Educational Psychologist

Portsmouth City Council; Portsmouth; On-site; GBP 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working policy

Job summary

Portsmouth City Council is seeking enthusiastic Educational Psychologists to join the Educational Psychology Team. We welcome HCPC-registered practitioners, new graduates, or Trainee EPs in 2nd/3rd year of training, with an emphasis on safeguarding and collaborative practice within Portsmouth's Inclusion Service.

The role involves delivering psychology services to clusters of schools, working with multi-agency teams, and participating in strategic development across SEMH and literacy.

Qualifications

• HCPC registration or trainee status in 2nd/3rd year of EP training.
• Strong foundation in current psychological knowledge and education/psychology.
• Adherence to safeguarding policies and collaborative working with schools.

Responsibilities

• Deliver psychology services to a cluster of Portsmouth schools.
• Engage in multi-agency work to support children and families.
• Develop and deliver training/workforce development (e.g., Restorative/Attachment,Aware approaches).
• Contribute to strategic developments in SEMH, Neurodiversity and literacy.

Skills

HCPC registered

Communication

Teamwork

Psychology knowledge

Education

Qualified Educational Psychologist

Trainee Educational Psychologist (2nd/3rd year)

Job description

We are seeking enthusiastic and dedicated Educational Psychologists to join our highly regarded Educational Psychology Team. Whether you are an experienced practitioner, newly qualified and HCPC registered, or a Trainee Educational Psychologist in your second or third year of training, we would love to hear from you.

The Educational Psychology Team

We are a team of supportive, enthusiastic and skilled educational psychologists with experience ranging from our highly valued trainees to those who have been with the service for many years - which is testament to our positive approach.

We are part of the Inclusion Service in Portsmouth City Council's Education Department and our key purpose is to help promote all aspects of a child or young person's development by using psychology to make a positive difference. The EP Team is held in high regard with involvement valued across a range of projects in education and social care. We operate a model of traded service which allows us to support schools directly and focus on early intervention. We also fulfil the statutory function of the Education Department and have built strong relationships with our SEN Team which enables collaborative working.

The Role

The post will include:

Applying psychology through the delivery of services to a cluster of schools within Portsmouth. Multi-agency working to support children and families.

Opportunities to engage in the development and delivery of training and workforce development across the city, for example Restorative and Attachment Aware approaches and ELSA.

Opportunities to engage in strategic developments; for example, with SEMH, and Neurodiversity and literacy difficulties.

Opportunities to work with EPs to develop our practice and policy, always aiming to improve outcomes for children and young people.

Contribution to the statutory assessment and monitoring and review of children with SEND.

Autonomy to employ the evidence-based psychological practice that you feel best meets needs (e.g. dynamic and standardised assessment methods used equally across the team).

Full working knowledge and adherence to the underlying values, principles and policy of Portsmouth Local Safeguarding Children's Board, including integrated working responsibilities, early help and safeguarding practices.

The ideal candidate

Portsmouth Educational Psychology Team can offer you support and opportunities, whether you are at the start of your EP career of if you are looking for a new challenge or change.

• be a qualified Educational Psychologist or be in your second or third year of EP training, registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), or, in the case of trainee EPs, expecting to have their registration confirmed following the completion of their recognised training course.
• possess a sound base of current psychological knowledge and skills and have an awareness of current issues in education and psychology and be able to apply this to practice.
• have full working knowledge and adhere to the underlying values, principles and policy of Local Safeguarding Children's Board, including integrated working responsibilities, early help and safeguarding practices.
• have good personal presentation and credibility with a range of potential client groups.
• have the ability to work individually and as part of a team (these are equally important in this role), value working with people and demonstrate a relational approach with parents, children, young people and professionals.

We also welcome applications from Trainee Educational Psychologists in their second or third year of training.

Please ensure that you download and read the full job profile attached below for the details and expectations of this role, paying particular attention the section 'Who is the person' as you will need to refer to this when completing your Personal statement.

About Portsmouth City Council

Portsmouth City Council is a unique organisation, committed to making a difference, and is guided by core values that set who we are as people, what we stand for, and how we act.

We are committed to our values of respect, integrity, collaboration, inclusivity and being people-focussed. These values set out how we can contribute to the success of the council and our own success as individuals. Learn more about our values and behaviours.

Working Arrangements:

Working a minimum of 2 days in the office per week in line with the PCC Hybrid policy.

Informal enquiries:

Please contact the Principal Educational Psychologist, Victoria Parker, [e-mail]

Interview date:

Tuesday 22nd September 2026

Application process

We anonymise applications during application & shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered.

We strongly encourage candidates to add all Career and Education History to their application, as CVs are not reviewed as part of the shortlisting process.

As part of your application, we ask that you complete a personal statement, this statement is crucial and is where you must demonstrate how you meet the requirements of the job against each of the points described in the 'Who is the Person'points on the Job Profile using examples from your experience or transferable skills. This might be through qualifications or descriptive examples from your work / personal experience.

We are a disability confident employer and have an Armed Forces Covenant. We are committed to offering an interview to all those candidates that qualify under one of our commitments and meet the minimum criteria, however, for roles that receive a large number of applications, this is not always possible, and we will select the candidates that best meet the minimum criteria.

You will need to demonstrate that you have the Right to Work in the UK. No post will be offered without it.

Read more about working at Portsmouth City Council and our benefits on our career's portal homepage: Careers Portal - Find jobs with Portsmouth City Council

Safeguarding

Portsmouth City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Every post is subject to PCC and Portsmouth Safeguarding Children Partnership safer recruitment procedures.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) at Standard/Enhanced level will be required prior to any offer of employment and this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Please read the relevant DBS privacy notice before submitting any information.

You will need to explain any gaps in your career history within the last 5 years - this is essential for all safeguarding roles.

Should you require any support in completing the application form please contact [e-mail] or call the recruitment team on 023 92 616 800.