Guide for an Psychology Expat
Many people from the field of Psychology who move to the United Kingdom (U.K.), can find the process of starting and setting their practice from the ground up very difficult. First thing they face is being unaware of the whole process. Unlike many developing countries, United Kingdom have a very clear and regulated system if you are looking to work as a Practitioner Psychologist here.
In this blog I will talk about how you can get registered and what are the requirements and process of registration.
Q1- Where do I need to register?
If you are a psychologist, who has a professional training you need to be registered under the Health and Care Professions Council also known as HCPC.
Q2- What are the different routes to apply?
There are two routes, first is for the United Kingdom applications which is only for professionals who have completed their training from the universities in the U.K. Second route is for the international applicants, those who have completed their training anywhere outside the U.K.
Therefore, anyone whose training and qualifications are not from U.K., universities will apply through international route.
Q3- How to know if I am eligible to apply for it?
To apply you must have undergone training in one of the relevant professions outside of the UK., and you should be able to provide a proof for that in your application. You should have a good understanding of the professional standards of proficiency, conduct, performance, ethics and must be able to provide proof of continuing professional development
Q4- What documents do I need?
Before starting your application, you need to organize following documents, to support your application to work as a Practitioner Psychologist under HCPC. It can be a tedious process, can is done in few stages. For ease of organizing, I have divided the requirements into following sections:
A) Cover Letter and Application for Registration as a Practitioner Psychologist
B) Educational Qualifications: your relevant educational qualifications mostly professional. You need your marksheets, degrees and course information form for all the educational qualifications you are providing information for in support of your application.
1) Marksheet- provide them, as they contains information about the subjects and topics which were taught to you.
2) Degree- proof of completion of that course
3) Course Information form- is must, and it provides detailed information about theoretical and practical content of the courses you have successfully completed. It can be filled by you, using the course syllabus, but must be duly signed, stamped and attested by your Head of Department or Course provider. Include details of the course content; the number of theoretical and practical hours for each module or subject; and the assessment methods used.
C) Certified Proof of Identity and Address: you will have to provide your evidence of address and identity.
1) You can provide your passport and BRP
2) You can provide your Council Tax receipt
3) Household bill
D) Professional Experience: you are required to provide letter of experience, which should include your relevant paid and all voluntary work experience. You should include the following:
Professional Experience letter which should include what was your job role, and number of clinical hours, audits you have done. Information about the job setting etc.
Job experience letter your from employer which should include the following:
your role
Start and end of employment
Overall hours of patient contact and work
Information about supervision if any was provided
E. Professional Registration and Membership proof
F. English Language Proficiency
IELTS Certificate
Q5. Document verification before uploading for registration
If you are preparing your documents before coming to the U.K., you can get it attested from a Gazetted officer, in India. You will have to take your original documents with you.
If you are applying from within the U.K., you can get your documents approved and verified from post office. You will have to take your original documents with you.
Ask them to write this on the document:
"I certify that this is a true copy of the original document seen by me"
Their signature and the date
Their name, professional title and contact details
Once you have organized all your documents, have gotten them verified you will have to upload them on the portal. After reviewing your documents, you will be asked to pay your application assessment fees and your course providers will be sent an email from HCPC office to verify the information you have provided.
Your application is sent for assessment to independent reviewers, and once your qualifications have been matched to the UK standard, then they ask you to finally pay for your registration.
Once you are done with all this, your registration will be valid for a period of two years.
*This process is taking more time because of the increase in number of international applications.
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