Frequently Asked Questions
What experience does your tutor team have?
All our trainers are highly experienced counsellors. Both BACP-registered and CPCAB-approved, all members of our team have over a decade's background as practitioners in counselling and psychotherapy. All our teaching staff have years of experience in leading other teaching teams and have taught counselling training groups in multiple training contexts at Levels 1-6. Our team members have previously programme-led or taught counselling-courses for Newbury College, Abingdon and Witney College, Banbury Counselling Academy, Guildford College and University of Greenwich.
Do you have a minimum attendance requirement?
You need to attend at least 80% of the course to successfully complete any of our courses.
However, we expect you to make all efforts to attend as fully as possible. We appreciate that 100% attendance may not be feasible, but whereas the key resources on other types of training may be materials or equipment, this is a training where you and your peers are the primary resource for each other's skills training. You need to engage as fully as possible in order to provide each other with the interpersonal interactions that take place as you practice your skills with each other.
A lack of engagement with your peers in the classroom (face to face or online) is potentially as problematic as being absent. If you are aware in advance of the likelihood of persistent or prolonged absence, please bring this up at interview or on your application form.
Can I do my entire training online?
Not entirely. If you follow the CPCAB training route, then you can train online for levels 2 and 3, at which point (Level 4) CPCAB require that there should be an element of face-to-face training. We currently offer starter-level trainings, at Level 2, as a fully online option, as well as an online Level 3 follow-on course.
For CPCAB's Level 4 counselling training, the majority of your training would be on location, so at that point you would need to enrol with a local provider. If you intend to progress through a non-CPCAB training route after Level 3, or are looking for a more specialised training (eg. for pastoral care, working with children, or where the provider has a special requirement for face-to-face experience) you should check with your chosen provider to make sure you will meet their requirement at that point in your training.
Am I eligible to take the course?
The eligibility requirement for our CPCAB courses can be found in Section 5 of the Course Specification documents on the CPCAB website for CSK-L2 and CST-L3. CSK-L2 does not require any prior training from applicants, but you must meet the eligibility criteria listed by CPCAB in the above Level 2 document. For Level 3 we additionally require that applicants have successfully completed, or be in the process of completing, CPCAB's CSK-L2 qualification.
Counselling trainings stretch candidates emotionally, and you may find yourself out of your comfort zone at times. Your interviewer may explore whether you are in a life-situation where you can cope with this. For example, they may check how robust your support network is outside the classroom setting, how heavily your other life-responsibilities currently weigh on you, and for life-events which are contra-indications to setting out on the training (eg. a recent bereavement). In some cases we may suggest that you reapply later or (normally for those progressing on their existing training path) we may make your offer conditional on your engagement in personal therapy.
To apply for otraining ur CST-L3 you must have successfully completed or be in the process of completing the CPCAB CSK-L2 counselling skills course. We do not recognise experiential evidence in the absence of a relevant formal qualification, and we do not accept qualifications in related disciplines (such as nursing, teaching, social work, medicine or psychology) as these are not explicitly a hands-on training in Level 2 counselling skills.
CPCAB define Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) as "the process by which a learner’s relevant prior formal or nonformal learning or experience is formally evaluated in order to determine whether it satisfies any part of a qualification and therefore allows for an amendment to, or exemption from, some aspect of the qualification requirements". We follow the policy advice of CPCAB in relation to accepting alternative prior learning, which can be found here, except that we require applicants to our Level 3 training to have completed or be in the process of completing CSK-L2. We do not recognise "nonformal learning or experience" as a substitute for formal Level 2 training. This is because of the practical difficulty in properly assessing nonformal learning and experience, which can lead to students whose learning is patchy or insufficient to then struggle or require excessive tutor support in order to keep up with their classmates.
I have a qualification in a different but people-oriented discipline. Can I start my training straight on Level 3?
Unfortunately not. We frequently get requests to skip a level from applicants who have a background in social work, nursing, psychology or teaching. However the Level 2 training is highly vocational and you will spend the first academic year learning, practising and consolidating your skills in counselling on a weekly basis.
We do not accept people on Level 3 based on informal experience or based on prior experience or from courses with no recognised assessment criteria for the award, as there is no independently-validated way to practically confirm that you have the prerequisite depth and coverage of skills and knowledge to manage our Level 3 course without struggling.
In the experience of our tutor team, candidates from other people-oriented disciplines who fast-track and miss this foundational Level 2 stage of counselling training tend to have a patchy understanding compared to their peers, and then struggle to keep up with the rest of their group, which is unfair both on the candidate and on their peers.
What can I do to improve my chances of being accepted onto the course?
We offer places to eligible applicants in date order of application. You need to meet the criteria listed on our website, and in the course specification for CSK-L2 listed on the CPCAB website, but we do not "cherry-pick" candidates or compare applicants with each other.
Where the course is close to its start-date, we may prioritise applicants who respond promptly to our request for an interview over those who have difficulties with early availability, due to the time-constraints of the interview and offer process.
What is the difference between CPCAB and BACP?
CPCAB, or the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB) is the awarding body for your qualifications. We work with them to make sure that all our courses and tutors are rigorously and independently assessed, and that we meet CPCAB's high professional standards. CPCAB is the only awarding body in the UK run by counsellors for counsellors, which makes it very well placed to expertly assess the standards to which its centres operate.
BACP, or the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, is the largest professional membership body for counsellors and psychotherapists in the UK. It represents the interests of the counselling profession and has a role in setting standards and protecting the public.
Are there any other costs involved in the training?
You will need a computer and a reliable internet connection to engage with our trainings, and a reliably-available private space for classwork. For online sessions we use Zoom, which you can download and use for free. Assignments are submitted as Word-compatible documents, or Powerpoint for presentation materials, which you can create and edit in Microsoft Office. If you prefer, a compatible free alternative such as LibreOffice is acceptable, and this can be downloaded and used for free from the internet.
For those who progress to Level 4 training at their local centre, this will involve working in placement as a trainee counsellor. Students need to find their own placement, but the tutor team at your centre can normally advise you, and will be able to assess its suitability before authorising it. Some placements provide supervision and liability insurance, but where they do not, your centre may expect you to cover these expenses yourself. Level 4 trainings normally require that you be in personal therapy for at least some of your time in training. As with the placement, the tutor team at your local centre would normally review your choice of therapist, to make sure that your experience in therapy is consistent with the therapeutic model they teach. Your course will come with a recommended reading list at each level.
There are lots of options out there for training. How do I choose the right one?
To work out where to start, you need to think about where you want to end up. If you want to be recognised by a particular professional body, to specialise with a particular training, or be acceptable to a particular employer, check with the professional body, training school, or employer in question, and find out what they need from you to be accepted.
Beware of selecting a starter-course without checking that it will be a stepping stone to your next-level qualification. Not all Level 2 trainings provide the equivalence you would need to be accepted on our Level 3 training, for example. To know if a prior training is acceptable for entry to a further course, always ask the centre providing the further training, not to centre offering the prior one (as they may not reliably know or may have out of date information).
What if I want to progress to Level 4?
Providing CPCAB-awarded qualifications means that our trainings are recognised by all CPCAB training centres which can be found nationwide at hundreds of locations in the UK, from Cornwall to Scotland. As highly-regarded qualifications, CPCAB trainings at Level 2 and Level 3 CPCAB would also be normally accepted as part of your prior learning if you wanted to transfer to a non-CPCAB training route, although you should always check with the training provider what their particular requirements might be, as some centres may have specialised requirements.