You can start the course at any time: today, tomorrow or next month. Whenever is best for you

You can study at home, or wherever you want. The course does not involve you being in a classroom or going to a test centre

Many students complete the course in five months. But you can do it as quickly or slowly as you want. That's one advantage of distance learning.

You will have permanent access to the course. You will have a year to complete your Assignments and ICMA tests. 

You can find the cost of the course by clicking 'Fees and Registration' in the grey menu.

Yes. You can make five monthly payments. There is no extra charge. You can find the cost of paying by instalments by clicking 'Fees and Registration', and then 'Pay Monthly'.

The fees on our webpage include the full course content, including a diploma certificate upon completion. 

For an additional fee, you can obtain a second Certificate of achievement from QLS. Take a look at the 'Certification' tab for more details. 

Yes. Just let us know within 60 days of receiving it, and return it in good condition (if you have the printed edition), and we'll send you a full refund.

Yes, the course includes a final exam. The course also includes Interactive Computer Marked Assessments (ICMAs). This continuous assessment lets you check all the time that you're on course to succeed. These ICMAs and final exam consist of True/False, and Multiple Choice based questions.

You do the work again!  You can simply re-try the tests when you are ready. 

Yes, you can.

We advise working through the course in order, but this is not a requirement. 

So, if you want to tackle a particular topic, you can go straight to that module. This is useful if you have a job or a client that requires you to know about a particular subject. You might note that some other organisations supply only one or two modules at a time.

We send you the whole course when you enrol. This means you can study any topic you want to. You can also see what topics are coming up. Getting everything in one package makes it easier for you to get an overview of the course. As we mentioned above, some other organisations supply only one or two modules at a time.

We think this is the best course in the world. Bar none. But please examine other courses before making a decision. Consider these points:

1. Is the course comprehensive?

2. Is it interactive? That is, do the course materials regularly make you stop and think, and do exercises? Too many courses consist of page after page of boring lecture notes.

3. Does it teach you about setting up your own business? College courses are often weak on this point.

4. Can you get a refund if you don't like the course?

For our course, the answer to all these questions is 'Yes'. But check out other courses as well before enrolling. We want to you make the choice that's right for you.

No. But it will help you set up and run your own business. And we encourage all students to continue their studies after completing the course.

Yes. We can recommend brokers or insurance companies in the UK who will give you professional liability insurance.

Yes. The course is designed specifically to help you set up and run your own practice. Some courses, even at university, seem to omit this all-important aspect. We give you enough technical knowledge to practice, and we also provide detailed guidance on marketing, operation and finance to run your own business.

To get a job in a public or private organisation, you'll need more qualifications than we can offer. Our course is designed to help you work as self employed, with your own private clients. The easiest way to earn a living is to work for yourself. It's also the most lucrative. So in the course we focus on how you can work from home.

Yes, the course includes practical guidance on finding clients for your own private practice.

• The course is primarily for people who wish to set up a counselling practice.
• There aren’t many openings for salaried work in counselling. Some vacancies exist in the health service or schools but generally they want higher qualifications (PhDs etc) than we offer.
• However, some of our graduates have got experience in their own private practice and have then got work attached to doctor's surgeries.

• To get a job in a public organisation, you'll need more qualifications than we can offer. Our course is designed to help you work with private clients.
• Remember, the easiest way to earn a living is to work for yourself. So in the course we focus on how you can work from home as a counselor.

Most countries don't stop you setting up your own practice. However, for the USA, where there are more stringent regulations, we have written a separate page at www.inst.org/counselling-courses/faqs_USA for information about counselling in the USA. We always recommend students wanting to work outside of the UK seek legal advice in this location to be sure of whether any rules are in place, as this can vary from location to location.

At time of writing, it is legal to practise in Canada.

Canada is going down the route of 'reserved titles' such as 'Registered Counselling Therapist’, a move we support because it allows for a two tier profession, with the opportunity for people to start at the lower level and then get the higher qualifications.

See this site for more information:

www.ccpcpr.ca

Counselling in the UK and many other countries is an unregulated profession. You may think that is a good or a bad thing. But it means there are no rules and regulations that require you to have a specific qualification to practise. So there is no official recognition for counsellors.

However, practical hands-on experience is an important part of our training.

We advise students on how to gain practical experience, typically through informal channels and voluntary work. It’s a requirement of the course.

It’s a great way to gain experience and build confidence, while applying the skills you learn on the course.

In fact, compared with classroom courses, where you only get to practise with students like yourself, our mechanisms are more practical and more closely related to the real world.

Unlike many classroom based courses, ours teaches you all the skills you need to become a counsellor, such as setting up a practice.

Your assignments are based on your practical work, and on case studies, so you can apply your knowledge to a real life setting.

