PGDip/GradDip Enhanced Psychological Therapies Practice
(Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
Please note: This page is for 2027 entry. Click here for 2026 entry.
| UCAS code | 1234 |
|---|---|
| Duration | 12 months part time 36 months part time |
| Entry year | 2026 |
| Campus | Streatham Campus |
| Typical offer | Applicants must have an adult PGCert or GradCert Psychological Therapies Practice and be employed within a service providing adult low-intensity interventions. |
|---|---|
Why study PGDip/GradDip Enhanced Psychological Therapies Practice
(Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) at Exeter?
This programme will:
- Provide you with a unique opportunity to receive in-depth training, specifically tailored to the Adult Practitioner role. You will enhance your practice in low-intensity CBT and support your career progression within adult low-intensity roles.
- Enable you to develop knowledge, competence and clinical practice in key areas of the low-intensity role, and the context of Adult Practitioners more broadly.
- Contribute to personal and professional development goals commonly related to senior Adult Practitioner 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 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.
Clinical Education Development and Research (CEDAR)
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.
Strong emphasis on translating practice into your PWP role throughout the programme
Dedicated training facilities equipped with a range of teaching methods to enhance your learning
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
CEDAR is 1st in the sector for student satisfaction in three out of seven themes
National Student Survey 2025
Entry requirements
Employment
The Grad/PGDip Enhanced Psychological Therapies Practice (Low-Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) is only open to people employed within a service providing Adult low-intensity interventions, under supervision which meets registration requirements.
Qualifications
This programme will enable you to extend your PGCert into a PGDip. You will therefore be required to have successfully completed the PGCert Psychological Therapies Practice (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) programme or the PGCert Psychological Therapies Practice (Mental Health and Wellbeing in Specialist Adult Mental Health) within CEDAR, or an equivalent HEE nationally commissioned programme accredited by the British Psychological Society.
You will need to be at least one year post-qualifying as a PWP prior to attendance.
PWPs 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.
Please also see our guidance on essential documentation required for an initial decision on taught programme applications.
Entry requirements for international students
Please visit our entry requirements section for equivalencies from your country and further information on English language requirements.
Course content
This programme offers Adult 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 Adult Practitioner roles and in enhancing low-intensity 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 Adult Practitioners, the Supervision module is compulsory.
However, to enable Adult Practitioners 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 below 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.
Please note that the module information displayed here is subject to change.
20 credits of compulsory modules, 40 credits of compulsory choice modules.
You must choose two of the three compulsory choice modules.
Compulsory modules
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Compulsory 1 | ||
| Supervising Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) | 20 | |
| Compulsory Choice 2 | ||
| Evidence-Based Practice | 20 | |
| Enhanced Practice | 20 | |
| Introduction to Leadership | 20 | |
PYCM132: Supervising Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy)
It is increasingly recognised within mental health settings that Clinical Skills and Case Management Supervision (also known as Caseload Supervision) play a fundamental role in improving clinical outcomes, supporting practitioners and ensuring safe and efficient practice, and are key for connecting theory to practice. Adult psychological practitioner roles require unique forms of supervision due to the specific demands. In this module, you will develop an advanced and critical knowledge of the theory surrounding supervision and develop competency in the supervision competencies associated with clinical skills and case management supervision identified by Roth and Pilling (2015). Considerable opportunity for reflection on your supervisory practice will be afforded to enhance learning and facilitate ongoing action planning. The growing need for culturally responsive supervision in psychological practice is increasingly recognised as an approach to ensure practitioners are equipped to work with diverse patient groups in a therapeutic setting, and supports the wellbeing and development of adult psychological practitioners. The value of supervision is widely recognised across psychological professionals, but can often overtly focus on supervision process. This module will also critically explore the need for quality supervision, and how to effectively integrate empirical findings with professional consensus, keeping the needs of the supervisee at the core.
