Our next intake will be in January 2025. Sign up to register your interest page to hear when applications for our Level 4 Diploma open.

We are working on expanding the programme in a financially sustainable way around the UK to reach as many communities as possible. If we are not yet in your area, do take a look at our alternative counselling routes which might be operating near you:

• Taster day
• Level 2 Award in Counselling Skills for Working with Children (Access)
• Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Skills for Working with Children (Foundation).

The all-day training will run from 9am to 5pm.

Once you complete your course, we hope that you will choose to apply for a Place2Be role at the end of your course, such as a Mental Health Practitioner in one of our schools. These are not guaranteed, however.

We are working with schools to find the most supportive placements for students on the Level 4 Diploma. All schools will be based in:

• Greater London
• between Manchester and York.

We will offer you options for your placement school, but you might be expected to travel for up to 90 minutes using public transport to your placement if needed.

Our PGDip and the Level 4 Qualification are similar in that they both:

• qualify you to become a counsellor
• include placements in Place2Be schools. 

The main things that make these two qualifications different are:

• our PGDip qualification takes place over two years, and the awarding body is the University of East London
• our Level 4 Qualification takes place over 12 months, and the awarding body is the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB).

Level 4 also focuses more on the operational management of a whole-school service and learning Mental Health Practitioner responsibilities.

Please read through all the information about the training provider and the courses you are interested in before applying. 

Some things you might want to consider when deciding which qualification is right for you might include:

• time commitments
• if you wish to study part-time or full-time
• your budget and what payment options are available
• what qualification you will get at the end of the course.

Place2Be works in primary, secondary, high and all-through schools. Our Level 4 Diploma in School-Based Child Counselling focuses on finding placements for our students in primary schools. We have made this decision because primary schools have a placement model that appropriately complements our Level 4 Diploma.

Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee our self-funded discount will be available for future applicants. However, we will try our best to make sure it is.

Yes. Our students will not have school or training on bank holiday dates.

The August dates are an intensive version of our Level 3 programme - introduction to counselling skills with children. Therefore, you do not have to have completed Level 2 and Level 3 before this course, but we do recommend it.

Yes. Our Level 4 Diploma in School-Based Child Counselling is accredited as of September 2023.

Once we have completed our first academic run of this programme, which will be from August 2023 to August 2024, we will apply for BACP accreditation. 

Our Level 4 Diploma meets all BACP ethical standards and guidelines. Once you complete the course, you can apply for BACP membership.

We have been working closely with the BACP and following their guidance to ensure they will support us in the future.

As an organisation, we have a reasonable adjustments policy, where we will try our best to make adjustments that suit you given enough notice. Please note in your application if you think you will need any reasonable adjustments.

Yes, that should be fine as long as you're in a primary school. We need to confirm that your School Project Manager (SPM) can support your learning throughout the programme. We encourage your SPM to contact our team via their Area Manager to discuss what this will involve.

You can download our Level 4 Diploma Programme Specification, which provides an overview of the types of assessment you will need to complete. Our programme specification can also be downloaded on the Level 4 Diploma webpage.

You will be in one or two schools over the three days.

You can do top-up training to expand your work to include children. We have a Level 5 Certificate in Working Therapeutically with Children and Young People in Schools for qualified adult counsellors looking to work with children.

Yes. Once completing the course, you will be qualified to work in private practice and child counsellor roles with Place2Be or other organisations.

We 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 Level 5 at all three training venues and our Level 2 Award and Level 3 Certificate in London and Manchester. Our Postgraduate Diploma and 6 Certificate are offered 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 Level 2 Award if you have no prior counselling experience
• our Level 3 Certificate if you have a Level 2 Award in counselling (with Place2Be or elsewhere) and meet the entry requirements
• our Postgraduate Diploma 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 Level 5 or Level 6 Certificate, you do not need to attend a Taster Day. Instead, we will require you to attend a webinar to meet eligibility. 

You can apply for our Postgraduate Diploma or Level 5 Certificate if you are a qualified or qualifying adult counsellor. Both courses include or have a pre-requisite of 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 Level 6 Supervision Certificate.

We do not accept online courses - unless your training provider moved face-to-face training online due to COVID-19 restrictions. Place2Be’s training is highly experiential and requires a certain number of guided learning hours set by our accrediting bodies, CPCAB and BACP. 

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.   

Our Level 2, 3, 5 and 6 courses are accredited by the Counselling and Psychotherapy Central Awarding Body (CPCAB). 

Our Postgraduate Diploma 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 and child counsellor. If your previous qualifications contained specific modules in counselling, please refer to the entry requirements for each course.

We currently offer bursaries for our Level 4 Diploma. Unfortunately, we do not offer student loans or funding for our other courses at this time. Any changes to this will be updated on our website. The course fee for the Taster Day is the only one paid in full. You can pay for all our other training courses in instalments to help spread out costs. 

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 service model in schools.

While we focus on counselling children in schools using play and art therapy, our qualifying course, the Postgraduate Diploma course, is taught at Level 7 throughout. This course has its basis in 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 qualified, you would 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 Level 5 Certificate in Working Therapeutically with Children and Young People in School
• apply for the Level 6 Certificate in Therapeutic Counselling Supervision.

Qualified counsellors can also apply for a clinical role in one of our schools.