We understand that our course cannot suit everyone, and some students prefer a face to face course.

However our course is a great way to start out as a self-employed counsellor, especially for those who may not have the time and opportunity to study in a classroom on a fixed schedule.

It's worth noting that we have a 60-day money-back guarantee for the course, which gives our students a good amount of time to look through the course materials, contact their course advisor, and maybe even try an assignment to make sure our course is suited to them.

We want our students to be happy in their studies, and if within this time frame you feel the course or distance learning isn't suited to you, you can return the materials for a full refund.

There are many professional organisations that you could join, but these have specific guidance to become a member. Each organisation has different grades of membership, and you may need to contact them to find out if the qualification meets their requirements. Do your research to find out if they would be suitable for you!

Some of these bodies only accredit classroom based courses. If you want their accreditation (and remember that none are essential and none are official) you could get started by doing a distance learning course, and do a classroom based course later.

You may also decide to join ‘Counselling’, which is a membership organisation for counsellors. This is a registered charity and lets you use the initials CCC after your name. To find more information about the charity here: https://www.counselling.ltd.uk/public/pu_about.php

You could also join the International Institute for Complimentary Therapists; you can read more about this organisation here: https://www.myiict.com/our-story/

While many students believe that clients will expect to see accreditation on a business card, 95% of clients cannot distinguish between the different bodies.

Remember you will have a Diploma from the Blackford Centre and an Award from QLS to evidence your skills and learning.

USA - Our US counselling graduates can join the American Counseling Association as a Regular Member. They can join as a Full Member (Category B) of the Canadian Counselling Association.

To summarise: you don't have to join any of these organisations to practise. In most countries, including the UK, counselling is not a regulated profession. But they can help you network and keep up to date.

The legislation refers primarily to doctors - it follows on from the enquiries into Neale, Shipman, Ayling etc.

Secondly, it refers mainly to employment within the NHS, which is not somewhere our students tend to work.

Thirdly, there is almost no possibility that the government would legislate out of business those thousands of counsellors who provide the basis for most counselling sessions in the UK.

It is however possible that some title will be bestowed on those who conform to specific criteria, for example 'Accredited' or 'Licensed', which will be used to distinguish between the government and non government approved professionals.

This being the case, we have no doubt that you will be continuing to practise effectively over the coming decades.

And even if the government were, unlikely though it is, to regulate, there would inevitably be some grandparenting scheme that would allow you accreditation.

We will reimburse the student's fees in full if after gaining the Diploma, legislation prevents them from running a private practice.

You may not call yourself a 'Registered Counsellor' in South Africa. Currently you may call yourself a 'Counsellor', though this may change in future years if the word becomes a controlled title. You may call yourself a Therapist or a Therapy Counsellor, and you can legally practise using those titles.

Yes. We have students in 28 countries.

Yes. Please talk to us about how we can accommodate you. We're able to make suitable accommodations.

You don’t need any specific qualifications or experience. You just need the motivation to succeed.

• Don't worry. We understand. But this course is nothing like your memories of being stuck inside a stuffy classroom on a summer's day with an old-fashioned teacher droning on.
• For a start, this is a subject that interests you (or you wouldn't have got this far).
• And getting this deep into the website shows that you can absorb information and concentrate for long periods of time.
• Also, you'll see that we write clearly and simply. And that's how we've written the course materials. It's true that some organisations write long and boring pages that make your eyes glaze over. We promise you that our course is nothing like that. You'll find this course is informative and enjoyable. In fact, many students are almost upset at finishing the course.

When you start comparing us with other course providers you might notice that:

• Some organisations will only give you 7 days to return your course if it’s not right for you. If our course is not what you expected and you want a full refund we allow you 60 days to return it and claim your money back.
• Some organisations will charge you an administration fee to return the course. We refund all of your fees.
• Many of our courses include details on business, marketing and finance, or finding a job (as applicable). This is something other courses tend to miss out. 

Here are some answers we hope will reassure you.

We've been in operation since 1995; so we're very established.

We publish our physical address at the bottom of each page - and you are welcome to visit us.

We’re audited yearly by The Quality Licence Scheme. The Quality Licence Scheme is part of the Skills and Education Group, who are a national awarding organisation. (You can phone them to verify that).

You can read the Reviews of our students on the web site.

We publish an Ethical statement here

We're registered at Companies House: registration number 352 4886

Our VAT number is 729 1528 23

Our bank is NatWest, 7 High Street, Wells, Somerset (we have money in the bank and no loans or overdraft).

We're registered with the UK government's Register of Learning Providers (www.ukrlp.co.uk); Number 10009490.

And finally, we love what we do; and we wouldn't do anything to jeopardise it.