BA (Hons) Counselling and Therapeutic Practice
Top in the UK and top in Wales in Health Professions Guardian League Table 2022
The Counselling and Therapeutic Practice degree offers the learning and training you need to become a professional Pluralistic counsellor, working with an integrative model. You'll gain the knowledge, skills and experience to provide counselling across all age ranges, from children and young people to older adults. You will study a range of traditional 'talking therapies', as well as creative and contemporary approaches working both face-to-face and online with clients.
Work placements are an important part of this counselling degree and will fully prepare you for the start of your career. You will have placements in every year of the course, including 100 hours of supervised professional practice. This meets placement criteria for individual accreditation with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP).
The School of Psychology and Therapeutic Studies has dedicated Placement Officers and strong links with a wide range of local counselling agencies, employers and counselling services to provide you with the supervised practice hours required.
Top in Wales for student satisfaction in Counselling, Psychotherapy and Occupational Therapy (Complete University Guide 2023)
93% of our BA (Hons) Counselling and Therapeutic Practice students were satisfied with their course (NSS, 2021)
| UCAS Code | Study Mode
2023 |
Duration | Start Date | Campus | Campus Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB99 | Full-time | 3 Years | September | Newport City | C |
| UCAS Code | Study Mode
2024 |
Duration | Start Date | Campus | Campus Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BB99 | Full-time | 3 Years | September | Newport City | C |
Year One: Counselling and Therapeutic Practice Degree
- Introduction to Counselling (60 credits) - An introduction to professional skills, ethics and law in the counselling context and how these are used within the therapeutic relationship in a range of mainstream therapies. This module is also designed to stimulate your understanding of yourself and how you relate to others, and help you develop your reflective practice.
- Counselling Children and Young People 1 (20 credits) – An understanding of child and adolescent development, the formation of a young person’s identity, and developing a therapeutic relationship with children and young people.
- Academic Skills for Practice-Focused Learning (20 credits) – Developing your academic skills and understanding recent research findings to support your developing practice.
- Mental Health and Wellbeing (20 credits) – Understanding mental health and wellbeing from different perspectives. An introduction to common mental health difficulties and how to work with these.
Completion of all modules and module assessments in year 1 will give you an HE Certificate in Counselling Studies. This does not qualify you to practice.
Year Two Modules: Counselling and Therapeutic Practice Degree
- Integrative Practice 1 (60 credits) - Building on your learning from Year One, you will study professional practice skills such as writing case notes and using supervision, and apply your knowledge of ethics and law in the professional counselling context. You will continue to develop your reflective practice through personal development and provide evidence through an increasing portfolio. You will develop your use of a Pluralistic approach with an integrative model, which involves using different counselling approaches to meet the specific needs of your individual clients. You will develop a sound working knowledge of integrating a range of short term, change-orientated helping skills as well as a mix of face-to-face and online counselling.
- Counselling Children and Young People 2 (20 credits) – Expanding your understanding and skills in working therapeutically with children and young people.
- Online Counselling (20 credits) – An introduction to a rapidly developing area of practice in which you will be discovering the difference between counselling face-to-face and counselling online.
- Counselling Older Adults (20 credits) – Developing your knowledge of older adults and honing your skills to work with this client group.
Completion of all modules and module assessments in years 1 and 2 will give you an HE Diploma in Counselling Studies. This does not qualify you to practice.
Year Three: Counselling and Therapeutic Practice Degree
- Integrative Practice 2 (60 credits) - Enhancing your application of legal and ethical frameworks and professional practice to demonstrate your emerging competence in readiness for employment. Consolidating your model of therapeutic work, demonstrating your understanding and growing competence in working with complex client issues and exploring your areas of specific counselling interest.
- Counselling Children and Young People 3 (20 credits) – Critically reflecting on practice and research in counselling children and young people with complex mental health issues and how to work with other professionals and family members when supporting these clients.
- Working Creatively (20 credits) – Using creative ways of working therapeutically with clients across the lifespan.
- Evidence-Based Practice (20 credits) – You will develop an understanding of the underpinnings of evidence-based practice informing counselling, alongside the skills necessary to critically respond to research evidence and propose an approach to undertaking a small scale research project.
