Course details

Please see the Programme Specification for the courses aims and learning outcomes.

What is the course structure?

Our Postgraduate Diploma runs every Thursday, 10am-4pm during term time.

The course includes:

• 400 hours of contact time with tutors and 100 supervised clinical hours over the two years
• at least 30 hours a year of personal therapy
• two training weekends in Year 1 and in Year 2
• substantial reading and written work in your own time.

Topics covered

During our Postgraduate Diploma, you'll have a combination of academic and experiential learning, covering a range of topics, including:

• the use of play and creativity
• self-awareness
• child development and observation
• counselling skills using an integrative therapeutic approach
• person-centred, psychodynamic, systemic, transcultural work and attachment theories
• assessment, referral and multi-agency working.

Useful for those who want to:

• become a qualified and registered child counsellor
• learn how to work therapeutically with children and their families within a multi-agency setting
• receive training in child development, systemic thinking and integrative theory
• develop skills as a creative and reflective counselling practitioner
• apply for clinical roles at Place2Be.

Helpful documents

Download full course specification (PDF 198KB)
Meet our Postgraduate Diploma team

Entry requirements

To submit your application and meet the entry requirement for this course, you must have or completed the following:

1. A counselling certificate 

You must have, or are studying towards, at least one of the following:

• Place2Be's Intermediate Child Counselling Skills (Level 3 Certificate)
• a Level 3 Certificate in counselling completed face-to-face over 9-12 months with Place2Be or another accredited training provider*
• a Diploma in Counselling (Level 4 or above in England and Wales, or equivalent diploma at SCQF Level 9-11 in Scotland)
• a degree or master's in Counselling, Psychotherapy or Art Therapy.

*If you completed your Level 3 Certificate elsewhere, the course must have included:

• at least 10 hours of clinical skills practice
• 92 hours of theory-guided learning, with at least 65 of those hours being in-person training
• in-person delivery with no more than 30% delivered online
• evidence of self-awareness through a reflective journal or group process
• an overview of safe and ethical therapeutic practice.

2. A degree and/or professional qualifications 

You must have a degree or equivalent professional qualification. If you have not completed a degree, you can still apply, but you must submit a 1,500-word essay as part of your application. Your essay will be titled My Philosophy of Counselling. Your typed essay should include a minimum of three sources and a bibliography. 

3. Additional skills and experience

You must have: 

• completed at least six counselling or psychotherapy sessions (individuals, couples or group) to demonstrate your personal development and self-discovery journey
• significant experience working with or interacting with children and/or young people that demonstrate your ability to achieve the standards of the course.
• a willingness to be playful and creative 
• a commitment to be self-reflective and committed to self-development 
• spoken and written English to GCSE level. 

Please note that our course require assignments to be submitted online, there is an expectation that all students can use and are familiar with Microsoft office to type their assignments and submit them.

Desirable

We would like it if you also have the following:

• attended a Taster Day with Place2Be; while not mandatory it is highly recommended for those new to Place2Be and School-Based Child Counselling
• an interest in difference and anti-oppressive practices as shown through reading, listening and viewing for personal interest.

References

We need two references to support your application for the Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Children in Schools. We will ask you to give these during your application. One reference must be from a previous employer, and the other must be a clinical/tutor reference. Once you've applied you can send the reference request form to your referees.

Get started with our Level 2 Award and Level 3 Certificate

If you haven't already completed a Level 2 Award or Level 3 Certificate counselling course, the following Place2Be, you can start your training with Place2Be. Our Level 2 and Level 3 courses are delivered in London and Manchester . You can apply for our Level 4 Diploma in School-Based Child Counselling while completing our Level 3 course if your level 3 cohort is completed before 31st March 2025 We will check your certificate before the beginning of the Level 4 Diploma.

Find out more about how you can become a child counsellor with Place2Be.

Fees and funding options

The fee for the Postgraduate Diploma 2025/27 intake is £13,240 (£6,620 per year).

Payment options

If offered a place on the course, we'll ask you to make a first payment to confirm your place. Each payment option below includes a non-refundable deposit of £662 as part of your first instalment. Each payment option includes a non-refundable deposit as part of your first instalment.

Payment will be required only if offered a place to study.

Option A - Two payments of £6,620 one year apart (full course fee).

Option B - Six payments of £2,207 every four months (termly).

Option C - 20 payments of £662 (monthly).

Financial support through Place2Be's bursary scheme

We want our Postgraduate Diploma to be as accessible as possible, so we're offering bursary support packages for eligible students. You can apply for a bursary when completing the Postgraduate Diploma course application form. Bursary applicants must meet all of the course eligibility requirements, plus the bursary eligibility requirements. If you struggle to fund this level of training, you can apply for a financial support package.

To find out more, look at our information about:

• our bursaries, including information about eligibility
• applying for your bursary, including a helpful guide about everything we ask about on the application.

We offer three options for our Postgraduate Diploma bursary, which give you different levels of financial support:

1. a partial tuition fee bursary
2. a full tuition fee bursary (you’ll have to pay £200 to secure your place on the course)
3. a hardship support fund, which you can use to cover costs of personal therapy, travel and learning materials.

Application process and questions

Applications for our September 2025 cohort are now open.

Application questions

You will be asked to answer the following questions as part of your application. We advise preparing your answers before starting to submit your application. Each questions has a 1,500 character limit (this is between 215 and 375 words with spaces included).

• Question 1: Why do you want to undertake this training and what do you hope to gain from the course? 
• Question 2: Why do you feel that now is the right time to begin? 
• Question 3: What skills and knowledge do you have that you have already used when looking after or working with children? 
• Question 4: In what way does your own experience of childhood influence the way that you interact with children? 
• Question 5: Outline your developing understanding of the nature of oppression and bias, and how this understanding has influenced your work with children and young people who are different to you? 
• Question 6:  Describe some activities that you engage in which promote personal development and self-awareness and outline how this benefits you 

Application process

1. Submitting your application

Once applications open, your first step is to submit your application form, which we will post a link to on this page. We will assess application forms on a rolling basis. Applications will close once all the available places have been filled, so make sure you apply as early as possible, so you don't miss out.

2. Attend your interview(s)

If you have completed Place2Be’s Level 3 Certificate and are shortlisted after submitting your application, you will be invited for an online one-to-one interview between January and February 2025.

If you have completed an external accredited Level 3 programme, you will be invited to an in-person group interview, followed by a one-to-one interview. Both will take place in early 2025.

3. Bursary eligibility (if applicable)

If you have also applied for a bursary, you'll be required to complete further checks on your bursary eligibility through our third-party administrator. This will take place in early 2025 by a separate organisation that will perform assessments on our behalf to inform our bursary award decisions, including the amount of living support you may receive.

4. You'll be offered a place

If you secure a place on our Postgraduate Diploma, we'll let you know in April or May 2025.

More information

For more information, please read our counselling training FAQs or get in touch through our enquiries form. You can also call us on 0207 923 5558.

You can also register your interest in our Postgraduate Diploma course to receive updates on the when application close and any future intakes.

Accreditation

Our Postgraduate Diploma in Counselling Children in Schools is:

• accredited by the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP)
• awarded by the University of East London (UEL).
  
  

Have questions, or not sure which qualifying course to apply for?

If you'd like to know more on each qualification, we advise you to sign up to our information evening on Thursday 5 December from 6pm-7pm.

For more information, please read our counselling training FAQs or get in touch through our enquiries form. You can also call us on 0207 923 5558.

Not quite ready to apply?

If you're not quite ready to apply, make sure you register your interest in our course to receive information about any future intakes!