Category: Uncategorized

Submission deadlines

10/10/2023 / Rob Parker

2023 cohort

Full time route

17^th November 2023	SAE 1 report
4^th-15^th December 2023	SAE 1 Viva – Vivas are arranged on an individual basis during this time and trainees are notified directly
19^th January 2024	SAE 2/PWC
1^st-16^th February 2024	SAE 2 Viva – Vivas are arranged on an individual basis during this time and trainees are notified directly
19^th April 2024	TPA (TBC)
21^st June 2024	PALS 1
19^th July 2024	Thesis Proposal
20^th September 2024	PALS 2
17^th January 2025	Project Block Portfolio/SIPP
15^th August 2025	PASE
17^th October 2025	PALS 3
20th^th March 2026	Thesis

Part time route

19^th January 2024	SAE 1 report
1^st – 16^th February 2024	SAE 1 Viva – Vivas are arranged on an individual basis during this time and trainees are notified directly
19^th April 2024	SAE 2/PWC
1^st-17^th May 2024	SAE 2 Viva – Vivas are arranged on an individual basis during this time and trainees are notified directly
20^th Sept 2024	PALS 1
17^th January 2025	PALS 2
18^th July 2025	Project Block Portfolio/SIPP
15^th August 2025	TPA
19^th September 2025	Thesis Proposal
19^th June 2026	PASE
16^th October 2026	PALS 3
15^th July 2027	Thesis

2022 cohort

Full time route

18^th November 2022	SAE 1 report
1^st-9^th December 2022	SAE 1 Viva – Vivas are arranged on an individual basis during this time and trainees are notified directly
20^th January 2023	SAE 2/PWC
1^st-15^th February 2023	SAE 2 Viva – Vivas are arranged on an individual basis during this time and trainees are notified directly
21^st April 2023	TPA
16^th June 2023	PALS 1
14^th July 2023	Thesis Proposal
15^th September 2023	PALS 2
19^th January 2024	Project Block Portfolio/SIPP
16^th August 2024	PASE
18^th October 2024	PALS 3
21^stMarch 2025	Thesis

Part time route

18^th November 2022	SAE 1 report
1^st – 9^th December 2022	SAE 1 Viva – Vivas are arranged on an individual basis during this time and trainees are notified directly
20^th January 2023	SAE 2/PWC
1^st-15^th February 2023	SAE 2 Viva – Vivas are arranged on an individual basis during this time and trainees are notified directly
15^th Sept 2023	PALS 1
19^th January 2024	PALS 2
19^th July 2024	Project Block Portfolio/SIPP
16^th August 2024	TPA
20^th September 2024	Thesis Proposal
20^th June 2025	PASE
17^th October 2025	PALS 3
17^th July 2026	Thesis

2021 cohort

Part time route

21^st June 2024	PASE
18^th October 2024	PALS 3
18^th July 2025	Thesis

Generic deadlines tables

Deadlines normally fall on the third Friday of the month

Month	SAE	TPA	PALS	PASE	SIPP	Out of sync subs
Sept		Thesis Proposal PT	PALS 2 – FT PALS 1 – PT			x
Oct			PALS 3 – FT PALS 3 – PT			x
Nov	SAE 1 report – FT
Dec	SAE 1 Viva – individually set up – FT
Jan	SAE 2 FT /PWC SAE 1 report – PT		PALS 2 – PT		Project block portfolio FT	x
Feb	SAE 2 Viva – individually set up SAE 1 Viva – PT
Mar		Thesis – FT (2^nd Fri)
Apr	SAE 2/PWC PT	TPA – FT (tbc)				x
May	SAE 2 Viva PT
June			PALS 1 – FT	PASE – PT		x
July		Thesis (2^nd Fri) -PT Thesis proposal FT			Project block portfolio PT
Aug		TPA – PT		PASE – FT		x

Out of sync submission = any assignment but only on submission points with an ‘x’

Submission points -chronological

Month & Year	Full time	Part time
Year 1
Nov	SAE 1 report
Dec	SAE 1 Viva
Jan	SAE 2/PWC	SAE 1 report
Feb	SAE 2 Viva	SAE 1 Viva
Mar
April	TPA (tbc)	SAE 2/PWC
May		SAE 2 Viva
June	PALS 1
July	Thesis Proposal
Aug
Year 2
Sept	PALS 2	PALS 1
Oct
Nov
Dec
Jan	Project Block Portfolio/SIPP	PALS 2
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
June
Jul		Project Block Portfolio/SIPP
Aug	PASE	TPA
Year 3
Sept		Thesis Proposal
Oct	PALS 3
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar	Thesis (2^nd Fri)
Apr
May
June		PASE
Jul
Aug
Year 4
Sept
Oct		PALS 3
Nov
Dec
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
June
Jul		Thesis (2^nd Fri)
Aug
Year 5		Complete in Dec – no more deadlines

Anti-Racism Accountability Group (ARAG)

23/06/2021 / Rob Parker

The Anti- Racism Accountability Group (ARAG) was set up in 2020 in response to the ongoing systemic racism within our course, the profession, and wider society. We wanted to ensure that on the DClinPsy there is a group that is embedded in the course’s process and structure that can hold the course to account on its anti-racist practice.

The ARAG sits above the Development and Implementation Groups (DIGs) and guides and holds them accountable to anti- racist practice. The Terms of Reference for the group can be found below. The ARAG currently consists of (white) staff, and service users and trainees who identify as experiencing racism. The membership of the ARAG is something that we have ongoing, careful conversations about with current members, and we are currently developing a proposal for white trainees to join ARAG. Whilst it is not the responsibility of the trainees and service users who experience racism on the course to hold the course to account, there is also a current safety in the group that may be lost with the addition of white members. The staff team members are all white, and take the responsibility of actioning any items that are raised.

