DClinPsy Handbook

Category: Assessment and failure

  • Recording competencies in the ePortfolio (OneFile)

    As part of the programme’s accreditation, the BPS require us to have a clear system of recording competencies within their Standards for the accreditation of Doctoral programmes in clinical psychology. We provide this in electronic form via the OneFile system. We expect that trainees make use of the ePortfolio throughout training, and this is why…

  • Use of bookable extra study (BES)

  • Manual of Academic Regulations and Procedures (MARP)

    This information is available in the following location: – Manual of Academic Regulations and Procedures (MARP)

  • Lancaster University plagiarism framework

    This information is available in the following location: – Lancaster University plagiarism framework

  • A getting started guide: assessment

    This page is designed to guide you through the key sections of the online handbook which relate to assessment. You can use it as an index to read key assessment related sections of the handbook in a logical sequence. More detail on most areas will be contained within the full sections of the online handbook.…

  • Programme-level learning outcomes & objectives

    In order to meet the HCPC Standards of Proficiency for the relevant part of the register, at the programme level the Lancaster University DClinPsy programme has adopted the learning outcomes required by the British Psychological Society (BPS), which are designed to meet these standards. The following extract outlines the learning outcomes. Extract from the Standards…

  • Post contract fees

    Please note that this policy only applies to trainees whose contracts ended between 08/01/2018 and 20/06/23 Full-time trainees on the programme are employed on a three year NHS contract. For part-time trainees this is adjusted according to the trainee’s full time equivalent. If a trainee intercalates from study, for maternity leave for example, then the…

  • Data storage, information governance and ethics

    Last updated 20/04/23 When collecting data from human participants you need to ensure that the data you collect are handled and stored securely and in accordance with legislative frameworks governing data protection, organisational information governance requirements, and research ethics and governance. The procedure outlined below has been developed with these frameworks in mind, and is…

  • Passing and failing the DClinPsy programme

    This page under review following a review of the Thesis Preparation Assignment (TPA) with updates to the page due in September 2024. 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…

  • Marking process, passing and failing assignments

  • Teaching, learning and assessment strategy

    Curriculum Guidance The curriculum is informed by a wide range of guidance, which includes the following: HCPC Standards of Education & Training HCPC Standards of Proficiency Standards for the accreditation of Doctoral programmes in clinical psychology (BPS document) BPS accreditation through partnership handbook BPS accreditation through partnership additional guidance for clinical psychology training programmes: The…

  • Guidance on Assignment Submission

    This page under review following a review of the Thesis Preparation Assignment (TPA) with updates to the page due in September 2024. This guidance relates to the preparation of all documents except the thesis General Guidance on submissions All written coursework for the programme needs to be submitted online via the University’s Moodle virtual learning…

  • Identifiers: words or phrases which identify individuals

    It is important that ‘identifiers’- words or phrases which identify individuals, institutions etc. without their explicit consent – are not present in assignments submitted for examination. Trainees should check their work carefully before submission to ensure that this does not happen and that, for example, ethics applications have such identifiers redacted. Where it is felt…

  • Examination of the thesis

    For the thesis, programme staff (or other members of the university such as colleagues in psychology, DHR or social sciences) who are not directly involved in helping trainees with the preparation of their thesis research and are not one of their individual tutors act as internal examiners. Each thesis is examined by a specifically appointed…

  • Examination board

    The Examination Board has the authority delegated to it by the University to reach decisions regarding the academic status (pass / fail) of students’ assignments and practice placements. The examination board comprises the programme staff and appointed external examiners, with the Vice Chancellor, the Assistant Dean for Teaching and the Head of the Division of…

  • Deadlines, extensions and exceptional circumstances

    Deadlines and extensions Trainees can find the fixed deadlines for all assignments with the  Submission deadlines page of the handbook. All assignments need to be submitted by the agreed deadline to avoid negative consequences. The consequences of late submission and the process for obtaining an extension is detailed on the following page: Policy regarding deadlines…

