Program Overview

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Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Clinical Psychology

This Program involves concurrently completing the Master of Clinical Psychology and a PhD research program, providing graduates with a distinctive combination of clinical skills and research knowledge.

Course Details

Careers and further study

Explore the career opportunities available to you.

Career Pathways

Psychologists work on a broad range of issues with clients, including children, adults, couples, families and organisations.

Fees and scholarships

Learn more about the fees that apply to you for this course.

Domestic Student Fees

There is no current fee information available for this course. Please visit the fee calculator to browse course fees from a previous year, or other courses.

Scholarships

Scholarships are available to students from a diverse range of backgrounds, including academic achievement, financial need, educational disadvantage, leadership and community service, artistic or sporting achievements, and being from a rural or remote area.

Research Training Program

Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens are offered a Tuition Fee Offset Scholarship which offsets the requirement to pay a contribution toward the cost of their research courses if UWA provides them with a Research Training Program (RTP) place.

Cost of living

There are a few things to consider before applying to study at university. One could be your cost of living. This can depend on factors such as lifestyle, accommodation, tuition fees, medical insurance, textbooks and more. For an indication of expenses and average costs, see our Cost of living page.

International Student Fees

Annual course fee

2025

$46,700.00

Onshore international students are charged an annual course fee, charged per credit point at a rate dependent on the course in which the student is enrolled. Annual course fees are calculated based on an annual study load. Check the handbook to confirm the annual study load for your course.

Scholarships

Scholarships are available to students from a diverse range of backgrounds, including academic achievement, financial need, educational disadvantage, leadership and community service, artistic or sporting achievements, and being from a rural or remote area.

Research Training Program

Australian citizens, permanent residents and New Zealand citizens are offered a Tuition Fee Offset Scholarship which offsets the requirement to pay a contribution toward the cost of their research courses if UWA provides them with a Research Training Program (RTP) place.

Cost of living

There are a few things to consider before applying to study at university. One could be your cost of living. This can depend on factors such as lifestyle, accommodation, tuition fees, medical insurance, textbooks and more. For an indication of expenses and average costs, see our Cost of living page.

Admission requirements

If you’re interested in furthering your career by studying this postgraduate course, find out the admission details below

Important note for applicants

To enrol in this course, you must be able to attend in person. This course has a requirement for campus-based or in-person activities that cannot be offered online.

Clinical Psychology Placements

This course requires students to undertake clinical psychology placements in health facilities to successfully complete the course. Placements enable students to acquire needed skills and competencies whilst under careful supervision of qualified clinical psychologists.

Preparing your application

Applicants need to:

• have obtained an APAC-accredited honours degree (or equivalent) in Psychology, with a mark of IIA or higher, and
• find a PhD supervisor who is an academic staff member of the School of Psychological Science who agrees to supervise you if you are offered a place in program, and agree on a basic outline of the research project you will undertake. You must have this supervisory agreement and outline of your PhD worked out prior to applying to the program. Start looking for a supervisor at least two to three months before the application is due.

Supervision

Candidates for the PhD (Doctor of Philosophy), Master of Philosophy (by research), and combined Master/PhD programs must secure potential supervisors before submitting their application.

Course-specific English competency

For entry into this program, applicants must be eligible for provisional registration as a psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia, which includes meeting the Board's English language registration standard.

Application Checklist

Before submitting your application, make sure to go through the checklist to ensure your application is eligible for submission.

Inherent requirements

All Applicants

Inherent requirements describe what is needed to be successful to complete this course. Before applying, make sure to read through and reflect on the Inherent Requirements for this course.

Communication Domain

Description

Students require strong communication skills, such as understanding and responding to nonverbal and verbal communication accurately, appropriately, and in a timely manner. This includes a solid command of English, both oral and written. They also need to be able to communicate respectfully with people from diverse backgrounds, such as gender, culture, religion, and sexual orientation.

Justification

Understanding and demonstrating accurate, timely, coherent, and respectful communication (nonverbal, verbal, oral and written) is also fundamental to safe practice in the discipline. Communication skills are needed to:

• Coordinate care
• Complete clinical tasks in a time-sensitive way, such as writing reports and progress notes, writing letters to and conferring with clients and relevant others (e.g., organisations, practitioners)
• Forming a therapeutic relationship with clients
• Conversing with supervisors, staff and peers/colleagues

Emotional and Behavioural Domain

This section is divided into:

• Ethical and legal
• Emotional and Behavioural regulation

Cognitive Domain

Description

Cognitive skills must be demonstrated to undertake these courses---which integrate science and practice---and to engage in safe and competent practice in the discipline. The capacity to demonstrate a range of scientific and clinical skills is also essential to maintaining effective client care in clinical psychology or neuropsychology placements.

