Maynooth University is now offering a new three-year Professional Doctorate programme in Educational Psychology. Launched in September 2025 with an intake of twenty Trainee Educational Psychologists in Year 1, this programme will support a substantial increase in the number of qualified educational psychologists available to the Department of Education and Youth’s National Educational Psychological Service (NEPS). It 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.
Over the three-year programme, trainees will develop expertise in the core skills of assessment, intervention, consultation, training and research within a variety of educational and service settings. They will gain hands-on experience working with children, young people, families and professionals, ensuring they are well-prepared to support the learning, development, and emotional wellbeing of children and young people.
The Maynooth University programme will be compliant with the Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training Programmes for Educational Psychologists recently published by CORU, Ireland’s multi-profession health and social care regulator. Practice placements as part of this programme will ensure that the graduate Educational Psychologists will have achieved all the Standards of Proficiency upon successful completion of an education and training programme.
The two other professional doctorate training programmes for educational psychologists in Ireland provided by UCD and MIC will also now be required to comply with the new Standards of Proficiency and Criteria for Education and Training programmes for educational psychologists as set out by CORU. Previously these programmes were regulated by the Psychological Society of Ireland.
The graduates of the Maynooth University Educational Psychology programme will be qualified to register with CORU as Educational Psychologists. The HSE employment criteria for HSE services is a matter for the Department of Health. The Maynooth University students are in receipt of a bursary from the Department of Education and Youth, and as such have committed to working in NEPS for three years post-graduation. The bursary scheme will enable an increase in the supply of educational psychologists available to NEPS, and thus, will help to ensure the ongoing delivery of a high-quality educational psychology service to children, young people and their teachers in school communities across Ireland.
This commitment is part of the broader, long-term commitment by Government to radically reshape and significantly enhance the provision of therapy services and educational psychology services for children and young people in schools.
