Scotland’s principal educational psychologist body has backed up calls from trainees to increase the funding they receive to at least the minimum wage in their final year of training, as well as upping the bursaries for their first two years.
The Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP) says failure to address the “hardship” being suffered by trainee educational psychologists could result in them abandoning their studies, at a time when “we see increasing numbers of children and young people with additional support needs, such as autism, as well as a wide range of mental health concerns, post-pandemic”.
Headteachers already say educational psychology support has become increasingly difficult to access in recent years, and ASPEP warns the situation could become worse - and that the early intervention and preventative work carried out by educational psychology services could also be hit.
ASPEP says the training model for educational psychologists was established in 2017 but there has been no increase in the funding received by trainees since, either in line with inflation or in line with any nationally agreed pay awards.
Nick Smiley, a principal educational psychologist and chair of ASPEP, told Tes Scotland: “There needs to be an immediate increase in the funding to ensure that all trainees are able to complete their training and receive a grant or salary that is at or above the national living minimum wage.
“At present this is not the case and ASPEP is well aware of the hardship that trainees are experiencing in all three years of the training qualification.”
Educational psychology trainees ‘suffering hardship’
Educational psychology trainees in Scotland currently receive a bursary of £15,000 in years one and two of their training, and approximately £13,700 in year three, when they are also taxed.
Trainees say their hourly rate in year three works out at £10.30 per hour. As of 1 April the new minimum wage threshold is £10.42 per hour.
In December, second year educational psychologists at the University of Dundee - which offers the only master’s-level route into the profession in Scotland - told Tes Scotland they were struggling to make ends meet and called for an increase to the “meagre” bursary they receive.
They said the funding they got was in “stark contrast” to the NHS equivalent for clinical psychology trainees, which starts at over £33,000.
Mr Smiley also said there needed to be “parity with similarly qualified psychologists, such a clinical psychology trainees”.
He added: “With a shortage of educational psychologists children, young people and families - particularly the most vulnerable - will find it harder to access the wide range of services and support that EPs offer. There will also be a significant impact on our capacity to deliver services that are focused on prevention and early intervention.
“This is at a time when we see increasing numbers of children and young people with additional support needs, such as autism, as well as a wide range of mental health concerns, post-pandemic. The need for sustainable and effective educational psychology services has never been more pertinent.”
The latest school support staff census, published last month, shows there are currently 398 educational psychologists working in Scotland.
That figure is higher than it has been in recent years, but roughly equivalent to the number of educational psychologists working in Scotland in 2010.
However, the number of children with an identified additional support need (ASN) has increased over the same period. In 2010 around 10 per cent of pupils had an identified additional support need but by 2022 over a third did.
So, while there used to be one educational psychologist for every 174 pupils with an ASN, there is now one for every 608 pupils.
Greg Dempster, general secretary of primary school leaders’ body AHDS, said it was already “increasingly difficult” for primary schools to secure support for pupils with ASNs and that anything that could potentially reduce that support was “very concerning”.
He added: “Members report that it is increasingly difficult to access educational psychology support and that due to pressure on that service, the support offered in many areas has shifted from EPs engaging directly with pupils to the EP offering advice from a distance. Whenever AHDS members are asked about pressures in the system, the lack of available support for pupils with ASN - including EP support - is very high up the list.
“If there are hurdles in place which restrict recruitment of new EPs or push them in a different career direction, that is very concerning.”
ASPEP has been calling for a doctorate to replace the current MSc - arguing that a doctorate model would ensure “a more sustainable, robust and attractive training route that is comparable with clinical psychology” - but it says years of discussion with the Scottish government and local authorities’ body Cosla have led to no “concrete plan and timeline”. Mr Smiley described progress as “frustratingly slow”.
Three-year doctoral-level training for educational psychologists was introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2006.
A Scottish government spokesman said: “In 2018 the Scottish government and Cosla agreed partnership funding of £4 million to provide tuition fee support and a living-costs grant for educational psychology trainees. Since funding was introduced, the number of educational psychologists starting training has almost doubled - a total of 52 trainees over 2021 and 2022 compared to a total of 29 over 2016 and 2017.
“The living-costs grant for educational psychologist trainees, in addition to tuition fee funding, is not income-assessed and does not need to be repaid. Most postgraduate students studying other subjects are only eligible for a £4,500 living-costs loan for the duration of their course.”