Relational Domain

Description

These courses require students to form and maintain healthy working relationships with a wide range of clients, peers, and other professionals. Strong social skills and the capacity to resolve conflict are needed, as students are required to develop these relationships often under stressful circumstances with people across the lifespan and from diverse backgrounds.

Sustained Performance

Description

The courses require reliable and sustained physical and mental functioning. Students need to show consistent, sustained physical and mental performance during busy and/or challenging clinical circumstances (e.g., throughout a busy clinic day) such that they maintain professionalism in providing quality client care and in interactions with peers and professionals.

Note for applicants

Concurrent applications

Concurrent applications for the ‘Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Clinical Neuropsychology’ and the ‘Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Clinical Psychology’ are not permitted. Applications will only be accepted for one or the other, and not both.

Eligibility for provisional registration with the Psychology Board of Australia

Applicants must be eligible for provisional registration as a psychologist with the Psychology Board of Australia. Prospective students must ensure that they only submit an application for entry into the program if they would meet the provisional registration requirements by the time they receive an offer into the program.

How to apply

Ready to join us?

Find out how to apply through our online application portal.

We’ll guide you through the application process including important steps, entry pathways and documents you’ll need.

Course details

The School of Psychological Science is a leader in clinical psychology training, with half a century of experience combined with a strong commitment to ongoing program innovation in health care. This combined course is intended for students who wish to acquire the skills to practice as a clinical psychologist, whilst making an original and substantial contribution to knowledge concerning clinical psychology through their doctoral research.

About the course

This program is based on a scientist-practitioner model of clinical psychology. The training it provides draws upon, and creatively combines, the School of Psychological Science's long-standing excellence in both professional education and research achievement. The program will equip graduates with the clinical skills required to practice as clinical psychologists, and will provide them with a wide range of important research competencies.

Quick details

• Status: Available
• Locations: Perth (Crawley campus)
• Attendance: Full-time
• Delivery: On-campus
• Starting dates: Semester 1
• Weekly contact time: Students are expected to work at least 30 hours per week on their research throughout the year, in addition to their coursework commitments.
• Level of study: Postgraduate
• Course Code: 01870
• CRICOS code: M

Important dates

• Intake Periods: Semester 1, 2026
• Application Open: Friday 1 August 2025
• Application Close: Friday 31 October 2025
• International scholarship applications close on 31 August 2025.
• Domestic scholarship applications close on 31 October 2025.

Course structure

Postgraduate coursework degrees and combined (coursework and research) degrees comprise a number of units. Refer to the course structure for more information.

Core

• Take all units (72 points):
  • PSYC5511 Special Topics in Clinical Psychology (6)
  • PSYC5530 Applied Research Methods (6)
  • PSYC5531 Assessment and Intervention—Adult Complex Disorders (6)
  • PSYC5533 Clinical Psychology and Health (6)
  • PSYC5663 External Practicum (6)
  • PSYC5664 External Practicum (6)
  • PSYC5672 Foundations in Clinical Skills I (6)
  • PSYC5673 Foundations in Clinical Skills II (6)
  • PSYC5674 Assessment and Intervention—Childhood Disorders (6)
  • PSYC5675 Assessment and Intervention—Emotional Disorders (6)
  • PSYC5678 Practicum I (6)
  • PSYC5679 Practicum II (6)

Pathway to entry information for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants

The University welcomes and encourages Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people to consider applying for entry into our postgraduate psychology programs.

Frequently asked questions

Am I eligible to apply?

To be eligible to apply, you need to:

• have obtained an APAC-accredited honours degree (or equivalent) in Psychology, with a mark of IIA or higher, and
• find a PhD supervisor who is an academic staff member of the School of Psychological Science who agrees to supervise you if you are offered a place in program, and agree on a basic outline of the research project you will undertake. You must have this supervisory agreement and outline of your PhD worked out prior to applying to the program.

