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Psychological Interventions Assistant trainee posts
Various locations within Scotland
Job reference: 260276
Location: Various locations within Scotland
Job closing date: 12/06/2026
Job posted date: 29/05/2026
Salary: Band 4 (£31,537- £34,303)
Employment type: Fixed-term
Job Type: Other Therapeutic
Hours of work: 36
Department: Various
Employer (NHS Board): NHS Scotland
Psychological Interventions Assistant Trainee posts
Health Boards in Scotland are recruiting to a number of Psychological Interventions Assistant Trainee (PIAT) posts. Successful applicants will undertake the Enhanced Psychological Practice (EPP)1 educational programme within their PIAT role. The education programme is provided by Public Services Delivery Scotland (PSD Scotland).
These are fixed term posts for up to 18 months consisting of a trainee phase and consolidation phase. Posts commence at Agenda for Change Band 4 with possible eligibility to progress to Agenda for Change Band 5 role on successful completion of the trainee phase of the Enhanced Psychological Practice programme. It is anticipated trainees will complete the education programme after a minimum of 6 months of the 18-month period.
You will be employed on a full-time basis by the same NHS Scotland Health Board for the duration of your contract. Your Band 4 employment is conditional upon you remaining registered on the EPP Programme. The purpose of your subsequent Band 5 employment is to consolidate knowledge and there will be additional learning requirements during this phase.
You will undertake clinically supervised work with individuals or groups linked to the learning programme objectives.
Enhanced Psychological Practice Educational Programme
The Enhanced Psychological Practice (EPP) programme provides comprehensive training in evidence-based interventions to enable staff to deliver high-quality, brief, outcome focused, evidence-based psychological interventions. Within the programme there are two courses. One course focuses on practitioners working with Adults (EPP-A), training them to use CBT informed, high volume approaches suitable for adults with mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. The other course is targeted at practitioners working with Children, Young People and their Families (EPP-CYP), using CBT informed and social learning theory informed approaches for working with CYP with mental health problems such as anxiety, depression and behavioural and self-regulatory issues.
Please note: The application link at the bottom of this advert is for both the EPP-Adult and EPP-CYP pathway. You will be able to express a preference for by filling out the form below.
You MUST also complete this Form -
November 2026 Application Form: Enhanced Psychological Practice Programme
If the link above does not work copy and paste the following into your browser
https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=veDvEDCgykuAnLXmdF5Jmlcq0kfIV-hDl_HibO4jR4BUM0pTREUxNDgwUzJIN1g1MTNXSVJKMTNWNi4u
Who you are
You are a Psychology honours graduate of a British Psychological Society (BPS) OR Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI) accredited psychology degree programme that confers the Graduate Basis for Chartership (GBC).
You will have an interest in applying psychology to working with mental health problems. You will be able to provide evidence of right to work in the UK without restriction.
Please note: This programme is not suitable for those who already hold a Doctorate in Applied Psychology or Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, or Masters level qualification in Applied Psychology such as MSc in Psychological Therapies in Primary Care, or MSc Applied Psychology for Children and Young People. Applications from candidates who already hold these qualifications will not be shortlisted.
If you have received funding from PSD Scotland for participation in any of the training programmes listed below you are ineligible to apply for these posts. Where applicants have withdrawn from any of these programmes before completion, they will be ineligible to apply for 2 years from date of exit.
- Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (University of Edinburgh/NHS Scotland and University of Glasgow/NHS Scotland)
- MSc Psychological Therapies in Primary Care (Universities of Dundee & Stirling/NHS Scotland)
- MSc Applied Psychology for Children and Young People (University of Edinburgh/NHS Scotland)
- Stage 2 Health Psychology Training (NHS Scotland)
- Child and Adolescent Psychotherapy Training (Human Development Scotland/NHS Scotland)
- PSD Scotland funded certificates and diplomas in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Family Based Treatment (FBT), and Family Therapy (FT).
Please also see restrictions on applying for further PSD Scotland funded training programmes post-completion outlined in the Applicant Information document.
What you’ll bring
You will bring enthusiasm and commitment to learning through supervised practice alongside further academic study.
Selection Procedure
AI tools like ChatGPT or Copilot can be helpful for planning and preparing your application, but your answers must be your own. Your application should reflect your skills, experience, and motivations authentically. Applications that rely on AI-generated content may be withdrawn. By applying, you confirm your responses are based on your own knowledge and achievements.
The selection and appointment procedure reflects the partnership of NHS Scotland employers and PSD Scotland, in the commitment to attract excellent candidates. Successful candidates will be employees of the individual NHS Health Boards. Applicants will be asked to state which boards they would accept placements in as part of the application process.
Members of the PSD Scotland Educational Programme Team will undertake a shortlisting process of the applications submitted. All decisions through screening, shortlisting and invitation to interview stages are made with the applicant’s identity concealed. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to interview where the panels will comprise of representatives from the employing NHS Health Boards and the Educational Programme Team.
As part of our evolving recruitment procedures, we are trialling a new process to allow us to meet as many candidates as possible. Candidates who demonstrate they best meet the essential and desirable skills based on the applicant form will be invited to direct interview. We also have a new, wider access process.
In this wider access route, a proportion of candidates that meet the minimum criteria, but did not achieve scores sufficient for direct interview, will be invited to a short interview with programme staff. From this, suitable candidates will then be invited back for a full interview with programme staff and health board colleagues.
All interviews will be held remotely via Microsoft Teams.
Following full interviews, each NHS Board area will appoint the appropriate number of successful candidates to places available within their health board.
After full interview, candidates will receive a conditional offer or reserve listing or will be informed that they have been unsuccessful. Feedback after interview is not given routinely but is available to unsuccessful applicants on request.
Funding for the EPP educational programme is provided by PSD Scotland.
On acceptance of conditional programme and employment offers, pre-employment arrangements will be undertaken directly with the employing NHS Board, who will: carry out pre-employment checks such as employer references, verifying qualifications and your right to work in the UK; carry out health assessments and arrange Protection of Vulnerable Groups (criminal records) checks. Unconditional offers of employment and training places are subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks. Following these checks, appointees will - through a combination of face to face and remote delivery - work with a caseload in their health board for the duration of the education programme.
All of the work you do within the Psychological Intervention Assistant Trainee post (both further study and supervised practice) will support your participation in the EPP educational programme. It should be noted participation in the programme is a full-time commitment.
If you are interested in this vacancy, please refer to the corresponding documents including job descriptions and person specifications.
Unless otherwise stated the deadline for applications is 23:59 hours on the closing date.
The educational programme and posts are scheduled to commence 9/11/2026. As part of the educational programme trainees will be required to attend ALL scheduled teaching workshops. Teaching timetable will be made available to candidates at point of invite to interview.
Direct interviews are scheduled to take place week commencing 17th August 2026, with wider route short interviews taking place during 27th July – Tuesday 4th August with members of the programme team and any subsequent full interviews taking place between 16th September – 18th September 2026.
Informal enquiries relating to these posts and the EPP educational programme are welcomed by the PSD Scotland Programme Team who can be contacted at nes.epp@nhs.scot.
As a Disability Confident employer, we will offer an interview (either standard or via wider access route) to all disabled people that meet the minimum criteria for the job.