Diploma of Psychology

To be eligible students need to:

* have completed at least one Board of Studies accredited subject (that is acceptable for an ATAR) at HSC Stage 6 before the start of year 12; and

* have been recommended by their School Principal.

A candidate shall:

(a) hold an AQF Level 8 four-year Bachelor honours in Psychology, or AQF level 7 three-year accredited sequence in Psychology plus an AQF Level 8 fourth year Bachelor honours or Graduate Diploma, Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC)-accredited sequence in Psychology within the last 10 years and be eligible for registration with the Psychology Board of Australia (PsyBA) as a provisional psychologist. An exception to the 10-year rule may be made for currently registered psychologists who can demonstrate current compliance with the PsyBA CPD requirements seeking to gain a professional postgraduate qualification;

1. have done a National Police Certificate;

2. have done a Working with Children Check; and

3. have provisional registration with the Psychology Board of Australia.

Please Note: You may submit your application for the Master of Professional Psychology without submitting your Working With Children Check, National Police Certificate or evidence of Provisional Registration with the Psychology Board of Australia. However, should you be offered a place on the program the offer will be made on the condition that you submit each of these documents prior to the commencement of the program in Trimester 1. The Working with Children Check should be carried out according to the procedures of the state in which you are planning to conduct your clinical placement.

Selection procedures will include consideration of:

1. the applicant's academic record;

2. referee reports from at least two referees;

3. checking of original degree certificate; and

4. interviews for shortlisted candidates (face-to-face or via teleconferencing) by a panel comprising at least two members of academic staff of the Discipline of Psychology, both of whom have qualifications equivalent to those required for general registration as a psychologist.

Please note: Places in the Master of Professional Psychology are limited. Final offers are based on Interview performance, academic record and referee reports. Failure to receive an invitation to interview or offer of candidature in the program does not indicate a determination of lack of suitability for postgraduate professional psychology training but, instead, reflects the high standard of applications UNE receives each year.

Due to the high number of applications to our professional psychology programs, the University of New England does not provide individual feedback on applications or interview performance.

Admission requirements you'll need to meet for this course.

• The following course-specific admission requirements are mandatory and must be satisfied by all applicants. These requirements are in addition to or supersede the minimum requirements outlined within the Academic admission requirements band section below.

  All applicants are required to be eligible for, and successfully gain and maintain, Provisional Registration with the Psychology Board of Australia, must have completed an APAC- accredited 4th year qualification in psychology, including an independent research-based project. Applicants with qualifications obtained overseas must provide evidence that their psychology qualification has been assessed by the Australian Psychological Society (APS) as equivalent to an APAC-accredited Level 2 qualification in psychology.
  Applicants must provide a personal statement describing their motivations and personal suitability for the course. Additionally, applicants must submit a curriculum vitae showing details of relevant employment and volunteer experience. Two referee reports must be submitted by the referees via the HODSPA Online Referee System. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview.

  Academic admission requirements (Band 6) may be satisfied through completion of one of the following:

  • Bachelor degree; or
  • Equivalent prior learning including at least five years relevant professional experience.

• International students are required to provide an IELTS Academic with an overall minimum score of 7.0 (no individual band less than 6.5). Internationally schooled applicants may also be required to meet this requirement.

  Minimum English standard requirements for this course may also be satisfied with one of the following:

  • Bachelor degree from an approved country;
  • Successfully completed 0.375 EFTSL of study at postgraduate level or higher at an Australian higher education provider (or equivalent); or
  • Where accepted, equivalent prior learning, including at least five years relevant professional experience.

The higher degree research programs in Clinical Psychology are highly competitive and there are many more applicants than places available. Therefore, at Griffith there is a highly structured application process. Admission to all Clinical Psychology programs is restricted to students who are registered Psychologists or who are eligible for provisional registration with the Psychology Board of Australia. The application process involves three stages.

Stage 1: The application

All applicants are required to demonstrate their capability for training in Clinical Psychology as follows:

• Academic Achievement/Intellectual Ability: Applicants must have completed an Honours degree in Psychology (which involves an individual research project) at the level of First Class or Second Class (Division A) Honours and accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). Candidates will also be considered if they have completed a Masters degree in Psychology if the Masters training program was APAC accredited and included a significant research component. Applicants who have completed comparable training and degrees outside Australia will be considered for admission but are advised to submit an academic transcript to the Australian Psychological Society (APS) which will assess whether their training is equivalent to an Honours degree from an Australian university. It is also highly recommended that students will have completed courses or units that are relevant to clinical psychology (for example, Abnormal Psychology, Counselling Psychology or Health Psychology). The Grade Point Average in the undergraduate degree, fourth year and relevant courses will be taken into account.
• Interpersonal and Counselling Capability: Given the interpersonal sensitivity and awareness required for effective clinical practice, successful applicants will be expected to demonstrate a high level of interpersonal skills. This may be demonstrated by evidence of previous counselling training and relevant volunteer or work experience.
• Personal Statement: For assistance with this statement, see the Position description for a Clinical Psychology trainee and the Self-assessment / Colleague-assessment checklists.
• Support from Referees: Three referee reports are required - two from academics who know your work well and a third from a professional referee who can attest to your interpersonal and counselling capabilities. See below for the Australian Psychology Postgraduate Program Reference Request System process.

Stage 2: The interview

Please note that, given the competitive nature of this program, only those applicants who have been evaluated by a panel of the clinical team as having demonstrated their suitability for training in clinical psychology (according to the above criteria and ranked sufficiently high enough relative to others) will be shortlisted for an interview. Applicants who are not shortlisted for an interview for the PhD in Clinical Psychology may still be considered for a PhD (research only) in Psychology.

The interview itself consists of a multi-station assessment process. Applicants are required to attend a face-to-face session that takes around half a day to complete. Applicants will be required to demonstrate sound interpersonal and emotion management skills as they respond to the various tasks at each station. Tasks include, for example, responding to an ethical dilemma, roleplaying an interview, roleplaying a supervision session, discussing research, responding to questions relating to their own reasons for applying for training in clinical psychology and a written task.

Applicants are assessed by a panel of clinical program staff in the multi-station interview process for selection into the clinical component of the program. Applicants will be ranked according to their performance at each station. For those ranked highly enough, a recommendation will be made to the Dean, Griffith Graduate Research School for admission to the PhD in Clinical Psychology program.

Stage 3: The selection

First round selection into the clinical component of the program will be made by mid-November to applicants who are ranked at a sufficiently high level. A waitlist of applicants will be retained as second and third round offers may be made as late as January. Unsuccessful applicants will be advised as soon as is practically possible.

Offers of admission to the PhD Clinical Psychology Program (or the PhD research only program) will be issued by the Griffith Graduate Research School.

Successful applicants are admitted on a conditional basis with continuation in the training program being dependent upon satisfactory performance and progress.

Students should refer to the HDR Convenor prior to enrolling to confirm their study program.

The following University policy will apply to Higher Degree Research (HDR) programs:

• Higher Degree Research Policy

Applicants wishing to commence in Research Intake 1 should lodge their application prior to the closing date listed at the top of this page. Applicants applying to commence at any other time should submit their application at least four months before their preferred intake date. Refer to the Scholarship Key Dates for further information.

The University's Undergraduate Programs Admission Policy will apply.

Prior OP students: Applicants who graduated with an OP in or before 2019 can apply to Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) for an ATAR statement. For more information visit qcaa.qld.edu.au/senior/australian-tertiary-admission-rank-atar.