Counselling FdA

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Develop your career by combining this part-time counselling course with practical placements or paid work. Earn an academic qualification that also delivers practical skills and the option to top-up to a full honours degree.

Contact the partner college

Overview

This Foundation Degree is run at our North-East based partner colleges. You can then 'top-up' to a BA (Hons) Counselling at the University of Sunderland.

The course has a strong practical focus and our teaching will help you reflect on your workplace experiences.

When you successfully complete this course you will be awarded a Foundation Degree in Counselling that is accredited by the University of Sunderland.

Please contact the relevant partner college to apply for this course.

Why us?

The course ties into the growing demand for counsellors to work in the health sector, voluntary and community sector and in private practice
93.4% of our graduates are in employment, further study or training within six months of graduating, according to DLHE 2016/17 (based on full-time, first degree, home leavers)

Opportunity to ‘top up’ this course to a full BA (Hons) degree with an extra year of study

Course structure

During your first year, you will be required to undertake some form of voluntary work so that you can practise the skills that you are learning on the course.

In the second year, you will undertake a placement with a counselling agency, and we will support you as you arrange it.

This is a highly practical course, which combines academic study and work-based learning. The elements of the course which are taught in the college include lectures, discussions, case studies and workshops.

Your progress will be assessed with evaluations of work experience, reports and presentations. Throughout the course you'll have one-to-one support from academic staff.

Year 1 (Higher Education Certificate Level 1) (national level 4):

Personal Development (20 credits)
Counselling Skills Practice and Development (20 credits)
Professional Issues (20 credits)
Core Model of Counselling (varies depending upon the college: humanistic / cognitive behavioural / person-centred and cognitive behavioural) (30 credits)
Comparative Models of Counselling (30 credits)

Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.

Final year (Foundation Degree) (national level 5):

Personal Development 2 (20 credits)
Supervised Counselling Practice (40 credits)
Counselling Research (20 credits)
Contemporary Issues in Counselling (40 credits)

Facilities

This course is taught at our partner colleges:

Bishop Auckland College
Sunderland College
Tyne Metropolitan College – part of Tyne Coast College
East Durham College

Entry requirements

The typical entry requirement is a Level 3 Certificate in Counselling.

Students would normally be in voluntary or paid work as a Counsellor or undertaking (or about to undertake) paid or voluntary work in a setting which will allow you to practice counselling skills.

We also require three passes at GCSE grade C or above, which must include Mathematics and English Language, or a minimum of Level 2 Key Skills in Communication and Application of Number. If you have studied for a GCSE which has a numerical grade then you will need to achieve a grade 4 or above.

You may be required to attend an interview. Please contact the chosen college for more information.

Sunderland College
Jo-Ann Ridley
Tel: 0191 511 6000 ext 03761
Email: jo-ann.ridley@sunderlandcollege.ac.uk

Tyne Metropolitan College
Carmel Slawski or Rob McGinley
Tel: 0191 229 5239
Email: carmel.slawski@tynemet.ac.uk

Bishop Auckland College
Lindsey Moses
Tel: 01388 443 000
Email: lindsey.moses@bacoll.ac.uk

East Durham College
Paula Crosby
Tel: 0191 518 2000
Email: paula.crosby@eastdurham.ac.uk

If English is not your first language, please see our English language requirements.

Fees and finance

Tuition fees for part-time students are £5,500 per 120 credits.

There is a course requirement stipulating that all students need to acquire student membership of the BACP at own cost prior to beginning counselling practice in a placement.

Prospective students are advised to consult the BACP for the latest information on student membership which currently stands at £76.

Possible additional costs:

In the second year of the course, students must undertake a placement with a counselling agency. If the counselling placement provider cannot supply an appropriate supervisor, it is the responsibility of the student to identify a suitable supervisor and also pay for any fees charged for this service.

Please note that this course is not available to international students.

If you need support or have any queries about applying for your finances for this partner college programme, or want to get in touch with our Partnership Liaison team, you can find out more in our Help and Advice article.

If you are not sure whether you qualify as a UK, EU or international student, find out more in our Help and Advice article.

Take a look at the Your Finances section to find out about the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.

Use our scholarships calculator to see what you may be entitled to.

Scholarships calculator

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This information was correct at the time of publication.

Student in the Sunderland Futures department

Employment

A Foundation Degree equips you to move into a broad range of careers or to pursue an honours degree with one more year of study.

Further study

There is a natural progression from this Foundation Degree to the Counselling (Top-Up) course at the University of Sunderland for a full BA (Hons) Counselling.

Career options

There is a growing demand for counsellors to work in the health sector, voluntary and community sector and in private practice. This is because of better awareness of the benefits of talking therapies by policymakers, health professionals and the general public.

Counselling careers include educational counselling (where you help deal with difficulties in learning and social adjustment), forensic counselling (where you become an expert in psychological issues associated with criminal behaviours), and clinical counselling (where you deal with mental and physical health problems).

In addition, skills in counselling are useful in many different careers including personnel, social work, public services, marketing and advertising.

Meet the team

Related courses

BA (Hons) Counselling (Top-Up)

Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:

0191 515 3000

student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

View Programme Specifications for the Faculty of Health Sciences and Wellbeing.

Page last updated: 19 February 2019

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