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There are lots of options out there for training. How do I select the right one?

First think about where you want to end up. If you want to be recognised by a specific professional body (of which there are several), If you want to be recognised by a specific professional body (of which there are several), 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.

Make sure, if you are selecting a starter-course, to check that it will be sufficient to take you to your qualification at the next-level. Not all Level 2 trainings are equivalent, and a particular Level 2 course they may not necessarily be what you need to be accepted on a CPCAB Level 3 training. To know if a prior training is sufficient for entry to your next course, ask the training centre providing the next-level training, not the centre offering the previous one (as they may not have up-to-date information).

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What experience do your tutor teams have?

Our trainers are all highly experienced counsellors and are CPCAB-approved.

All our team members are experienced background as practitioners in counselling & psychotherapy. 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 Guildford College, Banbury Counselling Academy, Newbury College and University of Greenwich.

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Is it possible to my entire counselling training online?

Not entirely. If you follow the CPCAB training route, then you can train online for levels 2 and 3, after which point (at Level 4) CPCAB require that there should be an element of face-to-face training. Our centres offer starter-level trainings, at Level 2 (CSK-L2), as a fully online option, as well as an online Level 3 follow-on course (CST-L3). For CPCAB's Level 4 counselling training, the majority of the training course would be on location so at that point you would need to enrol with a local provider. If you intend to take a training route that is other than CPCAB's 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 the chosen provider in question to make sure you will meet their requirement at that point in your training.

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What is the difference between BACP and CPCAB?

The Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB) is the awarding body for your training qualifications. We work with CPCAB to make sure that our courses and their tutors are rigorously & independently assessed, and that our centres meet CPCAB's professional standards. CPCAB is the only awarding body in the UK run by counsellors for counsellors, which makes it ideally placed to assess the standards to which its centres must operate..

The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), 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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Are there any extra costs?

You will need a reliable internet connection and a computer to engage with our trainings, as well as a reliably-available, private space for classwork. For online sessions we use Zoom, which you can download and use for free. Your assignments are submitted via online web-forms, with 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 can I do to improve my chances of being accepted onto the course?

We offer places to eligible course applicants in date order of application. You need to satisfy the criteria listed on our website, and as listed in the course specification for CSK-L2 listed on the CPCAB website, but it's not our policy to 'cherry-pick' candidates or compare applicants with each other. Where the course is coming near to its start-date, we may prioritise people who respond promptly to our request for an interview over those who appear not to be responding, due to the time-constraints of the interview process. Counselling trainings stretch candidates at times, and you may find yourself out of your comfort zone at times. In interview, your interviewer may explore whether you are in a life-situation where you can cope with the demands of the course. As an example, they might choose to check how solid your support network is outside of the classroom setting how heavily your other life-responsibilities currently weigh upon you, and for life-events which are counter-indicators to taking on the rigours of the course (eg. a recent bereavement). In some cases we may suggest that you reapply at a later date or (normally for those progressing on their existing training path at the centre) we may make an offer that is conditional on your engagement in counselling.

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