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Postgraduate Taught

PGDip/GradDip Enhanced Psychological Therapies Practice
(Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)

Please note: The below is for 2025 entries. Click here for 2024 entries.
UCAS code 1234
Duration 12 months part time
36 months part time
Entry year September 2024
Campus Streatham Campus
Discipline Psychology
Contact
Typical offer

View full entry requirements

Applicants must have a PGCert or GradCert Psychological Therapies Practice and be employed within Talking Therapies services.

Contextual offers

Overview

This programme will:

  • Provide you with a unique opportunity to receive in-depth training, specifically tailored to the PWP role. You will enhance your practice in low-intensity CBT and support your career progression into more senior PWP roles.
  • Enable you to develop knowledge, competence and clinical practice in key areas of the low-intensity role, and the Talking Therapies for anxiety and depression Programme more broadly. 
  • Contribute to personal and professional development goals commonly related to senior PWP roles and areas of need identified in your own service. 
  • Support you to utilise your unique skills more effectively and foster both professional and personal development. 
  • Enable you to develop key skills to contribute to improvement and innovation within your service and be responsive with taking action to address key areas of need identified at service, regional and national levels.
  • Enable you to extend your GradCert/PGCert Psychological Therapies Practice (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) into a GradDip/PGDip.
  • Provide you with a high-quality and stimulating learning experience in a supportive environment that is enriched by an internationally-recognised research environment, nationally-recognised innovative clinical teaching approaches and current clinical and professional practice.

View 2024 Entry

Clinical Education Development and Research (CEDAR)

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Contact

Programme administrator: Laura Blaken

Email: PWP-PGDip@exeter.ac.uk

Phone: +44 1392 723122

CEDAR logo: Clinical Education Development and Research

This programme is delivered by Clinical Education, Development and Research (CEDAR): an applied psychological practice centre of excellence, focussed on training the new psychological therapies workforce of the future.

Graduation cap and diploma icon: symbolizing academic achievement and success.

Strong emphasis on translating practice into your PWP role throughout the programme

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Dedicated training facilities equipped with a range of teaching methods to enhance your learning

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Your learning needs addressed both in and out of teaching sessions - with the diversity that you bring to your learning environment viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is our intention to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity

Graduation cap and diploma icon: symbolizing academic achievement and success.

Strong emphasis on translating practice into your PWP role throughout the programme

Video Camera icon

Dedicated training facilities equipped with a range of teaching methods to enhance your learning

Group icon

Your learning needs addressed both in and out of teaching sessions - with the diversity that you bring to your learning environment viewed as a resource, strength and benefit. It is our intention to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity

Entry requirements

Employment 

The Grad/PGDip Enhanced Psychological Therapies Practice (Low-Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is only open to people employed within Talking Therapies services.

Qualifications

This programme will enable you to extend your PGCert Psychological Therapies Practice (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) into a PGDip. You will therefore be required to have successfully completed the PGCert Psychological Therapies Practice (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) programmetaken within CEDAR, or an equivalent HEE nationally commissioned IAPT programme accredited by the British Psychological Society

You will need to be at least one year post-qualifying as a PWP prior to attendance.

You may be permitted to enter this programme if you have previously taken the BSc Applied Psychology (Clinical) at the University of Exeter; in this case you will need to make a specific application for Accredited Prior 'Experiential' Learning (APEL) demonstrating how you meet the requirements of the PGCert before such APEL can be granted. Any queries about APEL should, in the first instance, be made to the Programme Director.

Entry requirements for international students

Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and further information on English language requirements.

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Course content

This programme offers Psychological Wellbeing Practitioners the opportunity to develop: 

  • Extend, enhance, and adapt evidence-based practice to effectively work with an increasing diversity of patient populations and clinical presentations. 
  • Develop knowledge and competency required to be an advanced clinical supervisor. 
  • Develop knowledge of evidence-based practice to appreciate ways to apply research into clinical practice, service development and implementation. 
  • Develop an understanding of leadership skills relevant to diverse PWP roles and in enhancing Step 2 service delivery.

