Maynooth University is to offer a new three-year Professional Doctorate programme in Educational Psychology from September 2025, to support a substantial increase in the number of qualified educational psychologists available to the National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS).
The programme, which will be supported by the Department of Education through a bursary scheme, supervised placements and teaching input, marks a significant step forward on the government’s commitment to double the number of college places for educational psychologists as outlined in the Programme for Government 2025.
An increase in the supply of educational psychologists available to NEPS will help to ensure the ongoing delivery of a high-quality educational psychology service to children, young people and teachers in their school communities across Ireland.
The programme is being run jointly by the School of Education and the Department of Psychology in Maynooth University and NEPS will support training placements in various settings including mainstream and special classes/schools, alternative education settings such as Youth Encounter Projects, projects such as the North-East Inner-City Initiative and the Counselling in Primary Schools pilot and school-based therapy teams as they develop.
As with the existing programmes in University College Dublin (UCD) and Mary Immaculate College (MIC) Limerick, the course will be a three-year postgraduate professional training course.
Currently there are two colleges in Ireland offering a Doctorate in Educational Psychology Programme – University College Dublin (UCD) and Mary Immaculate College (MIC) Limerick. Educational Psychologist graduates from UCD and MIC are eligible for employment within all child and adolescent HSE Services in Ireland (Disability, Primary Care and CAMHS).
Since January 2023, NEPS has supported bursaries for Trainee Educational Psychologists who are enrolled in the University College Dublin Professional Doctorate in Educational Psychology and Mary Immaculate College Limerick’s Professional Doctorate in Educational and Child Psychology. The department’s current bursary scheme will be extended to include Trainee Educational Psychologists on the Maynooth doctorate programme.
Those in receipt of a bursary commit to joining NEPS upon graduation. There are over 60 Trainee Educational Psychologists in receipt of a bursary who are expected to join NEPS upon graduation, with an additional 14 awarded bursaries in September 2024, bringing the total to 74.
Additionally, a recruitment campaign for Educational Psychologists is planned for this year and successful candidates from that competition will take up positions in NEPS.
Accreditation will be sought from the appropriate accreditation authority for this course which will enable graduates to be eligible for employment as educational psychologists.
