Avon & Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust

Band 4 Assistant Psychologist - North Somerset

The closing date is 20 November 2025

Job summary

AWP NHS Trust is taking part in a Health Education England (HEE) funded project offering paid opportunities to aspiring clinical psychologists. 20,000 people graduate with a degree in psychology every year and a significant proportion want to develop a career in health care. Entry-level posts in the NHS are hard to find and this can lead to disproportionate disadvantage for people who already experience disadvantage in their responsibilities or life circumstances. HEE are funding this project to help address this issue and to promote diversity within the clinical psychology workforce.

We are recruiting to ten part-time temporary posts as part of this scheme. The ten posts are across different locations. Location will be negotiated with successful candidates within the parameters of the project's requirements. We welcome applications from people who may need to work flexibly for personal reasons. Placement of applicants into the different locality services will be negotiated at the time of offer for successful candidates. This opportunity is open to psychology graduates who are new to the role of Assistant Psychologist.

Main duties of the job

PLEASE READ THE ATTACHED LOCAL INFORMATION LEAFLET FOR JOB DESCRIPTIONS

The assistant post offers a range of experiences and the job role can include structured clinical or psychometric assessment, developing and delivering basic psychological interventions, case file reviews, literature searching, data collection/analysis, developing resources, engaging in a variety of multi-disciplinary activities and work that supports a psychology team in delivering all aspects of psychological services. All successful applicants will have regular clinical and management supervision with a qualified clinical or counselling psychologist and may engage in specific training events to promote their development in line with the needs of the service that they will be working in. When completing the application form, you must clearly outline in the first paragraph of your supporting statement how your experiences/life situation make you a suitable candidate for the Assistant Psychologist role with regard to the focus of this NHSE project - i.e. that you have no previous assistant psychologist experience (paid or voluntary) and that you have/do experience socioeconomic disadvantage in your life circumstances and/or you have caring responsibilities and/or that your employment would add to promoting diversity in the clinical psychology workforce. Applications that do not include this information will not be shortlisted.We particularly welcome applications from graduates from a BAME background.

About us

We are AWP (Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust) a diverse organisation with over 5,000 dedicated staff providing inpatient and community-based mental health care.

We provide services from a range of locations to approximately 1.8 million people living in Bath and North East Somerset (B&NES), Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Swindon, across the county of Wiltshire and in parts of Dorset.

Our outstanding people promote mental health and wellbeing. The expertise and resources within AWPare dedicated to a person-centred approach for those who use our services and for all employees. Werecognise that happy and fulfilled employees give better care.

At AWP we actively encourage applicants from all backgrounds; we are particularly keen to encourage applications from people from Black, Asianand minority ethnic backgrounds, those with disabilities and from the LGBTQ+ community. We want people to bring their unique blend ofexperiences, backgrounds, perspectives and knowledge to AWP, as diversity makes us stronger.

Date posted

18 November 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£27,485 to £30,162 a year per annum, pro rata

Contract

Fixed term

Duration

6 months

Working pattern

Part-time

Reference number

342-NS076-1125

Job locations

Various locations

BA1 3QE

Job description

Job responsibilities

Clinical

To support the Clinical/Counselling psychologists within the base service.

Where required, to prepare and deliver high quality psychological interventions under supervision, either individually or in groups.

Where required, to offer high quality psychological assessments following instructions appropriate to the assessment tools/processes.

To gather and organise information about clinical notes, relevant psychological interventions and clinical tools for use by other staff.

To work alongside other team members and ensure close liaison and communication within teams.

To work at level of autonomy appropriate to an Assistant Psychologist. Goals to be agreed and reviewed in clinical / management supervision.

To maintain a high degree of professionalism at all times when working with distressed people.

To maintain clinical records, databases and other professional records as appropriate.

Teaching and Training

To undertake such training as might be required to maintain an appropriate level of expertise.

To assist with the delivery of teaching and training for other members of the multidisciplinary team and staff in other agencies, in collaboration with qualified staff.

Research and Audit

Where required, to assist with the audit and evaluation of the service in collaboration with qualified clinical and counselling psychologists and other members of the multidisciplinary team.

To compile and return statistics and activity levels as required.

Where required, to undertake literature searches and reviews.

Professional

To understand and practice in line with the BPS (2009) Code of Ethics and Conduct and the DCP (2008) Professional Practice Guidelines on the role

To participate in team business and professional meetings as appropriate.

To be aware of and comply with all policies, procedures and directions of the Department,Service and Trust.

To seek regular support and clinical supervision within the department of clinical psychology.

To participate in individual, group and peer supervision.

To participate in meetings with members of nursing staff and MDTs as appropriate.

To maintain accurate and appropriate records of work.

Clinical Governance

To participate in service governance processes to ensure a safe and effective service.

To support and participate in multidisciplinary clinical audit.

To liaise with other disciplines and agencies to ensure best practice is shared.

To promote the use of effective interventions in the service.

General

To assist in the production of resources and materials used by the service

To assist with the general running of the Team/Service eg minuting department meetings.

Please refer to the person specification and local information sheet for more information about the general skills and experiences required of applicants to an assistant psychologist post within each possible service.

See Key Information Leaflet