Reform tracker · United Kingdom
"Psychologist" remains an unprotected title
Only qualified titles such as "clinical psychologist" or "registered psychologist" are protected in the UK. Much of the wider psychological workforce is assured through voluntary registers rather than a statutory regulator.
The stated rationale
Proportionate assurance: the PSA's Accredited Registers programme gives assurance for unregulated roles without statutory regulation.
Where things stand
The HCPC regulates practitioner psychologists, but only nine titles are protected: the seven specialist titles (such as clinical, counselling or educational psychologist) plus “practitioner psychologist” and “registered psychologist”. Anyone may call themselves a “psychologist”.
Psychological wellbeing practitioners, children’s wellbeing practitioners, education mental health practitioners, clinical associates in psychology and, since 2025, mental health and wellbeing practitioners sit on voluntary registers run by the BPS and BABCP and accredited by the PSA. NHS England requires wellbeing practitioners in NHS-commissioned services to be registered as a condition of employment (not a legal requirement). The Government’s response to the 2024 petition notes that counsellors and psychotherapists are also assured through accredited registers rather than statutory regulation.
Why it matters
This is the layered model in action: a narrow statutory core, with a growing workforce assured more lightly around it. We think Australia, New Zealand and Ontario may be moving the same way.
Who supports it
- UK Government ("no plans" to protect "psychologist", May 2024 petition response)
Who has raised concerns
- Petitioners seeking protection of the title "psychologist" (2024 petition, 12,185 signatures)