How do I renew my membership?
All membership subscriptions run for 12 months. We’ll send you a renewal notice by post about six weeks before your renewal date and email reminders just before your expiry date.
To renew your membership, log in to the website and go to My account. Here you can accept the terms and conditions of your membership category, let us know any changes to your personal details and pay your membership fees.
Once you’ve been an individual member for 24 months, you won't be able to renew your membership unless you've joined the BACP Register. If you need to take the Certificate of Proficiency, you must sit it within this time or there may be a fee.
If you don’t manage to renew within your renewal period, your membership (and any accreditations or additional subscriptions) will expire at midnight on your renewal date.
You can still go online and renew for up to 31 days from your renewal date.
How do I reinstate an expired or lapsed membership?
If your membership expired more than 31 days ago, but it's less than three years since your last renewal, you can reinstate your membership online. If you were an accredited member, then your previous accredited status will be automatically reinstated alongside your membership*
*If you were previously a senior accredited member, reinstatement will not be made in the original membership category, unless the senior status was gained using the temporary SCoPEd mechanisms for the revised membership category. Reinstatement in this membership category cannot yet be completed online.
To reinstate your membership please log in to this website, go to My account and click on the Reinstate link. Here you can accept the membership terms and conditions, add any additional subscriptions you want to your basket and pay your membership fees. Your membership will start from the date we process your request.
If you're not sure of your log in details, please contact us so you don't create a duplicate record.
If your membership expired more than three years ago, you’ll need to complete a new application to membership. Contact us to update your details and find out how to apply.
How do I change my membership category?
Changing category and your membership fees
We don't change membership category fees mid-term. So if you change your membership category part way through your membership year - for example upgrade from student to individual member, or transfer to retired member - the new fees will only be applied at your next renewal date.
Upgrading from Student member to Individual member
Once you've successfully achieved your qualification it's easy to upgrade - you don’t need to fill out a new application.
You can either:
- log in to My account and upload a copy of your qualification certificate. This lets us know we need to check your information and approve your upgrade request.
or - email a copy of your qualification certificate to membership@bacp.co.uk
If your certificate is not available yet, we'll accept a letter on headed paper from your place of study, signed by your course tutor or administrator which confirms that you have successfully completed all elements of your course (including placement hours) and have been awarded your qualification. This should include the award date.
Please use our example upgrade to qualified BACP individual membership template letter (pdf) to check your letter has all the information we need.
If you've completed a BACP Accredited course, you must provide evidence of this when you upgrade. Accredited courses must provide their graduates with either an award certificate including the words 'BACP Accredited Training Course' or a letter confirming they've 'successfully completed a BACP Accredited Training Course’.
If you can't provide this evidence, we'll be unable to confirm that you completed a BACP Accredited course and will ask you to complete the BACP Certificate of Proficiency before you can become a registered member.
Please give us 10 to 14 working days to process your upgrade request - we'll always try to process it quicker if we can. We'll email you when your upgrade has been completed so check your email inbox or junk folder.
Upgrading from Individual member to Registered member MBACP
Once you are an individual member, you have up to 24 months to join the BACP Register.
To do this you need to have:
- successfully completed and graduated from a BACP accredited course
or - successfully passed our Certificate of Proficiency online assessment
We'll tell you what your route to the Register is when we approve your individual membership application, and we'll send regular emails advising you of your next steps.
Changing from Registered member MBACP to Registered Accredited or Registered Senior Accredited member MBACP
Accreditation is a voluntary step, so we don't expect all members to complete it.
Accreditation is a quality standard for practitioners who wish to showcase their skills and experience. It is awarded through an in-depth application and assessment process.
Transferring to Retired member
Retired membership is for those who have not practised within the last three years and are not intending to practise for at least the next 12 months as a minimum. You can also use it if you're taking a long career break from the counselling profession.
To help you decide if this is the right category for you, you can check the definition of ‘practice’ and ‘practitioner’ in the Ethical Framework glossary as the terms can include activities such as teaching, research, coaching or using counselling skills in another role.
If you feel this is the correct category for you, just complete the form on the Retired members page and we'll transfer your membership for you.