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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 organisation, If you want to be recognised by a particular professional organisation, or be acceptable to a particular employer, check with the training school, professional body, or employer in question, and find out what they need from you.

Make sure, if you are selecting a starter-course, to make sure that it will be a stepping stone to your next qualification. Not all Level 2 trainings are equivalent, and may not necessarily be what you need to be accepted on a CPCAB Level 3 training. To know if a prior training is acceptable for entry to a further course, inquire of the training centre providing the further training, not the centre offering the previous one (as they may not have up-to-date information, or may not reliably know the current status).

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Are there any extra costs involved in the training?

It's essential to have an internet connection that is reliable as well as a computer to engage with our trainings, as well as a private, reliably-available space for classwork. For online sessions our centres use Zoom, or similar software, which you can download and use for free. Your assignments are submitted via online web-forms, or Powerpoint-compatible files for presentation materials, which you can create and edit in Microsoft Office, or if you prefer, a compatible free alternative such as LibreOffice which can be downloaded and used for free from the internet.

What experience do your tutor teams have?

Our counselling tutors are all highly experienced counselling practitioners and are CPCAB-approved. All our teams' members have over a decade's background as practitioners in counselling and psychotherapy. The teaching staff at the centre have experience in other counselling training contexts and have taught training groups in multiple training contexts at Levels 1-6. Our team members have previously programme-led or taught counselling-courses for Guildford College, Banbury Counselling Academy, Newbury College and University of Greenwich.

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What's the difference between CPCAB and BACP?

The Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB) is the awarding body for your qualifications. Our centres work alongside CPCAB so that our counselling courses and their tutors are independently and rigorously assessed, and that our centres meet with the professional standards of CPCAB. CPCAB is the only United Kingdom awarding body run by counsellors for counsellors which makes it ideally placed to assess the standards to which its centres operate..

BACP (the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy) is a major professional membership body for UK-based counsellors and psychotherapists. It has a role in setting standards and in protecting the public and represents the interests of the counselling profession.

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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 satisfy the criteria listed on our website, and those listed in the course specification for CSK-L2 listed on the CPCAB website, but it's not our practice to 'cherry-pick' candidates or compare applicants with each other. Where the course is rapidly approaching to its start-date, we may prioritise applicants who respond promptly to our request for interview over those who appear not to be responding, due to the time-constraints of the interview process. Trainings in counselling stretch candidates on occasions, and you might find yourself out of your comfort zone at times. Your interviewer may choose to explore whether you're in a life-situation where you can cope with this. For instance, they may check how strong your support network is outside the classroom setting how heavily your competing 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 our centres may recommend that you reapply later or (normally for those progressing on their current training path) we may make an offer which is conditional on your embarking in personal therapy.

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Can I do the entire counselling training online?

At some levels, yes. If you decide to follow CPCAB's training route, you can train online for level 2 and level 3, at which point (Level 4) CPCAB require that there should be a significant element of face-to-face training. We currently offer starter-level trainings, at Level 2, as a fully online option, and an online Level 3 follow-on course. For CPCAB's Level 4 counselling training, the majority of the training would be on location, so at that point you would need to enrol with a local provider.

If you intend to take a non-CPCAB training route post-Level 3, or are looking for a more specialised training (eg. for pastoral care, working with children, or where the provider has other special requirements) you should check with the course provider in question to ensure you will meet their requirement at that stage in your training.

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