In order to obtain the PgDip qualification, three out of four available modules must be completed. Consistent with supervision responsibilities taken on by Senior PWPs, the Supervision module is compulsory.

However, to enable PWPs to develop in a way consistent with service preference, need and future development, there is the choice of an additional two from three 20-credit modules. These modules can be completed on an individual basis to enables students to obtain their PgDip over a longer period of time without needing to commit to a year of study at once. 

The modules we outline here provide examples of what you can expect to learn on this degree course based on recent academic teaching. The precise modules available to you in future years may vary depending on staff availability and research interests, new topics of study, timetabling and student demand.

The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual review of this programme. Details of the modules currently offered may be obtained from the College website:

 

http://cedar.exeter.ac.uk/programmes/

 

You may take optional modules as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.

Compulsory modules

Stage 1: 20 credits of compulsory modules

CodeModule Credits
PYCM132 Supervising Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) 20

Optional modules

Stage 1: 40 credits of optional modules

CodeModule Credits
PYCM133 Evidence-Based Practice 20
PYCM134 Enhanced Practice 20
PYCM135 Introduction to Leadership 20

Compulsory modules

The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual review of this programme. Details of the modules currently offered may be obtained from the College website:

 

http://cedar.exeter.ac.uk/programmes/

 

You may take optional modules as long as any necessary prerequisites have been satisfied, where the timetable allows and if you have not already taken the module in question or an equivalent module.

 

Stage 1: 20 credits of compulsory modules

CodeModule Credits
PYC3132 Supervising Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) 20

Optional modules

Stage 1:  40 credits of optional modules

CodeModule Credits
PYC3133 Evidence-Based Practice 20
PYC3134 Enhanced Practice 20
PYC3135 Introduction to Leadership 20

How to apply

Applications to this programme may only be made through your employing IAPT service and not directly through the University of Exeter. We will undertake a brief interview with all proposed applicants to ensure awareness of course demands.  

Fees

Places may be funded by your local commissioner, your local service provider, self-funded, or a combination. 

£6900 for the full PgDip (1 compulsory module and 3 optional modules)
£2300 for each module 

If students have already completed the ‘Supervision Evidence-based Psychological Therapies (low-intensity CBT) within CEDAR, or an equivalent nationally commissioned PWP Talking Therapies supervision programme, students can access the credit-bearing module for a reduced cost of £1150, with the option of repeating taught days as a refresher. In these circumstances, a supervision certificate will be required prior to the start of the course.

How to Pay

Payment can be made online. We are unable to give you access to your study materials before your payment reaches us so it is important to have your finances in place and pay when prompted to ensure you can access your studies at the start of each module. 

Scholarships

The University of Exeter has many different scholarships available to support your education, including £5 million in scholarships for international students applying to study with us in the 2025/26 academic year, such as our Exeter Excellence Scholarships*.

For more information on scholarships and other financial support, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.

*Terms and conditions apply. See online for details.

Teaching and research

Teaching consists of full days of lectures, clinical and professional skills development, and small group discussions. The programme also includes shorter sessions of supervision of supervision and individual coaching. Guided independent study is also expected to take place.

Assessments will include a competency assessment, clinical practice portfolios, reflective essays, presentations and a service-level evaluation proposal. Details of assessment criteria may be found in the module descriptors for the programme.

Careers

This programme provides a unique opportunity to receive in-depth training, specifically tailored to the Senior PWP role. In this context, the word ‘Senior’ can refer to a number of different job roles within a Talking Therapies service, like Senior PWP, specialist PWP, PWP Team Lead, PWP Service Lead and more.

The course focuses on supervisory practice, developing your skills and confidence as a leader and enhanced evidence-based practice in low intensity CBT, with the aim of supporting career progression within increasingly diverse senior PWP roles. Previous students have used the PgDip qualification to move into increasingly senior roles, including that of service-level lead.