Review of BPS doctoral-level (Stage 2) qualifications

As some members will know, the BPS runs several doctoral-level (Stage 2) qualifications. We currently have around 700 people at various stages of completing these qualifications, which equates to just over 1 per cent of our total membership.

While the numbers enrolled on our courses are small, we do understand and appreciate the strength of feeling about the qualifications amongst some of our members.  At the same time, we have a duty to make sure we use our limited funds in a responsible way, as required by the Charity Commission.

Last year, we reviewed all our income and expenditure to help us to respond to a requirement from our Trustees to deliver a balanced budget for 2024, and our qualifications were included in this review. Our review showed us that income from one qualification, Forensic Psychology, was masking poor levels of income from some of the remaining qualifications.

If we exclude the costs and income from our Forensic qualification, the overall financial position is poor with a £169,666 loss in 2022 and a £30,014 loss in 2023. Our Forensic qualification is a large single contract with the Ministry of Justice which is due to reduce significantly this year, with the last cohort due to enrol in 2025.

Clearly, when we have a situation where some of our qualifications are making a significant financial loss and are also struggling to attract learners, it's important that we fully assess them. Perhaps more importantly, we have concerns about the validity and robustness of the qualifications generally.

The review showed that candidates are taking significantly longer than four years to complete their qualification; with 30 per cent of candidates across just eight of our 15 qualifications taking between five to 17 years to finish their studies. In addition, the operating model for some of the qualifications is not scalable. This means that even if we had a significant increase in the number of candidates, this would result in an even bigger financial deficit.

These serious concerns led the Chief Executive to recommend to the Board of Trustees that we consider stopping three qualifications and review the remaining qualifications in 2024.  

We are in the process of meeting with the committees of the three qualifications and other stakeholders, and we are committed to ongoing consultation and exploring opportunities to try and find sustainable qualifying pathways for the future.

At the moment, the BPS both develops the standards for and accredits external courses whilst also delivering our own qualifications. A key factor we'll need to consider is whether this presents a conflict of interest going forward.

We also need to consider that as the BPS does not have degree-awarding powers, those undertaking our qualifications cannot subsequently use the title of doctor, potentially adding disadvantage to our candidates in their future careers.

It is important to state that any future changes will not impact on anyone currently enrolled on our qualifications. We will continue to support all our candidates to complete their qualification within their original timeframe.

We will keep members informed as our discussions progress.