How to become a clinical psychologist

Official title: Clinical psychologists

Also called: Clinical associate, Clinical psychologist, Consultant clinical psychologist

Clinical psychologists work with people experiencing emotional, psychological or behavioural distress, perform tests and assess their emotional, cognitive and behavioural processes, and determine treatments to help patients improve their mental wellbeing.

Main tasks

• Administers tests to assess patients' needs through interviews, psychometric tests and observation of their behaviour
• Determines appropriate treatment and may refer patients to other mental health professionals
• Provides treatment or guidance using a variety of therapy and counselling techniques
• Helps patients to manage their own psychological conditions
• Maintains required contacts with family members, education or other health professionals, as appropriate, and recommends possible solutions to problems presented
• Writes reports on their work and conducts applied research

How to become one

Entrants require a degree in psychology recognised by the British Psychology Society. Postgraduate and professional qualifications relating to different areas of psychology are available and are required for certain posts.

Ways in

• Apprenticeship (England): Clinical associate in psychology (CAP) (integrated degree) (level 7). England. Typically 18 months. Skills England standard ST0820.
• University: Allied Health degrees, Offered by 17 universities in the UK

Pay · Outlook

• Median full-time pay: £58,366 a year The middle half earn £38,468 to null.
• About 26,300 people work in this job now, and about 28,800 are projected by 2035. (+9.6%)

Related jobs

• Physiotherapists
• Occupational therapists
• Speech and language therapists
• Psychotherapists and cognitive behaviour therapists
• Other psychologists

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Questions people ask

How do I become a clinical psychologist?

Entrants require a degree in psychology recognised by the British Psychology Society. Postgraduate and professional qualifications relating to different areas of psychology are available and are required for certain posts.

How much does a clinical psychologist earn in the UK?

Median full-time pay is £58,366 a year (Office for National Statistics).

Is a clinical psychologist a growing career in the UK?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 10% by 2035, from about 26,300 to about 28,800 people (Department for Education).

Do you need a degree to become a clinical psychologist?

Usually. 100% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Sources

• Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
• Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
• Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
• Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.