Academic Development Projects
To deliver our strategic priority to become a nationwide centre of excellence for psychoanalytic/Jungian teaching, research and clinical services, we have several academic development projects and partnerships in development.
Applying for registration with the Office for Students (OfS)
The bpf has started the process of registering with the Office for Student (OfS). Successful registration with the OfS would mean that the bpf will become recognised as an official higher education institution in England.
OfS registration has significant benefits for the bpf, including the ability to recruit students who can access student support funding or student loans available through the Student Loans Company, thus reducing financial barriers for trainees.
Academic Partnerships
We will continue to work with our existing academic partners such as University College London (UCL), the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, Birkbeck University and Exeter University.
We are currently exploring the option of having some of our trainings validated by Middlesex University as PGCerts, PGDips or Masters. Middlesex University is a leader in evaluating, accrediting and ensuring the quality of educational offerings across various therapeutic disciplines/modalities.
Independent Higher Education (IHE)
The bpf recently became a member of Independent Higher Education (IHE). IHE is the UK membership organisation and national representative body for independent providers of higher education, professional training and pathways. https://ihe.ac.uk/. bpf’s membership of IHE will enhance our visibility within the higher education sector and assist us in improving in areas such as quality assurance, data handling, student experience, and both corporate and academic governance.
IHE member benefits include support with our application for Office for Student (OfS) registration, representation to government, expert advice and updates on HE policy and regulation, events and peer-to-peer networking opportunities, and bespoke HE consultancy services.
Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) for Higher Education
We have joined the OIA. It is a requirement of OfS registration, and our membership of OIA will form part of our new student complaints procedure which is in development. The OIA’s role is to review student complaints independently, impartially and transparently, and use learning from complaints to help improve policies and practices in higher education.
Curriculum Review
We are currently undertaking an in-depth curriculum review across all our trainings. Aims of the review are to:
- Modernise the curriculum and delivery methods, enabling our trainings to remain world-leading and competitive.
- Provide a fully integrated offer, to give trainees a strong breadth of knowledge and reinforce the bpf’s multi-theoretical approach.
- Streamline and improve the efficiency of the training package, to make it financially sustainable and fully accessible.
- Identify duplication of teaching across programmes and/or gaps in our provision.
Access and Participation
Our ‘Investors in Diversity’ status includes actions to improve the learning experience for students with specific learning needs, and students can now access support and extra resources via the library.
We’re also fundraising for training bursaries to help reduce financial barriers for aspiring trainees, particularly those from underrepresented and marginalized groups.
Investment in digital infrastructure
All our classrooms now have hybrid conferencing capabilities, and we have installed a new hybrid AV system in our largest classroom/events space which will significantly improve the teaching experience for online students.
We have invested in Moodle, an industry standard learning platform that most universities use. It allows students to easily access their reading papers and course documents in one place. Moodle also makes it simpler for trainees to submit assessments and communicate with their class/teachers.
We have invested in a Student Information System, (SIS), which will record applicant and trainee data from recruitment and selection all way through to qualification. The system will allow those with access to plan teaching, record attendance, allow centralized repository for contracts, monitor diversity information, collate student feedback, and review student progress.
Research and Thought Leadership
We are in the process of strengthening our working arrangements with Wiley, who publish our journal, the British Journal of Psychotherapy. The BJP has gone from strength to strength in recent years, and in 2023 alone, 6,748 institutions across the globe offered access to content in the BJP via licenses or subscriptions. The top 10 countries accessing the journal were the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Netherlands, China, India, Germany, Saudi Arabia and New Zealand.
Our Director of Academic and Strategic Development, Dr Wayne Full, is now an Editorial Board member for the British Journal of Psychotherapy (BJP) and Counselling and Psychotherapy Research (CPR).
Lifelong learning
We are committed to life-long learning at the bpf and deliver a comprehensive programme of continuous professional development (CPD) events for our trainees/members. We have recently launched bpf’s first ever CPD Action Plan and Strategy.
Contact Us
If you have any questions, please contact Dr Wayne Full, Director of Academic and Strategic Development: [email protected]
Dr Wayne Full
Director of Academic and Strategic Development
Deals with: Projects, Diversity & Inclusion and Fundraising
02035979407