Completion of all modules and module assessments in years 1, 2 and 3 alongside 100 hours minimum of supervised clinical practice will give you the BA Hons in Counselling and Therapeutic Practice which qualifies you to practice.
Teaching
The counselling qualification will be delivered via a blend of skills practice: direct teaching (lectures, seminars and workshops); personal development activity, practice placements and directed study. As this is professional counselling training, you are required to attend all timetabled classes and other elements of the course.
Training as a counsellor involves taking part in varied activities to help your learning about yourself as a person, as well as learning practical skills and theory. Personal development takes place in all parts of the course, including personal development group work and reflective activity. You will also take part in regular small group skills practice where you take it in turns to be ‘client’, counsellor or observer. You will need to read widely, to do guided literature research and give informal reviews to your tutors and peers. There are practice placements in all three years of the course.
Students will typically have 12 contact hours across four days per week in term time. When a residential or special event is taking place, this may vary. In addition to the contact hours, you will complete independent study and placement hours. Placement based work generally equates to at least half a day a week over the academic year.
Assessment
Assessment methods are varied in format and will include written assessments; presentations; case studies; skills assessments; work placement and portfolio assessments. For successful completion of this degree you are required to pass all assessments on all modules.
Accreditations
The course will be submitted for accreditation by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) once it has completed one cycle of delivery. The University has three Counselling and Psychotherapy courses accredited by the BACP. See further details of all Counselling and Psychotherapy courses available at USW.
Placements
You will undertake placements in every year of the counselling course including 100 hours of supervised professional practice, which will fully prepare you for your future career. We strongly advise students to work in a range of placements across the 100 hours in order to experience working with different clients and different organisations as this will reflect their pluralistic training and enhance their employability.
USW has long-standing partnerships with public, private and voluntary sector organisations and you will have the opportunity to apply to any of these organisations as part of your placement experience. In addition, USW Therapy Centre is a service run by USW for people in the local area, which may provide an opportunity for placement experience on-campus. The USW school-based counselling service, NISBCS also provides placement opportunities for working with children and young people.
You will need to organise your own placements as part of your professional development. The Placement Officer will help identify and check possible placement providers and, along with subject tutors, will support you throughout your placement.
Field Trips
Year 1 studies may include an Induction trip to introduce themes relating to mental health. Away days are planned for all year groups as a chance to explore more experientially themes learned on the course.
Facilities
Facilities for students on our counselling courses in Newport include a suite of rooms for one-to-one skills practice. These are also used by our in-house counselling service, which can also offer work experience opportunities.
We have specialist resources for online counselling techniques, plus dedicated video recording facilities to support all your skills development in class, in private study time and for assessments. Students also have full access to library resources across all USW campuses.
Students have access to a range of extra-curricular learning opportunities such as on-campus CPD workshops and mental health training, they are encouraged to attend the Pluralistic Conference each spring.
Lecturers
All lead teaching staff are experienced practicing counsellors and psychotherapists, accredited and registered with the BACP or an equivalent professional body.
Anna Fox - (MA Counselling, PG Dip CBT, PG Dip Psychology, Cert Consultative Supervision) course lead and year 3 tutor. She is a qualified CBT therapist accredited by BACP with over 12 years' counselling experience. She works in private practice and in the Third sector as a counsellor and supervisor. Her expertise is working with children and adults with neuro-divergence.
Michael Kay - (PG dip Integrative Therapy) year 1 tutor and senior lecturer. He is a registered member of the BACP and his counselling practice is with Aneurin Bevan University Health Board (Primary Care), where he has been since 2005.
Dr. Andrew Dale - (PhD Counselling Psychology, PG dip Integrative Psychotherapy) year 2 tutor and lecturer. He works in private practice and has experience in workplace counselling, Third Sector and in the mental health services.
Emma Dalgleish - (PG dip Humanistic Counselling, PG dip Developmental & Therapeutic Play, Dip Consultative Supervision, Cert Psychosexual Therapy) lectures on the Children and Young People counselling modules. She has over 20 years counselling experience across a range of sectors and currently works in private practice.
