Career guide
Guide to becoming a locum psychologist in the UK: HCPC protected titles, BPS Chartered status, NHS agency, private CBT, EAP, and medico-legal expert work.
At a glance | Regulator
HCPC registration under a protected psychologist title requiredA locum psychologist covers clinical work for the organisations that need them, one session at a time, instead of holding a single salaried post. Depending on the profession and the booking that can mean self-employment, or PAYE through an agency, a staff bank or an umbrella company: the steps below say which is usual. This guide walks through everything you need to do to start, in order, and the common pitfalls that catch people in their first year.
Guide | 7 steps
Psychologist titles are criminally protected: Clinical Psychologist, Counselling, Forensic, Educational, Health, Occupational, Sport & Exercise, or generic Practitioner Psychologist. Register under the one matching your training. Using the wrong title in marketing is prosecutable.
Separate from HCPC. BPS Chartered status is expected in most senior locum roles and required for some referrals (medico-legal, expert work). Each division has its own CPD expectations, typically around 16 hours/year.
Four common streams: NHS agency (capped framework rates, PAYE), private self-pay CBT (£90 to £160/session in London), EAP network contracts (Vita, AXA, Onebright, Health Assured: fixed lower rates), medico-legal expert witness work (£1,500 to £3,500/report plus court days). Most established locums run two or three of these.
Anyone processing patient data outside an NHS role must register with the Information Commissioner’s Office. The fee depends on your size and turnover, and there is a penalty for not paying it: check the current amount at ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-fee. Register before your first private client.
HCPC standards and most professional indemnity policies require documented clinical supervision. Keep contracts signed and supervision logged. Indemnity insurers can void cover if you can’t evidence it.
Solicitors usually expect formal expert witness training (several providers offer it) before they instruct you. Consider joining an expert witness body and build relationships with 3 to 5 solicitors’ firms in your area. Forensic and Clinical Psychologists dominate this niche: it’s the highest-margin work in the profession.
NHS agency work is PAYE / umbrella. EAP contracts are usually self-employed per-session. Self-pay private practice is sole trader or Ltd Co. Educational Psychologists leaving LA roles often take commissioned block work as self-employed contractors: a distinctive feature of EP locuming.
Once you are registered
Log every session with its date, rate, and workplace, send invoices that chase themselves, keep your documents current, and watch your tax reserve build as you go.
Checklist | Documents
On Plus and Pro, Sessional stores these and emails you a reminder 30, 14, 7 and 1 days before each one expires.
Checklist | First year
Related
Last reviewed April 2026. Rates and regulator details change. If something looks off, let us know.
From the first booking
Keeps the records, does the sums. Filing and advice stay with you and your accountant.
Sessional tracks every session and invoice from day one on the free Basic plan, with no card. Expenses and documents come with Plus.