---

There are lots of options for training. How do I find the right one?

First, think about where you want to end up. to specialise with a particular training, 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 to be accepted..

Make sure, if you are selecting a starter-course, to make sure that it will be sufficient to take you to your next-level 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 centre providing the further training, not the centre offering the previous one (as they may not have up-to-date information).

---

Can I do my entire training online?

Not entirely. If you follow CPCAB's training route, then 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. Our centres 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 .

---

What's the difference between BACP and CPCAB?

The Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB) is the awarding body for your qualifications. We work with CPCAB so that our counselling courses and the counsellor tutors who teach on them are independently and rigorously assessed, and that our centres meet with CPCAB's professional standards. CPCAB is the only awarding body in the UK that is run by counsellors for counsellors, which makes it ideally placed to assess the standards to which its centres must 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 protecting the public and represents the interests of the counselling and psychotherapy profession.

---

What qualifications and experience does your tutor team have?

Our counselling tutors are all highly experienced counselling practitioners and are CPCAB-approved.

All our team members have over a decade's background as practitioners in therapeutic counselling. Our teaching staff have years of experience in leading other teaching teams 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.

---

Are there any additional costs involved in the training?

You need to have an internet connection that is reliable and has sufficient bandwidth to support Zoom conferencing with a computer to undertake our courses, as well as a private, reliably-available space for classwork. For online sessions our centres use Zoom, downloadable for free. Your assignments are submitted online 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 is available for free from the internet.

What can I do to improve my chances of being accepted onto the course?

Course places are offered to eligible course 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 it's not our policy to 'cherry-pick' candidates or compare applicants with each other. Where the course is rapidly coming close to its start-date, we may prioritise applicants who contact us, 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.

Trainings in counselling skills stretch their candidates emotionally, and it's possible that you may feel yourself out of your comfort zone fromt time to time. In interview, your interviewer may explore whether you are are experiencing a life-situation where you can cope with this. For instance they may explore how solid your support system is outside the classroom how much competing life-responsibilities weigh on you, and for life-events which are contra-indications to taking on the training (eg. if you have had a recent close 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.

---