Thirty-five new places for educational psychologist training routes have been announced government amid a “chronic shortage” of specialists. The Department for Education committed as part of planned SEND reforms they would train “at least” 200 EPs a year from 2026-27, forming an integral part of councils experts at hand offer. Now the DfE has revealed 239 funded places for this year, up by 35 places from last year. These will be trained to start work for councils in 2030. The Education Policy Institute warned in April that the “chronic shortage” of EPs put the new experts at hand service “at risk”. Dozens of councils have also told the DfE a shortage of specialists threatened the success of reforms in their draft SEND reform plans. However, demand for the courses is high – with Schools Week previously revealing how almost nine in 10 applicants for DfE-funded courses were turned away last year. New places announced The DfE announced today that 35 new places for government-funded EP training routes have been created, with applications now open. This takes the number of places from 204 to 239. EPs play a fundamental role in assessing the needs of children with SEND for education, health and care plans. The DfE said: “Educational psychologists will play a vital role in our experts at hand service expanding access to specialist support in mainstream settings – meaning earlier identification, earlier intervention, and more children thriving in their local school.” Funding includes a two-year placement which will “improve trainees learning on the ground and provide supervised support to local EP services”. Figures seen by Schools Week show 1,766 people applied for last year’s 204 spaces on university courses across England – a success rate of 12 per cent. The Association for Educational Psychologists, which runs the applications service, told Schools Week it had already received 22 applications in the first ten minutes of them going live. General secretary of the AEP Donna Wiggett said it is “absolutely great that they’re increasing the number of places”, but that “it’s never enough considering the experts at hand and local authorities trying to put their action plans in place”. Schools minister Georgia Gould said: “Every child deserves the right support, at the right time and close to home, but that can’t happen without local experts on the ground. “Educational psychologists have an integral role to play, including in identifying and assessing the needs of children, developing support plans and training school staff so more children can achieve and thrive, but we know they’re under real pressure.”
Anon but primary school teacher 1 October 2026 Ed psycs are a waste of time. They come every so often to confirm what you already know as a teacher and give you a list as big as your arm to try with children. They themselves never work with children, just assess. Schools need trained semh specialists funded by the government to help solve the problems poor parenting, modern life and devices like tablets/phones have caused. As a teacher, you don’t have time to spend with all these chudrens and their individual needs to help them grow and become more regulated. Schools don’t have a budget / resources to help children cope and it’s a real shame because inside these children are wonderful.
Rebecca Warde 3 October 2026 Which universities have these additional places? I can’t see any difference to the number of places that were available last year.
Melvin Din 8 October 2026 My suggestion is to upskill experienced educators—such as retired teachers and senior teaching assistants—into mid-level, specialized psychological roles is a practical and urgent solution. Experienced school staff already possess invaluable, front-line insight into child development, behavioral patterns, and classroom dynamics. By offering them targeted, postgraduate pathway training to conduct initial screenings, deliver evidence-based interventions, and assist with assessments, we could build a critical bridge between universal classroom support and specialist EP evaluations. Establishing a recognized mid-level practitioner tier would relieve immense pressure on fully qualified EPs, allowing them to focus on complex cases and statutory Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) assessments. Crucially, it would shorten waiting times for children requiring early intervention before their needs escalate. Scaling doctorate programs takes years, but tapping into the existing, skilled education workforce provides an immediate, cost-effective pipeline to tackle the chronic SEND crisis directly. Two of my grandchildren are waiting for months to get to make an appointment with a specialist. I would love to take up on the job training with a few theory papers and conduct case study through collaboration with other ‘ trainee psychologists’.