We’re pleased to announce that our new accreditation routes will open on Wednesday 11 February 2026, following the end of the SCoPEd transition period in January.

The new accreditation routes will enable members to move membership categories where that have the skills, knowledge and training to do so. They’ll also recognise the wide variety of training pathways by which our members enter the profession and continue to develop post-qualification. Ensuring accessibility and widening opportunities sit at the core of these routes, which are designed to enable more members to demonstrate their SCoPEd competence and continue their career progression.

From February, 13 new accreditation routes will be available, eight of which will enable eligible registered members to apply for individual accreditation or senior accreditation. There will also be four routes for accredited members to apply for senior accreditation and a temporary route for previous senior accredited members to align with our revised senior accredited membership category.

Visit our SCoPEd integration page to see the new accreditation routes opening on Wednesday 11 February 2026.

SCoPEd transition period ends

The SCoPEd transition period ends on Friday 30 January 2026. If you’ve already started an accreditation application using the transition period routes, you’ll need to submit this by 12.00pm on Friday 30 January 2026.

From February our membership categories and those of the Partnership of Counselling and Psychotherapy Bodies (PCPB) partners will be fully aligned to the columns of the SCoPEd framework.

For BACP, this means that our:

  • registered membership category will be aligned to column A
  • accredited membership category will be aligned to column B
  • senior accredited membership (for those who’ve successfully applied for the revised membership category from February 2024) will be aligned to column C.

BACP Director of Professional Standards, Policy and Research Dr Lisa Morrison, said: ‘It’s been quite a journey to get this far. February’s launch of 13 new accreditation routes for BACP members is no mean feat. Yet, it’s really just the starting point for a whole set of conversations to create new opportunities for BACP members and the wider counselling and psychotherapy profession. This is an exciting time for the evolution of the profession and I’d like to thank staff for their dedication and hard work, members for their patience and understanding and our partners for their determination and commitment to working together. Without all of that, we wouldn’t be where we are today.’