Post Grad Psychology Certificate

[FollyFaunts]

I already have a BA (Hons) 2:1 - but NOT in psychology. I am thinking of retraining as an Ed. Psych. It seems the best way to start is to do a Post Grad Certificate, which then can lead on to the next level (ultimately doing a masters level qualification if I decide to take it that far).

Does anyone recommend any particular university for this or are they all pretty much the same?
I want to get a feel for the subject and see if I want to take it further. I have a background in Early Years (20 yrs experience and own a nursery for which I am also the SENco).

Any advice or other people's experiences would be appreciated!

I'm not a psychologist but I used to work in a university as an administrator on Psychology MSc course. To become a chartered psychologist you need at some point to get Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership of the British Psychological Society (BPS). This is usually referrred to as GBC. It shows you've reached an appropriate level in the basics of Psychology.

Most people get it by doing a first degree in Psychology but graduates can do a much shorter conversion course. The absolutely essential thing is to check that the course is accredited by the BPS. This is easy to do as they list all of them on their website. It just means that the course covers all the core topics and that they have confidence that the institution awarding the diploma/certificate has met the minimum criteria around staff/student ratio, staff qualifications and so on and so forth.

We were very selective indeed about our students but we assumed that any first degree or conversion course accredited by the BPS would be OK as a starting point for selection. It didn't matter which institution it came from. However, we interviewed. Possibly a Master's/Doctorate programme which didn't interview might be pickier.

It might be worth talking to admissions staff on the ed psych course you are thinking of applying to in case they have any preferences.

Good luck!

Gasp0de thanks for the reply! In order to be eligible for any conversion course, I would first need to do the Post Grad Certificate, I think. In other words, I couldn't go straight to a conversion course, even though I already have a first degree. I think I can do a Certificate online - this would be very convenient actually.

it's interesting to hear about it from an Admin point of view!
mayoforSam - thanks for the PM - I will PM back