not be asking you to declare in what capacity they are known to you to preserve confidentiality (e.g. personal tutor). We do not need to know about anyone who you know very casually or have met only once or twice. We only need to know about individuals where the examination process would be compromised by their prior knowledge of you. The examiners will also be sent a trainee list and asked to declare if any trainees are known to them. Again we will not be asking for details about in what capacity trainees are known to them. This is to prevent us inadvertently allocating a trainee to an examiner where they are known to each other. It is important for this information to be returned as quickly as possible to allow the slot allocation to take place.

Slots for the PPR day will be randomly assigned by the office taking into account the information received about individuals who are known to each other.

Trainees will be notified of their allocated time slot at least two weeks in advance of the day. Please note this is the time slot only not which stream (e.g. child/adult).

Please try to arrive 30 minutes before your allocated slot on the day. Information detailing which stream you have been allocated to is available 30minutes before your slot. (i.e. child or adult, OA/Health/Neuro or LD).

Programme staff will act as chair people for the PPR process. Clinical tutors also act as reserve examiners. In the event that a clinical tutor will need to be an examiner, they will not examine trainees they are responsible for either in a clinical tutor position or research tutor position.

Draft reading

Draft reading is not offered for the initial reports by the programme team. As this piece of work is expected to be very similar to work undertaken on placement, please approach your supervisors to draft read the initial report.

Draft reading will be offered by the programme team for the main report submitted for PPR1. Draft reading for the PPR2 will not be offered unless there are identified additional support needs.

Absenteeism for PPR day

If you are absent on the day of the presentation because of illness you will be asked to provide a medical note from your GP to this effect in accordance with University guidelines for absenteeism for examinations Please report your ill health in the usual manner. If you are aware in advance that you will not be able to attend the presentation day due to extenuating circumstances, please advise the Chair of the Exam Board as soon as possible. Similarly if you are delayed on the day of the presentation for whatever reason, please inform the office as soon as possible. Individual circumstances will be considered by the Chair of the Exam Board and PPR co-ordinator in relation to rescheduling the presentation process.

Identifiers in the PPR

Trainees are required to make anonymous all identifying information relating to the client/service in their PPR. If identifiers are found in submitted work, the trainee will be asked to resubmit the piece of work with the identifier removed. If the identifier is found in the Initial Report, the trainee will be asked to resubmit the initial report with their main report. If the identifier is found in the main report, the trainee will be asked to resubmit the main report as soon as possible.

An identifier is classed as anything which could ultimately compromise the identity of the individual(s)/service reported on in the piece of work. This could include the inadvertent use of individual’s real name, name/location of service based in/visited, address (part or whole) of individual/service, name of supervisor, name of NHS trust.

Examiners are asked to bring the existence of identifiers to the attention of the PPR Coordinator/chair of the Exam Board as they need to be noted together with action taken under the Exam Board business, Examiners are asked to consider the significance of the identifier and record it either under Standard Setting (minor use of identifier) or Professional Behaviour (significant use of identifier).

Failure of the PPR

If an Unacceptable (U) grade is given for any competency rating, then the PPR is automatically failed. If a U grade is awarded for any competency other than the Presentation Competency, the exam board will make a recommendation based on feedback from examiners about how to proceed with resubmission.

If a trainee presents extremely poorly on the presentation day (e.g. because of anxiety) to the extent that the examiners would consider awarding a U rating for the Presentation Competency, the trainee will be informed of this immediately and will be offered an opportunity to present again (where possible on the same day). If following this second attempt the examiners still feel a U rating is justified, then a fail for the PPR is recorded and the PPR assessment would need to be retaken at a different time. This matter would then be referred to the Exam Board for a decision on how to proceed.

If examiners are concerned about the content of the presentation given (i.e. trainee describes something which could be deemed as professional misconduct), they are asked to seek advice from the PPR Co-ordinator/Chair of the Exam Board at the time of the presentation. Outcome options following consultation with the Chair of the Exam Board are the resumption of the original presentation process, the presentation of the PPR material from the alternative placement and/or referral to the Exam Board about how to proceed. If it is decided that the trainee needs to present their alternative PPR material, this will be scheduled in as soon as is practically possible with a different examiner pair. Or, if the concern is deemed sufficient to require action by the employer, the PPR assessment process will be suspended whilst advice is sought from the Clinical Director/employing body as to how to proceed.

Study time

The PPR for all trainees will take place in a two week study block. Trainees are strongly encouraged to not take leave during allocated PPR study time.

PPR results

Trainees will receive a letter informing them of the outcome of their PPR from the exam board following the board meeting in the January following the PPR process. Trainees will also receive examiner feedback on the individual competencies.

References

Phillips, A., Hatton, C., Gray, I., Baldwin, S., Burrell-Hodgson, G., Cox, M., Hoy, J., McCormick, R., Rockliffe, C. and Wilson, J. (2000). Core competencies in clinical psychology: A view from trainees. Clinical Psychology ,1, 27-32.

Phillips, A., Hatton, C. & Gray, I. (2001). Which selection methods do clinical psychology courses use? Clinical Psychology, 8, 19-24.

Phillips, A., Hatton, C. & Gray, I. (2004). Factors predicting the short-listing and selection of trainee clinical psychologists. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 11, 111-125.

Outline of PPR competencies

Other documents

The PPR information for clients sheet attached below gives clients background on the PPR and the way in which information is used. Also attached is the PPR supervisor declaration form which should be signed by supervisors to confirm that the work presented for a Placement Presentation and Report is an accurate and true reflection of the clinical work undertaken whilst on placement.

PPR information for clients
PPR supervisor declaration form