This course aims to improve the capabilities of staff working with under-fives and their parents/carers. It would provide you with education and training on evidence-based mental health interventions for parents and infants.
Frequently asked questions
Would I be suitable?
This course is available at Graduate or Postgraduate level. For Postgraduate you would need to have a relevant Level 6 qualification, and for Graduate this would usually be a Level 5. You would also need to show that you have experience working with parents/carers and young children.
In some circumstances you may be eligible if you have a Level 4 qualification, in this case you would need to show substantial relevant work experience.
For this course it is not necessary to have a core profession.
How does the training work?
The course runs for one year, between January and December. This is a training course funded by Health Education England, so you would be studying at the University of Exeter 2 days a week and working in a children’s mental health service 2-3 days per week. You are employed directly by your service, so would apply for a role with them and then be put forward for the course.
What topics will I be studying?
You will study the following academic modules as part of the course. Click on the links to find out more information:
What clinical work would I complete?
During the year you will complete:
- One Incredible Years (IY) Group – run for parents of children aged 3-5 years that are experiencing difficulties with their behaviour.
- Six Video Interaction Guidance (VIG) cases – closely supervised individual parent cases, including a total of 18 cycles across the families.
- Three cases of individual, behaviour and regulatory work. These cases will be where a child (18 months-3 years old) experiences difficulties with feeding, toileting, sleeping or persistent crying.
To support you with this clinical work, you will have a minimum of 70 hours of combined workplace and university supervision over the course year. This includes weekly supervision of your individual parent work and VIG work from your workplace supervisor. You will be expected to bring video clips to both University and your service setting for supervision.
How is the course assessed?
The course will be assessed both via your clinical work (through videotaped sessions, supervision reports and clinical portfolio), as well as via academic assessments (essays, case reports and presentations).
Is this course accredited?
Though not currently accredited by BABCP, the course has been designed to meet the predicted assessment and clinical practice requirements, should these courses be accredited in future. The course has also been designed to support AVIGuk accreditation to a minimum of practitioner level. Individual trainees will be able to go on to apply for VIG accreditation if they successfully meet these VIG requirements during the course.
How do I apply?
Our next intake of practitioners will be for January 2024. To see current job vacancies, check the ‘Latest Jobs’ section of our website, search on NHS jobs, or check the following websites for services that have recruited 0-5s trainees in the past year::
Where can I find out more?
Please see the University of Exeter’s CEDAR CYP IAPT 0-5 handbook for further details about the content and structure of the programme. For more information please contact the programme lead Lucy Ralphs.