How to become a counsellor in the UK

What a counsellor does

A counsellor helps people talk through their situation and feelings in a safe and supportive way. The National Careers Service lists the day-to-day work as agreeing what to cover in sessions and building trust, listening closely, asking questions and checking understanding, helping clients explore their feelings and find ways to cope, empathising while challenging where needed, and keeping confidential records. Counsellors work with individuals, couples, families or groups, in GP practices, schools and colleges, charities, workplaces, the NHS and private practice, in person, by phone or online.

The job is built on a set of skills that can be taught and practised: attending and active listening, reflecting, paraphrasing and summarising, open questions and silence, boundaries and endings. Everything else, the theory, the ethics, the self-awareness and the supervised practice, is layered on top of those skills, which is why every training route starts with them.

The route: Level 2 to Level 4

1. Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills. The first step on this route. It teaches the core skills, an introduction to the three main theories, ethics and diversity, and personal development, assessed by written work and recorded skills practice. No entry requirements, no placement, 3 to 6 months part time.
2. Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Skills or Counselling Studies. Deepens the skills and theory and introduces the counselling relationship in more depth. Usually a year part time. Most Level 4 courses ask for Level 2 and Level 3, or equivalent, before you apply.
3. Level 4 Diploma in Counselling. The practitioner qualification. Two years part time, with a supervised placement of at least 100 client hours, personal therapy on most courses, and an interview to get on. This is the first qualification that lets you practise and register with a professional body.
4. Professional registration. Join BACP, the NCPS or UKCP as a registered member, which puts you on a register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. Many employers ask for this, and it is the route to accredited status after a further period of practice.
5. Level 5, degree or specialism. Some counsellors go on to a Level 5 diploma, a degree or postgraduate course, or specialise in bereavement, relationships, addiction, children and young people, or supervision and training.

Degree and postgraduate routes

The university route is a degree in counselling or psychotherapy, usually needing two to three A Levels or an Access to Higher Education Diploma, or a postgraduate diploma or master's after a degree in any subject. The National Careers Service lists both alongside the college route; they lead to the same professional-body registration. If you left school without A Levels, an Access to HE Diploma is the usual way into a counselling or psychology degree, and a Level 2 counselling skills certificate is a sensible thing to do first, because it shows you and the admissions tutor that the work suits you.

How long it takes and what to expect

From a standing start, three to four years part time is realistic: 3 to 6 months for Level 2, about a year for Level 3, then two years for the Level 4 diploma including the placement hours. You can work throughout, and most people do. The parts that take the time are the supervised placement hours and the personal development work, neither of which can be rushed, and most courses will tell you that this is the point.

Two things to know before you start. First, counselling training involves looking at yourself: your values, your history, the things that make you want to help. Every course from Level 2 upwards does this, and it is the part learners most often say they did not expect. Second, you will need an enhanced DBS check for placement and for most posts, so a conviction does not rule you out but should be discussed early.

What counsellors earn

Many counsellors are self-employed, charging per session, and combine private work with sessional work for the NHS, schools, colleges, employee assistance programmes and charities. The care worker figures are there because counselling skills are used in far more jobs than counselling, and a Level 2 certificate is useful in care, support, housing, youth and voluntary work long before you qualify to practise.

Where to start this week

If you want to become a counsellor, start with the TQUK Level 2 Certificate in Counselling Skills: an Ofqual-regulated qualification (601/7815/2), four tutor-marked units with recorded skills practice, no placement and no exams, with a named UK tutor and a TQUK certificate at the end. It is the recognised first step and the qualification most Level 3 and Level 4 courses expect. If you want to try the skills before committing, or use them in the job you have, the Introduction to Counselling Skills short course covers the essentials in about four hours. Both are listed in the counselling hub.