About Educational Psychology
The Leicestershire Educational Psychology Service (LEPS) is a team made up of the Principal Educational Psychologist (Service lead), senior educational psychologists, maingrade educational psychologists and trainee educational psychologists. We provide a traded and statutory service.
Educational Psychologists
Educational Psychologists (EPs) apply their skills and knowledge of psychology (theory, research and approaches) and child development to support:
- Children and young people: aged between 0 and 25, to develop and achieve
- Adults: to further develop their confidence, strategies, skills and knowledge to care for and/or educate children and young people
- Professionals: who are currently working with a child or young person, to further support their understanding, assessments and/or interventions
When working directly with children and young people, a key part of the role of an educational psychologist is to explore their views and hopes. EPs aim to explore and further shine a light on the strengths and qualities of a child and young person. Advocating for the best interests of the child or young person is held at the heart of our professional opinions and recommendations.
Further information for professionals and parents (Preparing for your child’s EP visit) can be found under Education Psychology resources.
Requirements to practise as an Educational Psychologist
To practise as an Educational Psychologist in England, EPs are required to complete post-graduate training in Educational Psychology.
Currently the requirement for EPs joining the profession is to have completed a 3 year, full-time doctorate qualification. Additionally, to practise, EPs must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
EPs must follow HCPC’s Standards of Proficiency and are regularly required to access professional supervision from a senior member of the service and complete Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
Within the Leicestershire Educational Psychology Service, EPs have regular opportunities to collaborate and liaise with their colleagues and other services within Leicestershire County Council to further develop their skills and knowledge; their understanding of the children and families they work with; to advance their knowledge of local processes; and identify support currently available for service users.
Commissioning inputs for educational settings
Schools, academies and post-16 settings can commission input from the Leicestershire Educational Psychology Service. This is achieved through a Service Level Agreement (SLA), which is completed for each academic year.
The LEPS also supports professionals from different services including the Secondary Education and Inclusion Partnerships and teams within Leicestershire County Council. 91.7% of respondents found input from the LEPS very helpful and we have received excellent feedback from the professionals we have worked closely with.
Please visit the LEPS Leicestershire Traded Services website for further information.
Please note: we're not able to accept SLAs from parents or carers.