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Entry Year

29/09/2025

Location

Titanic Quarter

Duration

1 Year (Part-Time)

Course Code

P00320-AA
Overview
Level 3Counselling Studies Certificate
Titanic Quarter
Part-Time
Further Education
Start Date: 29/09/2025
End Date: 21/06/2026

Qualifications

CPCAB Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies (RQF) (600/5104/8)
Day of week: Tuesday
Times: 17:30 - 20:30

Overview

This qualification is intended for candidates who have already acquired a recognised qualification in counselling skills and want to, take the next step in training to become a counsellor, learn more about counselling theory, ethics and mental health, and be prepared for work as a professional counsellor in an agency setting.
This qualification does not lead to employment. It is designed as a pre-practitioner training for professional counselling qualifications, but it could also lead to employment in a related field.

Course Overview:

  • Prepare to work within an ethical framework for counselling
  • Understand the counselling relationship
  • Understand difference and diversity issues to develop empathic understanding
  • Work within a user-centred approach to counselling
  • Use counselling theory to develop self-awareness in counselling practice
  • Understand theories of counselling and mental health
  • Use feedback, reflection and supervision to support counselling studies
Advice
Pre-Entry Advice

Download the Pre-Entry Advice presentation.  Play Slideshow in the presentation to activate any links or videos

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Requirements

You will be required to have a conversation with a member of the course team prior to enrolment to ensure eligibility.

You must have undertaken counselling skills training, e.g. CPCAB Level 2 Certificate in Counselling or related prior recognised learning.

You must have a level of spoken and written English that allows you to complete the assessment requirements of the course, such as a GCSE or Essentials skills qualification.

Overview

The main topics are: 

  • Use counselling skills ethically and safely
  • Establish and sustain the boundaries of the helping role
  • Work empathically as a helper
  • Focus on the helpee’s needs and concerns
  • Use self- awareness in helping work
  • Use a range of counselling skills to facilitate the helping interaction
  • Use feedback and reflection to enhance counselling skills

To apply for the Level 3 Certificate in Counselling Studies you must be aged 19 or over.

In addition, due to the nature of this course it is not suitable for those who are currently in a state of severe emotional difficulty or psychological confusion.

The following are identified by CPCAB as criteria considered important for selecting candidates:

  • Ability to translate intra-personal experience into language
  • Able to benefit from self-development
  • Emotional stability
  • Evidence personal insight
  • Ability to form a counselling relationship
  • Awareness of difference and diversity
  • Able to cope with course content
  • Identify reasons for training beyond just personal development
  • Be motivated towards developing as a counselling practitioner

Attendance:

30 weeks, part-time, three hours per week.

Fees

Fees:
Academic period 2025:
FE Tuition Fee = £230.00 (Concessionary = £138.00)
Examination / Registration Fee = £189.00

Fees are payable annually.

Assessment

To achieve the qualification, candidates must:

  • be internally assessed (through weekly course work and observation of skills) as Proficient in all 7 learning units.
  • present a range of evidence types, through portfolio development, skills observation and learning records.

Show competency in skills observations.

Careers
Made for More

Careers

Employment / Further Study  
 
This qualification leads to employment and increases employability for those whose role is to support others in sectors such as health and social care work, teaching and learning, advocacy and mediation, support and project work, and other helping roles. It provides additional skills for those already in employment and is likely to lead to increased opportunities for promotion and advancement towards practitioner-level qualifications (TC-L4).

 

This course won’t teach you how to be a counsellor but may help you decide whether or not to continue with counselling training and will help you to prepare for CPCAB Level 4.

 

On completion, progression to the CPCAB Level 4 diploma in Therapeutic Counselling is possible, following which registration as a counsellor is possible.   

Further information about the Certificate may be found on the CPCAB website. 

Useful documents - CPCAB

Careers
Got a Question

Contact us

Department Secretary, tel: 028 9026 5415 or email: hcslinfo@belfastmet.ac.uk