Competency based live tasks and interviews

We use a number of live in the moment tasks and scenarios coupled with a competency based interviewing approach to assess your potential for training. Understanding how this works will allow you to best show your potential.

Our live in the moment tasks interograte your ability to meet the competency standards for the role as laid out in the job description and person specification. Competency based interviewing uses behavioural and situational questions to assess your previous behaviour as a predictor of future behaviour, coupled with your own reflections and learning from situations and experiences.

It is important to try and be yourself while undertaking the live tasks as this will best enable you to show the competencies listed below. There are many websites with more information on competency based interviewing and models which you can use to help you structure answers so that you remember to cover everything you need. You might want to start with the jobs.ac.uk page on competency based interviewing.

The live activities and questions during our selection events are designed to offer applicants opportunities to demonstrate competence in the following areas: -

• Oral communication skills
• Self-awareness and openness to learning
• Personal maturity
• Warmth and empathy
• Resilience
• Professional skills
• Motivation and application
• Contextual awareness
• Problem-solving and decision making
• Commitment to fairness and inclusivity

These competencies are based on a job analysis exercise which established what is important to success as a trainee clinical psychologist. You do not need to have clinical examples to evidence competencies - they can be shown through a wide variety of life experiences which will be equally valued by our panels.

We aim to be inclusive in our selection process so that people from varied backgrounds can become trainee clinical psychologists. However, it is still vital for those applying for the job of a trainee clinical psychologist to understand what the role may entail and the context of the NHS.

Selection interview process

Approximately 200 candidates will be invited to a first round interview based on scores in the screening test. Up to 120 of these will be invited to return for a second interview.

Selections panels for first round interviews typically include a member of the programme staff team and a current trainee. In the second round they will be joined by one or more local stakeholders such as a community representative, social worker, clinical psychologist, third sector worker, or other professional. Candidates may see different panels at each visit.

Activities during the selections interviews

First round interviews - Working together group task. Candidates will work in a group with an external stakeholder while members of the programme team observe and assess the interactions within the group.

First round interviews - Written task. Candidates will be asked to produce a piece of written work in exam conditions using a laptop. Additional time for those with a disability may be available upon the provision of appropriate evidence.

First and second round interviews - Role play task. A member of the panel will undertake a role play with you of a challenging social situation followed by a brief discussion of the issues raised. This is not an assessment of your clinical skill but of your social and communication skills.

Second round interviews - Video task. You will be shown a video of people discussing a difficult non-clinical scenario and asked questions about the interactions in the video.

Second round interviews - Vignette exercise. You will be given a short vignette, which outlines a professional or ethical dilemma, and a number of questions for you to answer.

Second round interviews - Structured interview. The panel will collect evidence relevant to the competencies listed above by asking questions which will encourage you to talk about these areas. The panel will not have read your application form so do not assume they have prior knowledge of your experiences.

Activities are subject to change prior to interviews commencing without notice. All activities may be recorded for the purposes of internal quality assurance.

At second round interviews, candidates will be required to produce the original or genuine replacement degree certificate and transcript for the qualification which is conferring eligibility for GBC with the BPS or have already provided us with access to this via their institutions electronic verification system. We will not proceed with any interview where both certificate and transcript are not presented or previously verified.

Support for individuals with a disability

Our interview process has been developed to be inclusive by design and so adjustments for most disabilities are not required. All candidates have the opportunity to take notes in interviews, write down questions, and are given time to understand the questions being asked. Additional time may be provided for our written task. Candidates should refer to the disabilities and equal opportunities page for further instructions.

Offers and feedback

Provisional offers

Following the final stage of the interview process, we will contact attendees to notify them of the outcome as soon as possible. We ask candidates who are made an offer to repeat the screening test under supervised conditions - these will be arranged on an individual basis to fit with candidates' schedules and within a timescale that allows candidates to make a genuine choice between programmes where multiple offers are received. All offers are conditional on the retest result, a satisfactory DBS check and registration with the DBS update service, employment references, and an occupational health check.

Interview feedback

Feedback on your performance will be emailed to candidates following the selection process. Please do not telephone or email the programme for this information.