Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy BA (Hons) (Top Up)

Our BA Counselling Top Up programme is for students who have studied FdA Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University Centre at Blackburn College who now wish to Top Up their foundation degree to Honours level by studying for an additional year, full-time.

This is a one year, full-time top up programme, and is set to be validated by Lancaster University. It has been specifically designed to offer a progression route to students from FdA Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy from the University Centre at Blackburn College who hold a pass or higher.

The programme has been designed to build upon the subjects already learnt within the foundation degree but also to deepen understanding of the subject with a focus on graduate employability and higher level graduate roles. 

Successful completion of the honours degree programme will enable you to work at greater emotional depth, with groups as well as individuals and with children and young people. 

Guest speakers, workshops and small conferences are a feature of the programme. An exciting range of employer talks and conferences take place.

You will study five mandatory modules.

The course includes a module on group dynamics and group work – enabling you to work therapeutically with groups as well as individuals. The module on working with children and young people we expect to be particularly popular as it will deepen your understanding of developmental trauma and the more creative elements of counselling – such as art and play therapy.

All students will complete a dissertation which will allow you to specialise in an area of your choosing and build your research skills and ensuring you become a research-informed practitioner.

As part of the BA (Hons) programme you will need to continue in your placement and accrue, for the purposes of this programme, at least another at 50 hours of supervised counselling practice. This will help you achieve accreditation with the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) in the future.

Level 6 Modules (all modules are mandatory):

• Dissertation
• Contemporary Issues in Professional Practice
• Group Dynamics 
• Counselling Children and Young People
• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

During the programme you will find that there are some additional costs. These include:

• Student Membership of the British Association for Counselling & Psychotherapy (BACP) - £82
• Professional Indemnity Insurance – costs range between £45 and £150
• Monthly clinical supervision costs – between £20 - £60 per month.

Work Placement

During the course you are required to spend at least 240 hours working in a relevant role in order to improve your knowledge and practice of the subject. This may be through paid employment or via a voluntary work placement in a relevant role. Your work placement is expected to have a focus on applying the knowledge from your degree programme in an employment context.

Please note: work placements are subject to availability. You are also responsible for any costs in travelling to and from your work placements, for any accommodation costs and in some instances the cost of acquiring a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) report.

In order to join this BA (Hons) Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy (Top Up) programme you will need to have successfully completed at a Pass grade or above, the FdA Integrative Counselling and Psychotherapy at the University Centre at Blackburn College.

Care Leavers or Young Carers

We want students from all backgrounds to have the opportunity to go to University. If you have spent three months or more in local authority care OR are a young carer, you will be eligible for a contextual offer. This is a grade reduction of 1-A Level grade below our standard entry requirements. For example, a standard offer of CCC, would become CCD. MMM at Level 3 Extended Diploma would become MMP. To apply we advise that you tick the box on your UCAS application which identifies you have spent time in care and to help identify you as eligible for our contextual offer.

Throughout the course a full range of assessment techniques will be used. You could be assessed by examinations, including open-book examinations, practical assessments, assignments, briefs, essays, presentations (including group presentations), reports and portfolio building. 

Each module is formally assessed through, for example, examination, open-book test, individual and group presentation, essay, observation of practice, assessment of course work e.g. art portfolio, written report, reflective practice and portfolios of evidence.  This formal assessment will count towards your module mark and feedback is usually given within 3 weeks following the submission of your formal submission of work.

Additionally, some lecturers will provide informal feedback, for example, following an examination they may choose to work through the exam paper in a tutorial. It should be noted that feedback is part of the ongoing learning cycle which is not limited to written feedback. Other forms of feedback include one-to-one meetings with a personal tutor, dissertation and project supervision meetings, a lecturer responding to learner questions or responses during topic or situation discussions. 

Feedback is intended to help you learn and you are encouraged to discuss it with your module tutor.

You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course.  The team could include senior academics, professional practitioners with industry experience, demonstrators and technical officers.  You can learn more about our staff by visiting our staff profiles.

Timetables

We endeavour to make timetables available one month before you start your course.  Please note that while we make every effort to ensure that timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled teaching can take place on any day of the week.  Part-time classes are normally scheduled on one or two days per week. 

Overall Workload

You overall workload consists of class contact hours, around 15 hours of independent learning and assessment activity and any field trips which may take place.

Academic Support

We have a dedicated Student Engagement Team who will be able to provide support in the following areas;

• Study Skills (including reading, note-taking and presentation skills)
• Written English
• Academic Writing (including referencing)
• Research Skills

Upon completion of the course, graduates have gone on to work in a range of counselling roles within the statutory, voluntary and private sector. You will be equipped to work as counselling coordinators and managers, mental health workers, as counsellors within the NHS and in schools, within the drug and alcohol fields, the criminal justice system and in private practice.

Past students who have completed the course have progressed into roles including: Counselling Coordinator at Lancashire Women's Centre, Counsellor at Child Action North West, Private Counselling Practice, Outreach Drugs Worker for a local authority and a mental health specialist for the Police.