Permanent
Grade C - £35,412 - £44,075
Consultation grade - subject to formal evaluation under the Pay Equity Review
Working 36.5 hours per week
SEND in Birmingham is on an ambitious improvement journey. As recognised by inspectors during the June 2025 Ofsted/CQC inspection, "in recent years, the experiences of children and young people with SEND in Birmingham have started to improve." We are building on this progress through the Birmingham SEND Reforms, working as one Local Area Partnership across Education, Health and Social Care, alongside parent carers, children and young people. This is an exciting time to join us. We are strengthening our specialist teams through a significant investment programme that reflects the scale of our ambition and our commitment to building a new SEND system for Birmingham by 2030. At the heart of this work is our Experts at Hand model, which will operate across districts and support early year settings, schools and post-16 providers to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND through a strong graduated approach. We are seeking two Assistant Psychologists to support SEND Reform and Expert at Hands priorities within the Educational Psychology Service. A prime example is work in new initiatives within Early Years settings supporting early identification, evidence-informed intervention, inclusive practice and effective partnership working. If you are passionate about inclusion, ambitious for children and young people, and motivated to help shape the future of SEND in Birmingham, we would love to hear from you. Birmingham is a vibrant, diverse and ambitious city, home to one of the largest youth populations in Europe. Birmingham City Council employs more than 10,000 people and has bold plans to reshape the city for future generations. Assistant Psychologists will make an important contribution to these plans by working alongside Educational Psychologists to support high quality, responsive core and traded services for children, young people, families, schools and settings.
The Educational Psychology Service has an excellent reputation and a strong commitment to innovation, quality improvement, research and development.
We offer psychology graduates a wide range of enriching professional experiences. Our assistant psychologist roles include opportunities to support locality-based and city-wide work, contribute to development projects and research, assist with training and consultation, and work as part of multi-disciplinary approaches to improve outcomes.
Responsibilities:- Promote applied psychology to improve inclusion, learning outcomes and emotional wellbeing for children and young people aged 0-25.
- Build effective relationships with children, families, school staff and multi agency partners, demonstrating strong interpersonal skills across diverse settings.
- Provide supervised consultations and assessments as part of a graduated approach, contributing to interventions and Education, Health & Care Needs Assessments.
- Support planning and delivery of training for schools and central teams, including preparation, administration and evaluation.
- Undertake literature searches, gather data and produce concise summaries, reports and presentations to inform evidence based practice and early intervention projects.
- Contribute to service working groups, including co production activities with children, young people and families, and supporting guidance or website/social media developments.
- Collect, analyse and interpret data linked to service priorities (e.g., KPIs, audits, impact measures, whole service evaluation).
- Maintain accurate records in line with service protocols, ensuring secure storage of electronic and paper information.
- Provide administrative support including electronic filing, resource monitoring and general service duties.
- Participate in team meetings and CPD, engaging in supervision, reflective practice and ongoing professional development.
- Represent the service at meetings relating to individual children and young people, including multi agency discussions.
- Honours degree in Psychology or equivalent that confers Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership (GBC) with the British Psychological Society.
- Substantial experience working with children and young people (0-25) in educational settings or related contexts.
- Strong applied psychology knowledge with the ability to use psychological approaches in real life educational and wellbeing situations.
- Awareness of Educational Psychology Services and the role of Educational Psychologists within local authority and school based work.
- Experience in research design and analysis including literature reviews, data collection and interpretation.
- Membership of West Midlands Pension Fund - with generous employer contributions
- Enhanced Holiday Entitlement - 30 days, increasing with length of service
- My Rewards Scheme - access to over 800 brands providing discounts and savings
- Health and wellbeing support - independent and confidential employee assistance and counselling
Birmingham City Council is an accredited Disability Confident Leader employer, and we are committed to employing, retaining and developing all of our people.
We want to ensure your recruitment journey with us is a positive and equitable one, so please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments, additional support, accessibility needs, or if there is any way in which we can support you through your application.
A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be undertaken.
Proof of Right to work in the UK will be required for all applicants in accordance with UK Home Office requirements, before any employment offer can be confirmed.
Birmingham City Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our citizens and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
You can view our Corporate Safeguarding Policy Birmingham City Council here.
Job Description and Person Specification