We regularly revalidate courses for quality assurance and enhancement
At USW, we regularly review our courses in response to changing patterns of employment and skills demand to ensure we offer learning designed to reflect today’s student needs and tomorrow’s employer demands.
If during a review process course content is significantly changed, we’ll write to inform you and talk you through the changes for the coming year. But whatever the outcome, we aim to equip our students with the skillset and the mindset to succeed whatever tomorrow may bring. Your future, future-proofed.
The entry criteria below reflect our standard entry requirements for the course for September 2023. However, all applications received by the University are reviewed holistically and individually. Entry criteria for September 2024 is changing and will be published on ucas.com from 8th May 2023. Entry criteria for September 2024 will be updated on our website from the end of October 2023.
Contextual offers
We may make you a lower offer based on a range of factors, including your background (where you live and the school or college that you attended for example), your experiences and individual circumstances (as a care leaver, for example). This is referred to as a contextual offer and we receive data from UCAS to support us in making these decisions. USW prides itself on it’s a student experience and we support our students to achieve their goals and become a successful graduate. This approach helps us to support students who have the potential to succeed and who may have faced barriers that make it more difficult to access university. Here is a link to our Contextual Admissions Policy.
Other qualifications and experience
We can also consider combinations of qualifications and other qualifications not listed here may also be acceptable. We can sometimes consider credits achieved at other universities and your work/life experience through an assessment of prior learning. This may be for year one entry, or advanced entry to year two or three of a course where this is possible.
To find out which qualifications have tariff points, please refer to the UCAS tariff calculator.
If you need more help or information or would like to speak to our friendly admissions team, please contact us here
You may also apply if you feel you have a relevant career history and experience of working with young people. This will usually include Level 2 or 3 Certificate in Counselling Skills plus the required 150 hours direct experience of working with young people, or with adults with social, psychological or emotional difficulties.
Typical A-Level Offer
BCC - CDD to exclude General Studies (this is equivalent to 104-80 UCAS tariff points).
Typical Welsh BACC Offer
Pass the Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Diploma with Grade C/D in the Skills Challenge Certificate and BC - CD at A Level to exclude General Studies (this is equivalent to 104-80 UCAS tariff points).
Typical BTEC Offer
BTEC Extended Diploma Distinction Merit Merit - Merit Merit Pass (this is equivalent to 112-80 UCAS tariff points).
Typical Access to HE Offer
Pass the Access to HE Diploma with a minimum of 80 UCAS tariff points
Additional Requirements
An interview is required for this course. Those applying will be provided with further details if successful at the initial selection stage.
Additional Requirements:
- GCSEs: The University normally requires a minimum 5 GCSEs including Mathematics/Numeracy and English at Grade C or Grade 4 or above, or their equivalent, but consideration is given to individual circumstances.
- An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check on the Child & Adult Workforce and Child and Adult Barring Lists and subscription to the DBS Update Service. (Overseas equivalent required for non-uk applicants)
- Minimum 50 hours work experience* with children or with adults with physical, psychological, social or emotional needs is normally required. This can be, for example, full or part-time paid work in a care setting, or volunteering that involves face-to face support for children or adults. This work experience must normally be completed before you submit your application. If you are able, you must clearly explain how you meet this requirement in your personal statement and also provide a written reference that confirms you have completed these hours.
- Advanced entry to year 2 can be considered for applicants with a foundation degree in counselling. Evidence of the foundation degree with module list must be submitted with the application
International Entry Requirements
We also welcome international applications with equivalent qualifications. Please visit the country specific pages on our international website for exact details.
English Requirements
In general, international applicants will need to have achieved an overall IELTS grade of 6.0 with a minimum score of 5.5 in each component.
However, if you have previously studied through the medium of English IELTS might not be required, but please visit the country specific page on our international website for exact details. If your country is not featured please contact us.
Full-time fees are per year. Part-time fees are per 20 credits. Once enrolled, the fee will remain at the same rate throughout the duration of your study on this course.
