Concerns have been raised over how UCL has handled the slow “dismantling” of the country’s oldest educational psychology doctorate, with students claiming the uncertainties have left them struggling to complete their studies.
Three years after UCL decided to close two highly regarded programmes, those affected say they have only just been informed of a “teach-out” plan, with questions remaining about whether supervisors will still be in post to oversee the completion of their degrees.
Students claim the university has failed to be “informative and transparent” throughout, saying the episode has been a “catalogue in how not to do it” at a time of mass course closures in the sector.
UCL insists it has ensured affected students have been able to continue their studies, with “existing supervision, assessment and examination arrangements maintained” and it has offered to extend support arrangements to 2028 in recognition that some students might take longer to complete their studies.
The university first launched a one-year professional training diploma in educational psychology in 1946, at the time the first such course in the country.
