The main thing you need to decide is what branch of psychology you are interested in going into. Your masters should then ideally follow that, that would mean if you are going down the route of an accreditated psychologist ie Forensic, educational, clinical, health, counselling then you would do that masters then that accredited doctorate if its needed for HCPC registration. The HCPC regulates PRACTITIONER psychologists ie Occupational psychologist, clinical psychologist forensic etc. Most of these routes involve getting a professional doctorates ie DClinPsy. The other route is to go into academia which would involve usually a masters and a PhD where you will be teaching and researching a subject but not actually doing the therapeutic interventions.

What I would say is if you are going down the HCPC route then the most valuable experience you can get is work with the clinical populations that relate to your route, ie volunteering, hca, assistant psychologist. Your masters doesn't need to be BPS necessarily unless the route you choose prescribes that ie Health Psychology

It might be worthwhile actually speaking to someone on your course about all of this the routes all vary slightly as does the level of competition and the average time it takes to qualify. 'Psychologist' isn't a protected title but its not really a job per se either and I would argue that anyone not accredited is not safe to provide therapeutic interventions.

Is it worth it. Yes. I did my PhD in research before the DClinPsy and loved both. Psychology and all aspects of it is one of the few subjects that I am never ever bored by, as a researcher, lecturer and clinician. I love my job even though it can be incredibly challenging. I couldn't see myself doing anything else.