Course Assessments and Requirements
There are several ways in which you are assessed throughout the course, and you will find full details of each of these in your handbook, including when and how to submit written assignments. Some of these assessments will be formative (designed to give you feedback on your performance and how it can be improved) and others, summative (designed to measure the extent to which you have achieved the learning outcomes of the module). In your handbook, you will find an assessment grid for each year of study which outlines which assessments are formative and which summative. While all assessments must be passed, summative assessments will be awarded an overall grade.
When assessing your work, we use a marking sheet that is based on both a 20-Point Scale and the QAA Level descriptors that are prescribed for your level of study. A copy of the marking sheet can be found in the useful forms section on Moodle.
In addition to the course assessments, there are a number of requirements that you must fulfil. These are:
Personal counselling or psychotherapy - A requirement of the course is that you will remain in weekly personal psychotherapy (if on a psychotherapy course) or counselling or psychotherapy (if on a counselling course) throughout the entire training, and so in excess of 100+ hours will normally be accrued by the oral examination for counselling students and 160+ for psychotherapy students. Your therapist must be properly accredited and qualified, in accordance with your course requirements, and will need to confirm this by letter during the first few weeks of your course, and evidence this by signing your end-of-year form.
Supervision – Once you start to see clients (usually at the beginning of year 2), you will be required to receive fortnightly supervision as a means of supporting your clinical practice. Some clinical placements offer supervision as part of the service they provide, others don’t. If you attend a placement with in-house supervision, you must still attend at least one supervision session a month with an approved Metanoia supervisor. You will need at least 35 hours of supervision before graduation if you attend a counselling course and 150 if you attend a psychotherapy course. To help you with this, we provide a list of approved supervisors via the course academic coordinator. Please note that the cost for supervision is not included in the course fees and needs to be funded separately by the student. Your supervisor will be required to regularly sign your supervision log to evidence compliance with this requirement. You will find this form on the Placements section of Moodle.
Clinical Practice – From the second year onwards you will be required to start seeing clients (18+). As well as our in-house clinic, where several students undertake their first placement, we have some excellent resources to help you find placements, including dedicated clinical placements and development officers and a placement data base and noticeboard. Counselling students will be required to gain a minimum of 150 hours before taking their final exams and psychotherapy students 450 (750 for TA students). These hours need to be gained through face-to-face work with adult clients. Your supervisor will be required to regularly sign your clinical practice log to evidence compliance with this requirement. You will find this form by clicking here.
Mental Health Familiarisation Placement - All psychotherapy students (unless they have substantial previous experience of mental health systems) need to undertake a Mental Health Familiarisation Placement. This placement is usually undertaken sometime during the final two years of your course and usually during the week. The general aim of the Placement is for candidates to gain familiarity with, and first-hand experience of, the thinking and clinical methods used in the psychiatric profession and the main mental health delivery systems in Britain, as well as the Mental Health Act. Full details of this placement can be found by clicking here.