PYCM133: Evidence-Based Practice
To effectively lead teams or inform service development, adult Psychological Practitioners should maintain up-to-date knowledge on best research evidence, be able to translate this knowledge into practice development for their teams, and at times lead service evaluations based on appropriate methodological approaches. This module will help you appreciate a range of methodological approaches to inform these areas of practice, alongside developing competency in evaluating research evidence prior to consider implementation. However, being an evidence-based practitioner extends beyond understanding, appreciating, and evaluating research evidence. Evidence-based practice also involves appreciating the way in which patient (also referred to as service user) values and clinical expertise should be appropriately balanced in practice. This collaborative approach will enable clinical practice to be tailored to meet the specific needs of patients and will enable you to consider meaningful adaptations to practice in order to accommodate the diverse needs of individual patients, as well as considering wider need and being able to inform service developments, for example to maintain effectiveness when delivering interventions, or enhancing access to identified patient populations. This module will enable you to reach the conscientious, explicit, and sagacious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients, evaluating, and enhancing service delivery and informing leadership.
PYCM134: Enhanced Practice
As services delivering low-Intensity interventions continue to expand, adult Psychological Practitioners are required to enhance their clinical practice within the boundaries established by their role competencies and within the evidence-base. Enhancements in practice are best espoused through emerging Positive Practice Guides. These address areas such as working effectively with different groups of patients, addressing areas informed by an increasing low-intensity evidence-base or enhancing practice associated with different low-intensity approaches. Furthermore, as services evolve tailored best practice to their community’s needs, it is recognized there will also be challenges encountered by adult Psychological Practitioners from an organisational perspective, and at times obtaining support for intervention delivery. The role of a more experienced and/ or senior practitioners will be to keep team competencies and knowledge contemporaneous with developments and in doing so enhance their role as an expert clinician, supervisor and leader. This module will help ensure you are kept up to date with the latest developments aligned with your role competencies and knowledge arising from curriculum revision. It will also support you with disseminating this knowledge to your teams and building up knowledge and confidence to translate this into practice with their patients.
PYCM135: Introduction to Leadership
As delivery of low-intensity psychological services continues to grow and diversify, leadership within adult psychological practitioner roles is emerging and becoming more established. Whether you are in a formal or informal leadership role, it is crucial that services continually adapt to meet the needs of the populations they serve, national and local policy requirements, and a range of complex challenges. Leadership roles undertaken by adult psychological practitioners can be diverse, varying within the context of service priorities and delivery. Such roles vary from a more performance management focus, leading trainee and qualified practitioners, perhaps overlapping with supporting supervision, or, it maybe be less about direct management, and more about strategic and operational leading of other staff at the level of low-intensity service provision working. Managing change and service development requires effective dedicated leadership and working with others across teams and services. Given this range of responsibilities, practitioners will need to represent their teams in a setting with other leads, and it is crucial to feel empowered and confident as a leader, no matter your position. In this module you will gain a critical understanding of key leadership topics relevant to the role, such as compassionate leadership, challenges, and leading high-performance teams to help you work effectively as a leader and implement change.
Please note that the module information displayed here is subject to change.
Compulsory modules
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
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PYC3132 | Supervising Evidence-Based Psychological Therapies (Low Intensity Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) | 20 |
Optional modules
Stage 1: 40 credits of optional modules
| Code | Module | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| PYC3133 | Evidence-Based Practice | 20 |
| PYC3134 | Enhanced Practice | 20 |
| PYC3135 | Introduction to Leadership | 20 |
How to apply
Applications to this programme can be made directly to the University of Exeter, but will require confirmation from the employing service they are able to support the trainee during their study. 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.
£7,176 for the full PgDip (1 compulsory module and 3 optional modules)
If you have already completed the NHS-England Supervisor training for your role, the cost is: £5980.
£2,392 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 £1196, 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 offers a wide range of scholarships to support your education, with £7 million available for international students applying to study with us in the 2026/27 academic year, including our prestigious Exeter Excellence Scholarships. We also provide awards for sport, music and other achievements, as well as regional and partner scholarships with organisations such as Chevening, The Beacon Trust and the British Council. For more information on scholarships and other financial support, please visit our scholarships and bursaries page.
University of Exeter Alumni Scholarship
We are pleased to offer the University of Exeter Alumni Scholarship, a scholarship for University of Exeter alumni beginning a standalone postgraduate programme in 2026/27 with us a scholarship worth 20% of the cost of your first year tuition fees.
Terms and conditions, including deadlines, apply.
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.
