When you’re looking into a career in children’s mental health it can be confusing to understand what all the courses, interventions and acronyms mean. To help guide you about what courses we offer and whether or not they’d be suitable for you, we’ve set out some information below of what you might want to think about when browsing our website.
Qualifications
For more information on qualification levels see this link.
Courses requiring a minimum Level 6 qualification
Courses available for people with a Level 5 qualification
- CYP IAPT Parenting Practitioners
- CYP IAPT 0-5s Practitioners
- Children’s Wellbeing Practitioners
- Education Mental Health Practitioners
- Autism Spectrum Disorder/Learning Disability Practitioners
What if I don’t have a Level 5 or 6 qualification?
Some courses may accept applicants for the Graduate Diplomas/Certificates who do not have a Level 5 or 6 qualification. This will depend on your level of previous experience in the relevant area. For example the Parenting and 0-5s courses do not always require this level but please get in touch with the programme team before making an application.
Work Experience
For many courses in mental health it is not just qualifications that matter but your previous work experience in a similar area. Relevant experience will depend on which course you are interested in and whether that course requires a core profession recognised by an accrediting body. See a list of BABCP accepted core professions at this link.
The following courses require you to have a core profession recognised by an accrediting body:
NOTE: For the CBT and Parenting courses you may still be eligible to apply if you do not have a core profession. You would need to be able to complete a KSA portfolio showing that you have 2 years’ relevant full-time equivalent therapeutic experience in a mental health setting.
The following courses do not require a core profession in order to apply:
The following courses are available only for people who are already working in a mental health service in a relevant role:
Interests
Of course it’s also important to think about what suits you!
What kind of career would you like? Some of our courses might lead directly to your perfect career path, others might be the first stepping stone towards a longer-term goal. Many of our practitioners have gone on to complete the supervision and leadership courses, others have used their practitioner skills to complete follow-up Master’s degrees. Have a look at the university’s CEDAR website for more information about future career paths.
Who do you want to work with? All of our courses are about working with children and young people but that might include under 5s and their parents, teenagers or families. While browsing have a think about which group would suit your skills best.
Where do you want to work? Our partner services include rural and urban locations across the South West from Cornwall up to Herefordshire. They also include NHS statutory services as well as charities, and if you train to be an Education Mental Health Practitioner you will be working within schools. Have a look at our partner service locations and more details here.
Accreditation
There are a number of accrediting and regulatory bodies which provide recognition of practitioners’ competence and skills in a particular area. A list of which of our courses are accredited and the bodies that accredit them can be found below:
- CYP IAPT 0-5s Practitioners – (the course is 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 the requirements during the course.)
Useful Links
- Psychological Professions Network Career Map – a great tool to explore the career options available to you in mental health
- Qualification Levels – a government guide to what different qualification levels mean
- NHS Jobs – where most vacancies for our courses are advertised
- BPS Guidance on pursuing a career in psychology
- FAQ– if you still have questions check our list of frequently asked questions