Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 April 2019 to Question 233483 on Schools: Counselling, what steps he is taking to (a) set minimum standards for and (b) ensure access throughout England to school counselling services.

It is up to schools to decide what counselling support to provide. The ‘Counselling in Schools’ guidance referred to in the previous answer, available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/counselling-in-schools, provides detailed advice on the benefits that counselling can bring to a school and how to provide access to safe and effective services. It gives strong advice that, when commissioning external counselling, schools should look to use providers that can give assurance the counsellor is properly trained, supported, professionally supervised, insured and working within agreed policy frameworks and standards, and accountable to a professional body with a clearly articulated complaints procedure. It also sets out that where schools employ their own counsellor, they should employ staff with a minimum of a diploma in counselling (typically two years part time study), who are on a voluntary register that has been accredited by the Professional Standards Authority, and ideally hold accreditation with a professional body.