Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support universities offering doctorates in Clinical Psychology.

Universities are autonomous bodies, independent from government, and are responsible for their own admissions decisions, including provision for doctoral places.

NHS England commissions taught doctorate programmes for Clinical Psychologists. NHS funded trainees receive placement funding at the national tariff rate and are funded at 100 per cent of salary cost at AFC band 6. NHS funded trainees also receive tuition support from NHS England, as well as contribution to travel and accommodation costs necessary to support trainees.

The Higher Education Statistics Agency does not collect information on places available on courses but publishes data on student entrants across UK higher education (HE) providers. This includes data on students entering courses in different subjects, categorised using the HE Classification of Subjects system. In the 2024/25 academic year, there were 913 entrants to doctorates in clinical psychology in UK HE providers.