The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) has released a subject benchmark statement on standards for counselling and psychotherapy degrees.

BACP Chief Executive, Laurie Clarke, said:

"These long-awaited guidelines provide an invaluable set of benchmarks to assist higher education establishments in providing courses in counselling and psychotherapy which give the best possible grounding to students and encourage them to become professional and well-informed practitioners."

As BACP gets closer to our aim of becoming the first organisation in our field to gain accreditation of our voluntary register by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, the release of this statement by the QAA provides further support and guidance to our future members and their educators."

BACP Senior Accredited Member, Director of the Institute of Lifelong Learning at the University of Leicester and Chair of the expert group that developed the guidance with QAA, Professor Sue Wheeler, commented:

"I am proud of our achievement in completing these benchmarks as a result of collaboration and ultimate agreement between all the major professional bodies representing counsellors and psychotherapists. The benchmarks will set agreed standards that we have never had before. I am grateful to everyone who participated in this process that has taken several years but that has resulted in a valuable product that will guide course development for years to come"

The subject benchmark statement can be downloaded here: http://tinyurl.com/bjj22qs