I am an Australian school leaver with an ATAR?

For now, applicants with an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) of 65 or better are welcome to apply for direct entry to our Bachelor of Psychology and Counselling. You can also consider applying for another APAC accredited undergraduate degree. See: APAC

The first step in becoming a psychologist will be an APAC accredited undergraduate (APAC level 1, AQF level 7) program.

From 2022 the Cairnmillar Institute will be offering our new Bachelor of Psychology and Counselling. This is a double major degree in both counselling and psychology.

This program will take 3 years to complete full-time or 6-8 years part-time.

The program is a TEQSA accredited AQF level 7 undergraduate degree, and is currently seeking accreditation from APAC as a (APAC level 1) for the psychology major and accreditation from PACFA for the counselling major. Note: the accreditation process is a rigorous one which will occur during the first year of offer. It is likely that APAC and PACFA accreditations will not be confirmed until the end of the first year of study.

Applications for the 2022 intake will open on 1 September 2021 and close on 31 October 2021.

You can register your interest here and we will contact you when applications open.

An undergraduate degree, including an APAC accredited major sequence, will take three years full-time study. Note: This is only the first step, you cannot register as a psychologist with only an undergraduate degree.

A psychology major alone is not enough to register as a counsellor. If you undertake a dual major program (such as our Bachelor of Psychology and Counselling) then you may be able to register as a counsellor on completion of your undergraduate degree but not yet as a psychologist. Be careful to consider what other options your undergraduate degree will offer you based on other majors or subjects.

NOTE: An APAC accredited undergraduate degree alone is not normally sufficient to practice as a counsellor or psychotherapist, our program will only allow this because it has a second major which is seeking accreditation from PACFA and the ACA as well.

On completion of your undergraduate degree and APAC accredited (Level 1) major sequence, a further year of study will be required to complete a standalone APAC accredited 1-year Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) or an inclusive Honours year. (Honours is considered APAC level 2, and AQF level 8).

If you graduate from the Bachelor of Psychology and Counselling at Cairnmillar with a WAM of 70% and a grade of 70 or better in the PSY202 and PSY302 subjects you will normally be guaranteed direct offer to continue into our Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) if you so choose.

Once you have completed your Honours program, you would then be able to apply for an APAC accredited Master of Professional Psychology (commonly referred to as a 5+1 program) or a Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) or a Doctor of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) or other APAC accredited Masters or Doctoral programs in psychology, such as a Master of Educational and Developmental Psychology or Master of Organisational Psychology.

You will then need to complete your APAC accredited Masters (such as the MPP or MPsych) and/or internship. At a minimum this will be at least 2 more years of study and/or supervised practice before you can gain registration as a psychologist with AHPRA.

For more information about Masters programs and final pathways see: What are the Masters of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) or Master of Professional Psychology (5+1) and other higher degree pathways once I complete Honours?

This pathway would take at least 6 years for you to become a registered psychologist, if studied full-time with no breaks or interruptions in your studies.