We would love for you to start or continue your journey to becoming a child counsellor with us at Place2Be. And we want to answer any and all questions you might have.
Below, we have collated some of our most frequently asked questions about our professional counselling qualifications.
If your question hasn't been answered after browsing our FAQs, contact us via our Counselling training enquiries form. This will get you in touch with our friendly team, who can assist you further.
Place2Be have three training venues:
- London - Place2Be, 175 St. John Street, Clerkenwell, London, England, EC1V 4LW
- Manchester - Citywise, 6 Oxford Place, Rusholme, Manchester, M14 5RZ
- Huddersfield - Creative Media Centres Ltd. 7 Northumberland St, Huddersfield, HD1 1RL
We offer our Taster Day and Child Counselling Skills for Adult Counsellors (Level 5 Certificate)
at all three training venues.
Our Introduction to Child Counselling Skills (Level 2 Award) and Intermediate Child Counselling Skills (Level 3 Certificate) are offered in London and Manchester only.
We offer our Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Children in Schools and Counselling Supervision Certificate (Level 6 Certificate) in London only.
We encourage attendees to take public transport to our training venues wherever possible.
There is pay and display parking around our London training venue. Please be aware of the daily congestion charge when driving into central London.
There is on-street parking and limited parking spaces on-site at our training venue in Manchester.
In Huddersfield, there is paid parking opposite our training venue.
Unfortunately, we currently do not offer our training pathway in Scotland. If you're in Scotland, you can find training on the Counselling & Psychotherapy in Scotland (COSCA) website, Scotland's professional body for counselling and psychotherapy training. We also work with awarding bodies:
- Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB)
- British Association of Counsellors and Physiotherapists (BACP).
Both these organisations accredit courses throughout the UK.
We offer counselling placements in Place2Be Partner Schools, including in Scotland. If you are eligible for placement with us, all Counsellors on Placement can access free clinical training and workshops. Please search the map on our Where we work page to see if we have a Partner School near you.
Place2Be's training, consultations and resources are available to all.
Any changes in our training provision will be reflected on our website.
Unfortunately, we currently do not offer our training pathway in Wales. If you are in Wales, we suggest you search for training courses on the following websites:
- Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB)
- British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
Both of these organisations are awarding bodies that accredit courses throughout the UK. Any changes to our training provision will be reflected on our website.
We offer counselling placements in Place2Be Partner Schools, including in Wales. If you are eligible for placement with us, all Counsellors on Placement can access free clinical training and workshops. Please search the map on our Where we work page to see if we have a Partner School near you.
Place2Be's training, consultations and resources are available to all.
Any changes in our training provision will be reflected on our website.
Your next step after completing our Taster Day will depend on where you are in your counselling training journey. Options within Place2Be’s training pathway after completing a Taster Day are the following:
- our Introduction to Child Counselling Skills (Level 2 Award) if you have no prior counselling experience
- our Intermediate Child Counselling Skills (Level 3 Certificate) if you have a Level 2 Award in counselling (with Place2Be or elsewhere) and meet the entry requirements
- our Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Children in Schools if you have a Level 3 Certificate in counselling (with Place2Be or elsewhere) and meet the entry requirements.
Please note that if you are applying for our Child Counselling Skills for Adult Counsellors (Level 5 Certificate) or Counselling Supervision Certificate (Level 6 Certificate), you do not need to attend a Taster Day. Instead, we will require you to attend a webinar to meet eligibility.
If you are a qualified adult counsellor, you can apply for our:
- Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Children in Schools
- Child Counselling Skills for Adult Counsellors (Level 5 Certificate).
Both courses include or have a prerequisite for being a Counsellor on Placement with us. For more information about placements and how to apply, please visit the Counselling Placements in schools page or contact the team directly at placements@Place2Be.org.uk.
Qualified or qualifying adult counsellors can also apply for the Counselling Supervision Certificate (Level 6 Certificate).
All our qualification courses have online elements, but teaching and skills practice all take place in person. Our counselling training professional qualifications are classroom-based and take an experiential and integrative approach. We deliver our classroom-based training in London, Manchester and Huddersfield only.
Place2Be’s Mental Health Champions Foundation Programme is suitable for people working with children and young people and is 100% online. Please note this isn’t a qualifying counselling course but an introduction to mental health or a tool to refresh your existing knowledge. For more information, please contact the team directly at mhc@Place2Be.org.uk.
The following courses are Level 2, 3, 5 and 6 courses are accredited by the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB):
- Introduction to Child Counselling Skills (Level 2 Award)
- Intermediate Child Counselling Skills (Level 3 Certificate)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Children in Schools
- Child Counselling Skills for Adult Counsellors (Level 5 Certificate).
Our Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Children in Schools course is awarded by the University of East London and accredited by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
Due to the different approaches, we do not consider the above fields of study equivalent to counselling. Without any prior counselling qualifications, you would need to start from the beginning of Place2Be’s training pathway to become a child counsellor. If your previous qualifications contained specific counselling modules, please refer to the entry requirements for each course.
We want our counselling training courses to be as accessible as possible. That’s why we provide bursary funding for four of our courses:
- Introduction to Child Counselling Skills (Level 2 Award)
- Intermediate Child Counselling Skills (Level 3 Certificate)
- Level 4 Diploma in School-Based Child Counselling
- Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Children in Schools.
To apply for a bursary, you have to meet certain criteria. You can find out more by reading our information about eligibility and the different bursaries we offer on our website.
We accept all applicants who meet the entry requirements for our courses. However, Place2Be is not involved in the visa application processes required for a right to work and/or study in the UK.
Place2Be's qualifying courses are aimed at counselling children and young people, primarily between ages 4 and 14. This is in line with our school service model.
While we focus on counselling children in schools using play and art therapy, our qualifying course, the Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Children in Schools, is taught at Level 7 throughout. This course is based on the core conditions of counselling, which apply to all age groups, from children to adults.
The BACP and CPCAB accredit Place2Be's qualifying courses, and once you are qualified, you will also be qualified to work with adults.
The Level 2, 3, 5 and 6 courses have several intakes per academic year, with applications open the term before. Our Postgraduate Diploma has one intake per academic year, autumn, with applications open in winter/early spring. We publish Taster Days on a monthly basis.
If Place2Be has to cancel training for any reason, we will endeavour to let you know as soon as possible and will outline the next steps and your options.
Place2Be’s qualifying course is the Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Children in Schools, taught at a Level 7 throughout. We encourage our Postgraduate Diploma graduates to apply for a clinical role in one of our schools. Graduates can also remain in placement with us or pursue their interests to complete further studies. Some of our alumni have set up their own private practice or gained employment in other institutional settings.
If you already hold an adult counselling qualification, you can:
- apply to be a Counsellor on Placement with us
- apply for the Child Counselling Skills for Adult Counsellors (Level 5 Certificate)
- apply for the Counselling Supervision Certificate (Level 6 Certificate).
Qualified counsellors can also apply for a clinical role in one of our schools.
The main difference between adult and child counselling courses is the content of the course itself. Child counselling courses are designed to help you understand and navigate the many developmental stages of childhood. Course content often includes teaching you how to work with dependents, such as parents, carers and other adults in children and young people's lives.
We want to ensure our counselling courses provide you with the best possible start to being a counsellor to children and young people. That's why we incorporate the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) children and Young People core competencies, which include:
- knowledge of development in children and young people and of family development and transitions
- ability to recognise and respond to concerns regarding child protection
- ability to engage and work with children, young people, parents and carers
- ability to communicate with children and young people of differing ages, developmental levels and backgrounds
- play in therapy
- ability to work within a school context
- ability to promote emotional health in schools.
