Government Occupational Psychology Profession

Occupational psychology is the government profession concerned with the performance of people at work and how individuals, groups and organisations behave.

Occupational psychology is concerned with the performance of people at work and with how individuals, groups, and organisations behave. We apply the science of psychology to improve the working experience for employees and the effectiveness of the organisation. It involves the application of scientific psychological knowledge within and across five work-related areas:

  1. Psychological assessment at work.
  2. Learning, training, and development.
  3. Leadership, engagement, and motivation.
  4. Wellbeing at work.
  5. Work design, organisational change and development.

You can find out more about the Government Occupational Psychology Profession at our Careers Hub Government Occupational Psychology – Hub | Civil Service Careers

The typical journey through our professional qualifications is shown below from Awareness, to Working, to Practitioner, to Expert. To become professionally and legally recognised many members of our profession complete a qualification to become a Chartered Psychologist and a Registered Occupational Psychologist. You can find out more about our qualification pathway below and in the Developing specialist skills within government: A guide to specialist training.

For learning outside core professional qualifications please explore the wider offer or contact your line manager for guidance. 

How to join us

We include in our profession anyone who holds a BSc (or equivalent) psychology and intends to complete, is currently undertaking, or who has completed a postgraduate (MSc) qualification in Occupational Psychology (or equivalent titled course).

If you are a current civil servant and meet these criteria, please contact government.occupationalpsychprofession@DWP.GOV.UK to request to join the profession.

All training must be booked by 31 January 2027 and completed by 31 October 2027. Training of 12 months duration or less is available to book now on the Booking Portal. Training that is longer than 12 months may be available on a case-by-case basis, provided it is complete by 31 October 2027. Find out more about affected courses.