Children's Wellbeing Practice PGDip
Source: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/masters/courses/children-s-wellbeing-practice-pgdip Parent: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/masters
Train as a Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner. Develop skills in evidence-based interventions, assessment and support to help young people flourish.
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Key information
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Duration
1 year full time - ### Start date
January 2027 - ### Apply from
July/August/September 2026 for a January 2027 start - ### Location
Why choose this course at Sussex?
This course is for you if you’d like to train to work as a Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner (CWP). The role is designed to support the Government’s priority of increasing access to and availability of mental health and wellbeing support for children and young people.
As a CWP, you’re trained to offer a range of low-intensity interventions based on the cognitive behavioural therapy approach and guided self-help. You’ll have the skills and knowledge to:
- carry out person-centred assessments and thorough risk assessments for children and young people
- follow evidence-informed collaborative decision-making processes
- provide information and evidence-based low-intensity cognitive-behavioural-informed interventions for children and young people with mild-to-moderate mental health difficulties through one-to-one work and group work
- refer children and young people with more complex needs to other services in the wider systems of care for further support, when appropriate, and signpost to other agencies
- adapt your practice to accommodate diversity and improve access to evidence-based psychological practice with children and young people
- engage with children and young people and their families in participation work such as co-production activities
- run workshops on a range of topics for children and young people, parents/caregivers, health care staff and other staff in contact with children and young people.
This course is offered in partnership between the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex, one of the largest psychology units in the UK, and the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
PGDip or Dip(Grad)?
If you don’t have an undergraduate qualification, we also offer this course as a Dip(Grad).
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You’ll study for this degree on our campus, joining our academics and fellow students. With in-person contact time, digitally supported educational resources, library collections and independent study, this course is designed to give you an inclusive education. Your learning experience may also include work placements, field trips, studying abroad and internationalisation experiences.
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Modules
Core modules
Core modules are taken by all students on the course. They give you a solid grounding in your chosen subject and prepare you to explore the topics that interest you most.
T3 and Vacation Teaching
Spring teaching
- An Awareness of Community Services for Children and Young People
- Developmental Models, Pathology and Healthcare Legislation
- Fundamentals of Therapeutic Interaction with Children and Young People
- Managing a Caseload in the Community
Summer vacation
- Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Informed Interventions with Children and Young People
- Engaging With Families and the Wider Community to Provide Access to Effective Mental Health Care and Prevention for CYP
Spirit of Sussex Award
Feel involved in life at the University, make friends and enrich your experience with us – the Spirit of Sussex Award is our way of recognising your extracurricular and voluntary achievements.
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Text: The Spirit of Sussex Award is an exciting new programme designed to recognise and celebrate the things you do outside your course.
Participating in the Award makes it easy and fun for you to get involved and make the most of university life.
We regularly review our modules to incorporate student feedback, staff expertise, as well as the latest research and teaching methodology. We’re planning to run these modules in the academic year 2026/27. However, there may be changes to these modules in response to feedback, staff availability, student demand or updates to our curriculum. We’ll make sure to let you know of any material changes to modules at the earliest opportunity.
We’ll do our best to provide as much optional choice as we can, but timetabling constraints mean it may not be possible to take some module combinations. The structure of a small number of courses means that the order of modules or the streams you choose may determine whether modules are core or optional. This means that your core modules or options may differ from what’s shown here.
Our experts
Mr Tom Bostock
Honorary Assistant Professo
Miss Crystal Cheng
Visiting Clinical Educator
Mr Peter Garwood
Honorary Lecturer
Ms Nik Mansfield
Visiting Assistant Professor
Careers
When you successfully complete this course, you’ll have the cognitive-behavioural skills to help children and young people manage their wellbeing. Knowledge gained through this degree will benefit children and young people, their families and mental health services alike.
As a graduate of the course, you’ll be required to apply for Children's Wellbeing Practice (CWP) registration with either the British Psychological Society (BPS) or the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). You’ll then be able to practise as a qualified Children’s Wellbeing Practitioner. A qualified CWP’s salary is based on the NHS Agenda for Change Band 5 pay scale.
There may also be opportunities to further develop your skills in supervision roles or to become a senior wellbeing practitioner. As a CWP, you could go on later in your career to train as a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist or a clinical psychologist.
Entry requirements
| Degree requirements | You should normally have an upper second-class (2.1) undergraduate honours degree or above. |
| Subject-specific requirements | No prior knowledge or experience in mental health is required but you should demonstrate an interest and desire to work with children and young people with mental health difficulties. You must also show an interest in developing education in practice, therapy and skills fundamental to mental health care with children and young people. You may also be considered for the course if you have other professional qualifications or experience of equivalent standing. |
Additional admissions information
| How to apply | Opportunities to apply for this course are available through discussion and agreement with NHSE approved employers in the South East Region. To apply for an NHS funded place, please visit the NHS jobs website. You will be able to apply from July/August/September for the January intake. |
| Interviews by video platform or at the University | Yes |
| Personal statement | Yes. You must submit a personal statement as part of your application. Find out how to write a personal statement |
If your qualifications aren’t listed or you have a question about entry requirements, contact us
Application deadlines
Fees
The course is funded by NHSE (NHS England). This means that all University fees are paid by NHSE.
If, during your training year, you’re employed by the NHS, you’ll be on a national pay and conditions system called Agenda for Change (AfC).
There are nine pay bands and you’ll usually be paid at Band 4 while you train. After completing your training, you’ll be paid at Band 5, with the opportunity to progress with experience.
Terms and conditions can vary if you’re employed outside the NHS.
It’s important to note that a two-year psychological professions funding rule policy was implemented on 1 April 2022. This means that if you start NHS-funded psychological professions training from April 2022, you won’t be eligible for NHS funding for further psychological profession training for two years from the expected completion date of your first training, where it would lead to a change in your job role.
Additional costs
Note about additional costs
Additional costs to your tuition fees may include field trips, equipment, materials, bench fees or studio hire. These costs are best estimates based on current market values which we review each year. These costs may be subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances where the University has limited control such as a change in a service provider or government guidance. We will let you know at the earliest opportunity if there is any change to these costs. We will also tell you if these costs are mandatory for passing your course or optional. Find out how to budget for student life.
Placements
On this course, you will engage with clinical practice placements for the duration of the course.\ • Your employer will arrange your access to clients\ • Your employer will be responsible for any additional payments relating to clinical placements.\
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Please note that Certificate and Diploma programs at the University of Sussex are not eligible for USA federal Direct Loans. Find out more about American Student Loans and Federal Student Aid
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