Clinical Associate in Psychology MSc

Become a qualified Clinical Associate in Psychology (CAP) on this British Psychological Society (BPS)-accredited master's degree apprenticeship course.

This MSc course, which has been accredited by the British Psychological Society (BPS), will be the foundation for your training to become a qualified Clinical Associate in Psychology (CAP).

Alongside your formal study of clinical psychology theory and practice, you will undertake practice-based learning and supervised clinical practice in a relevant NHS health or social care setting under the supervision of a registered clinical or counselling Psychologist.

You’ll develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours necessary to work safely and effectively as a CAP, including knowledge of governance, ethical and organisational issues.

We will train you to work effectively with individuals experiencing mental health problems using evidence-based approaches. You'll develop skills in psychological assessment, formulation and intervention, and in how to evaluate and enhance your practice. Your developing clinical practice skills and competence will be reviewed and assessed throughout the course.

As you work to become a reflective, ethical and competent practitioner, you'll gain the experience needed to contribute to the effective provision of psychologically informed care across the wider health and social care system.

On completion of your degree apprenticeship, you will have demonstrated the knowledge, skills and behaviours to work as a qualified CAP, and be able to:


- work autonomously with appropriate support and supervision from a registered psychologist


- provide personalised and evidence-based care to people from different backgrounds and cultures


- support service development through quality improvement


This course is designed for psychology graduates employed by health and social care providers as apprentice Clinical Associates in Psychology. The CAP role aims to address unmet needs in mental health provision, as outlined in the NHS Long Term Plan and Community Mental Health Framework.

Studying with us

You will join our Department of Psychology, which offers several accredited professional postgraduate programmes in psychology, as well as a highly ranked undergraduate degree in the subject.

Research interests in the department span a broad range of clinically relevant topics, including:


- ageing


- autism


- child maltreatment


- common mental health problems


- eating disorders


- persistent physical symptoms


- psychosis


- trauma


Graduate prospects

On successful completion of this apprenticeship degree, you’ll be eligible to join the British Psychological Society (BPS) Wider Psychological Workforce register as a Clinical Associate in Psychology, and apply for Clinical Associate in Psychology roles in the NHS.

Course ethos

We aim to provide a supportive, stimulating environment to nurture CAP apprentices as they grow professionally. Because of this, our course mixes learning that is practice-based as well as problem-based.

We believe that the classroom should be an extension of the workplaces in which CAPs are embedded, offering academic learning that is fully grounded in clinical practice. This means that CAPs will be encouraged to bring their experience from practice to the teaching we provide and to take what they learn back to their workplaces to create a virtuous cycle of learning.

By doing this, we will support apprentices to become reflective and ethical practitioners who can work with complex presentations in an evolving health and social care context. In addition to ensuring that the practice we teach is evidence-based and outcome-focused, we will encourage apprentices to pay close attention to wider organisational, social and cultural trends.