The ARAG meets once a month and its overall aims are:

To explore, assess, collate and report systemic racist practice on the Lancaster DClinPsy programme
To guide the Development & Implementation Groups (DIGs) regarding anti-racist practice
To hold the DIGs to account for their actions regarding anti-racist practice
Where appropriate, to address incidences and offer case by case solutions
Where appropriate, to develop policies on anti-racist practice
To provide an annual report on ARAG activity.

In conjunction with the ARAG, there is a peer-led reflective practice space for trainees from the global majority who experience racism. This group meets once every month for about an hour.

ARAG Terms of Reference

Placement seeking procedure for fifth/specialist placement (2020 cohort and earlier only)

22/07/2020 / Rob Parker

Below is an outline of the procedure for arranging fifth/specialist placements adopted by the Lancaster DClinPsy, which is closely coordinated with the procedure undertaken by the Liverpool and Manchester programmes.

Time Plan:

October of Second Year (FT trainees) October of third year (PT trainees)	Trainees are introduced to the procedure for planning final year placements, some of the options available, and relevant points to consider. This is done via a meeting, teaching session or final year placement ‘Roadshow’.
October of Second year (FT trainees) October of third year (PT trainees)	Trainees are sent a fifth/specialist Placement questionnaire, to prompt them to think about relevant issues in choosing a final year placement. They are asked to make an appointment with their clinical tutor to discuss their personal learning needs, any outstanding competencies to be addressed, their preferences, and possible people to contact to explore placement opportunities further. They will be pointed towards the Register for final year placements held by the course.
October – December of Second Year (FT trainees) Oct-Dec of third year (PT trainees)	Trainees meet with clinical tutors, and a process of information gathering takes place – led by the trainee, supported where necessary by the clinical tutor.
December of Second Year (FT trainees) Dec of third year (PT trainees)	Trainees submit an Action Plan to the tutor coordinating final year placements, which has been developed in collaboration with their clinical tutor. The ‘Action Plan’ consists of a list of supervisors/services that they may wish to contact to gather information about placements.
December of Second Year (FT trainees) Dec of third year (PT trainees)	The Tutor coordinating final year placements reviews all submitted ‘Action Plans’, to coordinate overlaps between trainees (and avoid supervisors being contacted several times). The tutor will give approval to each trainee individually, to pursue their Action Plan. Where several trainees are interested in speaking to a certain supervisor, the tutor may arrange or suggest a joint meeting between the trainees involved and the supervisor, to avoid repetition for the supervisor.
December – February of second year (FT trainees) of third year (PT trainees)	Trainees contact supervisors and services, to discuss opportunities for final year placements. All these enquiries are tentative. They are asked to regularly update the -final year placement tutor of their conversations (e.g. weekly by email), in order that any necessary changes to the action plan can be made, or new directions added, and to monitor how the system is working. In February, they submit a preference form, detailing the options which they wish to pursue, that is – which placements they would like to take up (where possible), and how they would like to use their study days. It is important to give as much information as possible at this point about preferences, as it is not possible to match all trainees with their named preferred supervisor – any information about desired experience, model, or any other factor should be made clear to the final year placement tutor.
February – May of second year (FT trainees) of third year (PT trainees)	Tutors meet with counterparts from Liverpool and Manchester programmes, to review the preferences/learning needs of all trainees across the region. Supervisors are contacted to obtain firmer offers of placements. Overlap and limitations in capacity are managed and collaboratively solved/alternatives suggested. Tutors contact trainees where necessary during this process, to discuss alternative options or preferences, and further information gathering and discussion may be necessary.
May – June of second year (FT trainees) of third year (PT trainees)	Supervisors and trainees are contacted, to confirm allocation of placements. After this, trainees make contact with supervisors, to arrange a meeting in the next few weeks around placement planning. Some undertake mandatory training/DBS checks ahead of placements.
Mid July of second year (FT trainees) of third year (PT trainees)	Supervisors are contacted more officially, with information about placement dates and procedures.
October of Third Year (FT trainees) and Jan of fourth year (PT trainees)	Trainees start placements.

Points to remember:

A trainee’s learning needs (e.g. any competencies which still require development or monitoring) should be the first priority in selecting a supervisor or service.
Our policy across all three Programmes in the North West is to give priority to first and second years’ core placements, so trainees are less likely to be allocated to a placement/supervisor who is used for a core placement.
Trainees are encouraged to talk to individual supervisors about their potential availability, and to get more information about the service/nature of the work/learning opportunities that might be on offer. However, they should make it clear to supervisors that their enquiries are exploratory at this stage, and any formal approach for placements will need to come from the programme.
Trainees can feel free to express preferences for placements across the North West.
All three regional courses have signed up to this timescale and outline planning process. Placements are agreed together in the spring of second year, by tutors from all three courses. Occasionally, we do hear of supervisors who are not aware of the process, and give a message that “they are already taken” (as if a first come, first served system was operating). If this occurs, the trainee should please let the Final Year Placement Co-ordinator know about this.

Trainees should not:

Make ‘definite’ arrangements with individual supervisors. It should be made clear that confirming a placement can only be done by the course

Approach placements or supervisors from outside of the North West (e.g. covered by other programmes such as Leeds, Staffordshire and Shropshire or Birmingham).