Why choose CPCAB qualifications?

CPCAB is a UK awarding body that is managed by professional counsellors, trainers and supervisors. Now in our 18th year of operation, we are the only awarding body in Europe to specialise in the field of counselling. We are one of the largest awarding bodies in this field, with about 130 Recognised training centres across the UK (we also have some centres in other countries) and around 11,000 candidates registered with us annually.

All CPCAB qualifications have been updated and revised in 2010 to reflect the most recent research findings on the effectiveness of counselling and to anticipate the proposed requirements of statutory regulation. CPCAB is contributing to this work via its representative on the Professional Liaison Group of the Health Professions Council.

Ofqual Recognised

We are recognised (approved) by the Office of the Qualifications & Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) to offer qualifications from level 1 to level 6 on the QCF. This recognition means that:

We have met a range of Ofqual criteria in relation to (for example) governance, expertise and quality assurance arrangements for developing and delivering qualifications.
We are subject to ongoing monitoring by Ofqual.
We can propose qualifications for accreditation into Ofqual's Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF).
Our higher level QCF qualifications offer pathways into Higher Education

Vocational Qualifications (VQs)

We offer a range of VQs in the field of counselling and human relations. These are:

Accredited by Ofqual into the NQF, which allows eligible courses to receive public funding.
Formally supported by Skills for Health.
Mapped to the relevant National Occupational Standards.

The award of these qualifications is linked to our external verification and external assessment service.

Our modular, nationally-available range of qualifications enables trainees to stay with one coherent system for the whole of their training. All of our qualifications are based on a user-friendly model of practitioner development and proficiency.

Support for Tutors, Trainees, Administrators and Line Managers

We offer a great deal of support to centres, including:

Tutor support DVDs with video clips and associated exercises.
Practice DVDs (and example papers) to help prepare candidates for external assessment.
Telephone help-line and email support for both professional and administrative issues.
A user-friendly centre-recognition process.
Professional verifiers (experienced counsellors and course tutors) who visit each centre.
Consultation and action planning during the first visit by the CPCAB external verifier.
Standardisation training for tutor-assessors.
Documentation, including: Tutor and Candidate Guides (for each qualification), external assessment guidance and other tutor and candidate support materials.
Centre consultancy on, for example, course design.
In-house training on specific topics.

Our downloads section of the website contains guides and proformas aimed at supporting centres and tutors in relation to CPCAB qualifications.

Working with Difference and Diversity

We place an especial emphasis on Working with Difference and Diversity (WDD) and have a long-term commitment towards helping to create a diverse (multi-cultural) and community-based profession – fostering an approach through which practitioners return, post-training, to work in the community in which they are based. In this vein we seek to extend tutor (and trainee) awareness of issues relating to WDD, such as those concerning cultural and class backgrounds, age, colour, gender, sexual orientation and disabilities.

All CPCAB qualifications include specific learning outcomes on working with difference and diversity. CPCAB has become one of Europe’s leading awarding bodies for the training of Black and Asian counsellors.

CPCAB is the only awarding body run by counsellors for counsellors
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