August 2023 - July 2024 Fees
Full-time UK: £9000
Full-time International: £14400
August 2024 - July 2025 Fees
Full-time UK: TBC
Full-time International: TBC
Student Perks
At the University of South Wales, you’re investing in so much more than a degree. We strive to provide our students with the best possible experience, no matter what you chose to study. Whether it’s access to top of the range mac books and PCs, state-of-the-art facilities packed with industry-leading equipment and software, masterclasses and events led by industry experts, or a wide range of clubs and societies to meet likeminded people, better tomorrows start with extra perks.
Each course also has their own unique student benefits to prepare you for the real word, and details of these can be found on our course pages. From global field trips, integrated work experience and free course-related resources, to funded initiatives, projects working with real employers, and opportunities for extra qualifications and accreditations - at USW your future, is future-proofed.
Click here to learn more about student perks at USW.
Additional Costs
As a student of USW, you’ll have access to lots of free resources to support your study and learning, such as textbooks, publications, online journals, laptops, and plenty of remote-access resources. Whilst in most cases these resources are more than sufficient in supporting you with completing your course, additional costs, both obligatory and optional, may be required or requested for the likes of travel, memberships, experience days, stationery, printing, or equipment.
* Obligatory
| Item | Cost | |
|---|---|---|
| BACP Student membership * | £41 - £82 | Professional body student fees |
| DBS * | £55.42 | This fee includes £40 for the enhanced DBS certificate, the Post Office Administration fee and the online administration fee. |
| DBS Updating Service * | £13 | Whilst optional at present, we strongly recommend you sign up for this service, especially if you are likely to have placements each year and wish to pursue a career post University where a DBS check is a requirement. Please note you must register with the update service within 30 days of your enhanced DBS certificate being issued.
|
| Personal therapy | £30 - £50 | Cost varies - some agencies offer free or low cost counselling.
|
| Professional indemnity insurance * | Cost varies depending on individual circumstances. Required each year if not already covered. |
|
| Travel to placements * | Dependent on length and location of placement |
|
| Other: data collection | Cost varies |
|
| Clinical Supervision * | ||
| Laptop / tablet, with microphone * | Cost varies |
Funding
Funding to help pay for (or cover) course tuition fees and living costs
Whilst you’re studying, you’ll have two main financial obligations – tuition fees and living costs. There’s lots of financial help available from the University of South Wales and external funding sources, that may provide loans (which have to be paid back) and grants, scholarships and bursaries (that don't).
To learn about course fees, funding options, and to see if you are eligible for financial support, visit our Fees and Funding pages.
Applying to university shouldn’t be a daunting experience. We’ve pulled together a dedicated resource of advice and guidance to support you through the application process. From strengthening your application, gaining the necessary work experience, to tips on preparing for interview, there are several ways to improve your application, and the University is here to help you every step of the way.
>> Download our work experience guide
>> Download our personal statement guide
UK students
Apply via UCAS if you are a UK residing applicant, applying for year one of a full-time undergraduate degree, Foundation Year, Foundation Degree or HND and you have not applied through UCAS before. If you are applying to study part-time, to top up your Foundation Degree or HND, or to transfer to USW from another institution, please apply directly.
International and EU students
Apply directly to the University if you live outside the UK.
Students graduating from the BA Counselling and Therapeutic Practice course have the opportunity to access Postgraduate courses on offer at the university to further their studies.
The combination of a broad range of information relating to counselling across the lifespan and a range of placement opportunities means that students graduate with a wealth of knowledge and experience, which can be applied to a wide range of career opportunities as well as to counselling more specifically.
We encourage students to consider working in different fields which can utilise their knowledge and skills to improve access to mental health support more widely. These might include Schools Based Counsellors, Primary Mental Health workers, Mental Health Managers, Mental Health Trainers/advisors, Prison/Probationary service counsellors and working for an NGO.
Our Newport Campus is right at the heart of the city, overlooking the River Usk. This is one of the University's most iconic buildings.
It’s the community and friendships you’ll build that make this place special. Outside your studies you can experience our amazing sport facilities and Students’ Union.
Living in Halls is a great way to meet new people and make friends. We have high quality accommodation in Treforest, Cardiff and Newport.