Applying for the Clinical Psychology and Clinical Neuropsychology Master/PhD programs

Frequently asked questions for the combined MPsych/PhD degrees

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) frequently asked questions

What is a PhD?

• UWA’s flagship research degree, which can be taken in any discipline area in the University, providing that appropriate supervision and resources are available.
• A program of independent, supervised research that is assessed solely on the basis of a thesis, which is examined externally (as of 2018, by two examiners and a viva).
• The work presented for a PhD must be a substantial and original contribution to scholarship, demonstrating mastery of the subject of interest as well as an advance in that field of knowledge.
• PhD applicants must meet the eligibility requirements for studying a PhD at UWA, which includes adequate research preparation and a minimum level of English language competence.

Why should I complete a PhD?

• Develop advanced research skills.
• Pursue a topic of interest in close collaboration with a supervisor/lab.
• Gain an internationally recognised qualification.
• Learn how to understand, use and conduct research that is relevant to professional training (e.g. the scientist-practitioner model) and applied fields.
• PhD graduates move into a wide range of careers, depending on their areas of research. The traditional pathways are to research and academic careers. As the PhD is a demonstration of a graduate's ability to conceptualise and implement an independent program of research, manage a project, organise resources, work with other people, and communicate effectively in writing at a high level, many graduates progress into other professional areas, including management.

What kind of research project could I work on?

There are many varied projects, and every student’s PhD is different. The student and supervisor, along with the Head of School and the Board of the Graduate Research School, mutually agree upon the research project conducted by the student. Be curious about the question(s) to which you are trying to find the answer, and remember you will have roughly three years for the research.

Can I combine a PhD with a master's?

In the School of Psychological Science, yes. You will need to consider if your research project is suitable to meet:

• the requirements of the Professional Program. Note that you do not need to work with special populations, and just about every member of academic staff in the School can supervise a PhD/PhD combined with master's.
• the time commitment of a combined program. For example, if the project involves a lot of overseas fieldwork, it might not be the most appropriate as you would miss coursework.

Course Accreditation

The Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Clinical Psychology (01870/54570) is a packaged level 3 and 4 program accredited by the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC). Graduates are eligible to apply for general registration with the Psychology Board of Australia and pursue endorsement in the area of clinical psychology after completion of the Psychology Board of Australia's Registrar Program.

5 steps to becoming a clinical psychologist with UWA

Embarking on the journey to become a clinical psychologist is rewarding and at UWA you’ll have access to a comprehensive pathway that equips you with the knowledge, skills, and experience needed to thrive in this dynamic career. Let's explore the steps to becoming a clinical psychologist.

Psychology at UWA

Why study with us?

Psychology can take you anywhere and everywhere. Psychology is relevant to almost any human endeavour, meaning a psychology degree, or some complementary psychology studies, are relevant not only for traditional psychology careers, but for a wide range of careers.

Teaching excellence

• Learn from experts who operate at the cutting edge of the discipline. We don’t just teach the textbooks, we conduct the work in the textbooks.
• Our teaching standards are high and teaching is constantly evaluated by our students. Our scores are among the best at UWA, with about 90 per cent of our students agreeing or strongly agreeing that we provide a good educational experience.
• We offer fantastic student support staff to provide you with advice and guidance.

Research excellence

• You'll be involved in the cutting-edge research from your first year of postgraduate study.
• Our School has received the top rating of 5 in all three rounds of the Commonwealth’s Excellence in Research for Australia exercises (2010, 2012, 2015). Our research is rated as 'well above world standard'. We are one of only two Australian psychology schools to achieve this.
• We consistently rank in the top 100 psychology departments in the world (QS World University Rankings by Subject, 2024) and are the only WA school in the top 100.

Industry connections

• We offer work-integrated learning through our large network of corporate partners.
• Our postgraduate programs are leading the way in terms of research-integration, evidence-based practice and innovation. Our students are in high demand across many sectors.
• UWA is an international hub for the areas of Business and Industrial and Organisational Psychology, and we have strong links with various industries.
• Our clinical programs are recognised as among the very best in the country, and we have extensive networks with clinical service providers.

Student choice

• UWA courses are progressive, flexible, and benchmarked against the world’s best.
• Flexibility means you're not locked into a named degree from first year.
• Graduates are equipped with communication and critical thinking skills at the highest international standards, and are trained to have a interdisciplinary, global perspective.