  • Policy regarding deadlines for submission of assessed coursework

    Scope of the Policy The policy applies to the submission of all coursework on the programme excluding the thesis (but including the thesis proposal). Obtaining an Extension Two types of extension are available to trainees: a ‘short extension’ (one-week for full time trainees and two weeks for part time trainees only), and a ‘long extension’…

  • Service Improvement Poster Presentation (SIPP)

    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…

  • Placement Assignment – Service Evaluation (PASE)

    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…

  • Placement Assignment – Live Skills (PALS)

    Introduction Over the course of the programme, trainees are required to submit three pieces of work for Placement Assignment: Live Skills (PALS), in addition to one Placement Assignment: Service Evaluation (PASE). Trainees in the 2021 cohort (and subsequent cohorts) will submit PALS #1 and #2 from work completed on their direct skills placement, and PALS…

  • Thesis Preparation Assignment (TPA)

    This page under review following a review of the Thesis Preparation Assignment (TPA) with updates to the page due in September 2024.

  • Assessment of learning outcomes

    This page under review following a review of the Thesis Preparation Assignment (TPA) with updates to the page due in September 2024.

  • Assignment suite overview

    This page under review following a review of the Thesis Preparation Assignment (TPA) with updates to the page due in September 2024. Assignment submission dates

  • Assessment general principles

    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) standards for the accreditation of Doctoral programmes in clinical psychology and Lancaster University’s manual of academic regulations and…

  • Service related project (SRP) trainee guidance

  • Self-Assessment Exercise (SAE)

    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…

  • Placement Presentation and Report (PPR) guidance for markers

    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…

  • Placement Presentation and Report (PPR)

    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

  • Placement Presentation and Report (PPR) information for trainees

    The PPR is for the 2014 cohort and earlier only. The structure of the PPR is as follows Initial Report submitted at end of each core placement (min 1000 – max 1500 wds excluding references & appendices) Presentation and Discussion to be held after placements 2 & 4 Main Report Submitted following the Presentation /…

  • Criteria for placement failure

    Introduction The criteria for failure reflect the requirements of the profession, as set out in the following standards produced by the regulatory body (Health and Care Professions Council – HCPC) and the professional body (British Psychological Society- BPS): Health and Care Professions Council Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics See document link below Health and Care…

  • Marking for assignments in relation to a specific learning difficulty (SpLD)

    In line with university guidelines, DClinPsy trainees with a diagnosis of a SpLD have their diagnosis highlighted to academic markers by the use of the university’s standard coversheets. This requests that markers are aware of the relevant guidelines and will be sent as applicable to those marking assignments. In addition to the university coversheet, an…

  • Structure of Assignment and Thesis Activity

    This page under review following a review of the Thesis Preparation Assignment (TPA) with updates to the page due in September 2024.

  • Plagiarism

    The term ‘plagiarism’ relates to the ‘unacknowledged use of someone else’s work, usually in coursework, and passing it off as if it were his/her own’ (Dealing with plagiarism by students; an institutional framework; p.3). It includes collusion, commission, duplication of the same work for more than one assessment, inappropriate acknowledgement of text from another source…

  • Appeals

    Trainees only have the right of appeal upon failure of the whole DClinPsy programme. Where a recommendation from the programme’s Exam Board has been made that the trainee fails the programme, the trainee’s case is automatically referred by the Chair of the Exam Board to student registry, who will offer them the right of appeal.…

  • Exceptional Circumstances Committee

    The remit of the programme’s Exceptional Circumstances Committee is to consider submissions by a trainee relating to events outside their control which may have resulted in them failing to complete assessed work to a standard of academic performance that might reasonably have been expected on the basis of their performance elsewhere during their study. The…

  • Fitness to practise

    Being fit to practise is a prerequisite for an applied psychologist to deliver a service to the public. The following extract is taken from the Health and Care Professions Council’s brochure entitled “The Fitness to Practise Process”: What is fitness to practise? When we say that someone is ‘fit to practise’ we mean that they…