Clinical Psychology - Doctorate Programme FAQs

Please read all the information on this website and this section (FAQ’s). This will generally address most queries. If you cannot find an answer to your query, please contact the programme administrator, Maria at clinpsychadmin@ul.ie

To be eligible to be considered for this programme you must: 

1. Hold a primary degree in Psychology, that is recognised by The Psychological Society of Ireland (if your degree was awarded from an institution outside of the Republic of Ireland, you must supply proof of recognition from PSI by the closing date for applications. 
2. Your primary degree in Psychology must be at 2nd class honours or higher. 
3. You must be eligible to work in the Republic of Ireland and supply proof of this, if you are not an EU citizen, by the closing date for applications.

Accreditation is the official recognition of a degree by the professional psychological body in Ireland - the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI). All doctoral training programmes in clinical psychology must be accredited to allow you to pursue a career as a professional clinical psychologist in Ireland. 

UL Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programme is fully accredited by the PSI.

Based upon current criteria, at the time of application applicants must hold a primary degree in psychology or a postgraduate diploma in psychology recognised by the PSI as conferring eligibility for graduate membership of the Society. The degree must be at least at upper second-class honours level. Applicants who have a 2.2 degree in psychology and a recognised postgraduate qualification in psychology at Masters Level or higher may be considered for interview. 

If your qualification is not from the Republic of Ireland or the UK, you need to have written proof from PSI that you are eligible to apply for graduate membership of PSI. Please contact the PSI for information on how to establish this.

Yes. Practical and/or Research experience relevant to clinical psychology is also required. It is expected that this experience totals a minimum of 12 months at the time of applying. Please note, applications can only be considered from applicants eligible to work in the Republic of Ireland.

This is a 3 Year full-time professional doctoral training programme in clinical psychology with a median intake of 15 each year. 

Most successful applicants will have at least one year’s relevant clinical experience. Experience helps to establish that you have some appreciation of the programme and career you are applying for, and experience should promote the competencies we assess.

Ideally this experience should be with populations that you will encounter in training and practice – e.g. adults and children in psychological distress and/or with a disability. Clinical experience which is supervised by a clinical or other applied psychologist can be particularly valuable.

Research experience (in addition to the undergraduate project) is also relevant and helpful, especially if the research is clinically relevant, e.g. where it involves direct contact with users of clinical psychology services, or where the results of the research are clinically applicable. 

Please bear in mind that the competencies rated vary across academic, clinical, research, personal and interpersonal domains. It would be difficult for anyone to gain experiences which promote all competencies. Thus, (a) bear in mind that successful applicants always have strengths as well as gaps/limitations and (b) you need to decide for yourself what strengths or emphases you want to prioritise through experience.

The University of Limerick, the University of Galway and University College Cork will operate a joint competition selection and interview process. Whilst this will be a joint selection process, please note that applicants are required to apply separately to each course for which they wish to be considered, because your data must be protected by the three different universities under their own policies and procedures.

Almost all of the teaching component is in-person and onsite. As an employee of the funder (the HSE), attendance at your designated place of work will be mandatory, and on-site at UL will be one of those designations. This requirement to be present on site reflects the pedagogical model of the programme, as teaching takes several different forms, not limited to didactic teaching.

The application form is essentially your opportunity to showcase that you have developed the competencies required for the programme. Please consider the information you provide very carefully as you will be considered based on this information. 

• The narrative sections of our application form, where you include the various academic, research, clinical and personal and professional competencies, are very important. Demonstrate your capacity to present your information clearly, precisely and succinctly. 
• Be very clear about your dates of relevant experience, official role title and core duties. 
• Make links between qualifications and experience and competencies attained. 
• Be mindful of confidentiality and anonymity issues related to clients and others you may have worked with.

No. Students are not permitted to secure their own placements as there is a designated system for Placement Planning that operates between Programme Staff, the HSE and other relevant bodies. Students will be employed initially in the HSE, and initial assignment will be to Community Healthcare Organisation Area 3/4/5/8 Placement Sites. Students are required to complete no less than 390 days of placement experience (excluding leave) consisting of core and advanced placements. 

Most placements operate within the contracted area if these are made available to the Programme Team. The placement locations are dependent on several factors such as the learning needs of the student, the numbers of qualified supervisors available and the geographical area in which these supervisors are based. Students may be required to work on placement in any service area within the above administrative area as the need arises. The Health Service Executive reserves the right to assign students to any other location as the service exigencies require, in keeping with Doctoral Course requirements. 

Where possible, there is consultation with students about the various locations on offer but ultimately the requirement to satisfy the operational criteria of the programme outweighs personal choice and this is an important aspect to consider when applying for the programme. Acceptance of a place on the programme will require a commitment to travel to various placement locations.

No. Psychologists in Clinical Training, while students at the university, are also employees of the Irish Public Health Service and are contracted to complete their core supervised clinical placements within these services.

As stated on the HSE contract on successful completion of the Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programme you are expected to work for the Health Service for a period of three years.

• Qualification transcripts and certificates. If your qualifications have been obtained in a country where English is not the official language, additional documentation must be provided (English translation of your qualification(s)/transcripts and English language Competency Certificate). Uploaded as: 2027 Application Qualifications 
• A copy of your passport. Uploaded as: 2027 Application Passport 
• 2 References - 1 Clinical (work-related) and 1 Academic using the required forms to be submitted directly to this email address: clinpsychref@ul.ie by your referees. At the time of application please provide the names of two referees, one academic, one clinical, both of whom must be able to directly comment on your capacity for engaging with the demands of a doctoral programme in clinical psychology. The referee needs to complete the form, sign it and send it to the email address provided. 
  References will be required only for those candidates called for interview and must be supplied at least 10 days prior to your interview date. 
• Summary CV - maximum of 2 pages. Uploaded as: 2027 Application Summary CV 
• Completed 2027 Selection Work Experience Form. 
• Completed 2027 Selection Application Information