Cairnmillar offers courses at every stage of the psychology journey, and similarly provides multiple options for counselling education. Current students may be able to take advantage of internal transfer opportunities to apply for a new course either upon completion of their current degree, or after the first year of study. More information can be found on the Cairnmillar website, or students can contact the Applications team at applications@cairnmillar.edu.au for more advice.
Psychological Sciences
The Graduate Certificate of Psychological Sciences consists of any 4 units of 6 offered from the Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science program. It can be studied full time in one semester (half a year) or part-time in two semesters (one year).
On completion of the Grad Cert students will be eligible to transfer credit for all 4 Grad Cert units to the Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science and will then undertake a further 4 units to complete the whole Graduate Diploma course. You need to obtain an average mark of 60% during your Grad Cert Psych Science studies in order to progress automatically into the Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science at the end of your Grad Cert studies. Students who fail to meet the 60% hurdle will be offered a progress review meeting and may be able to continue subject to additional criteria such as part-time only studies or agreement to access additional support services.
The Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science is an APAC accredited 1-3 year bridging sequence and is equivalent to an undergraduate major sequence in psychology for psychology registration pathways.
Bachelor of Psychology (Honours)
Students who obtain a WAM of 70% (H2A) or higher and a minimum of 65 in the research related units in the Graduate Diploma of Psychological Science will be eligible for an immediate pathway offer to the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) program in the next relevant intake. Students who obtain an average below 70% but above 60% will still be able to apply for the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) or other APAC accredited fourth year programs but without guaranteed offer arrangements.
If you already hold an APAC accredited undergraduate degree or equivalent and you are undertaking the Graduate Certificate of Psychological Science to raise your WAM then you will also need to obtain a 70% average in your Grad Cert units for a guaranteed offer to our APAC accredited 4th year program the Bachelor of Psychology (Honours). You will be able to complete this refresher in one semester full-time or two semesters part-time (one year) and will not normally require the additional 4 units to complete the Graduate Diploma if you already hold an APAC accredited undergraduate degree or equivalent.
Professional Psychology
MPP students can, upon completion of their current studies, apply for the MPPP course, and may be eligible for a guaranteed pathway conditional upon a minimum WAM of 70 or higher in their MPP studies, evaluation of each student’s readiness for progressing to the MPPP course (including feedback from placement supervisor(s), placement agency contacts and both the MPP placement and course coordinators), and satisfactory conduct during their MPP course.
Additionally, current MPP students may be eligible to transfer into the second year of the Master of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) course after their first year of studies with recognition of prior learning to transfer completed MPP credits to the new Clinical program. View the following FAQ for more information about this transfer pathway: Can MPP students transfer to Clinical?
Masters Entry Requirements
Students who have already completed an APAC accredited 4th year but did not obtain their target WAM should aim for a 70%-75% average if planning to apply for Masters level programs at Cairnmillar. The individual course pages on the Cairnmillar website contain further information regarding specific WAM requirements, and students can contact the Applications team for further advice.
Students can also contact their Course Coordinators or our Applications team for specific enrolment and course planning advice to best obtain their target WAM.
Counselling and Psychotherapy
The Counselling and Psychotherapy program at Cairnmillar is a ‘nested sequence’. This means that the units required to complete the Graduate Certificate of Counselling and Psychotherapy are the first half of the units required for the Graduate Diploma of Counselling and Psychotherapy, and the Graduate Diploma of Counselling and Psychotherapy is in turn the first half of the Master of Counselling and Psychotherapy.
Students within the CAP program suite are eligible to apply for further study within the same sequence with recognition of prior learning upon completion of their existing degree. For more information about these pathways, view the Nested Program Options – Counselling and Psychotherapy FAQ.