Training Course Accreditation

The course accreditation process of the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP) ensures that training programs meet the highest standards in counselling and psychotherapy education.


Courses seeking accreditation must adhere to rigorous criteria, including academic validation, clinical requirements, and ongoing monitoring. Once accredited, programs maintain their status for six years, subject to compliance with IACP guidelines. This process guarantees that graduates receive quality training, equipping them with the skills and ethical foundation necessary for professional practice. 

Responsibility/Liability 

The Course Provider is responsible for ensuring that it understands, meets, and meets all course accredited status requirements. Where IACP suspends or withdraws accredited status from a course, it is a matter between the Course Provider and its students. IACP has no liability to students on a course where it suspends or withdraws its accredited status.  The Course Provider of the course will be responsible to the students for any detriment caused to them due to the course losing its accreditation.

The flowchart displayed below outlines the steps involved in the Course Accreditation Process.

IACP Course Accreditation process flowchart

The IACP Course Accreditation Officer is available to support and guide you through each step of this process.

The Course Accreditation Criteria outlines the IACP requirements for Course Accreditation.

The Course Accreditation Criteria document is comprehensive of the standards expected within each area of course design and delivery. The criteria cover the following areas; Student Selection and Admission, Course Staff, Course Rationale, Philosophy and Design, Work on Self, Work with Clients, Supervision, Theory, Skills Training, Methods, Professional Issues and Assessment. 

Download - Course Accreditation Criteria Document
(PDF  616KB)

The Annual Monitoring Process consists of (1) IACP Accredited courses completing an Annual Report Application Form and (2) an Annual Monitoring assessment visit. This process provides for a comprehensive examination of a courses evaluation system, assessment procedures, results and development.

Download - Annual Monitoring Report Form
(Fillable PDF 2.31MB)

The deadline for Annual Monitoring Report Form is the 31st of January every year. The completed form must be submitted on or before this date. 

The Course Accreditation Officer and a Course Assessor will conduct Annual Monitoring visits throughout the academic year. The purpose of the visit is to provide insight into how the course is run on a day to day basis and to support Course Providers in maintaining standards and developing the course. Courses will be informed of this visit at least a month in advance. Not all courses will be assessed every year. Course monitoring visits will be conducted randomly over the courses six year accreditation period.

The visit will consist of a staff interview, a class representative interview, document review and facilities assessment. The visit will take approximately four to eight hours. The visit will assess the information outlined in the completed Annual Monitoring Report Form and ensure that the day to day running of the course is effective and satisfactory for all those involved with and participating in the course.

Once the visit has been completed the Course Accreditation Officer and Course Assessor will sign a verification document to confirm the courses successful completion of the Monitoring process.

Important Information
  • The Annual Monitoring Report form must be submitted by the 31st of January. 
  • If any breach of the Course Accreditation Criteria becomes apparent within the Annual Monitoring Process or at any time during the accreditation period the IACP will issue a letter seeking clarification regarding this breach. The Course Accreditation Officer will issue the Course Provider with a deadline to rectify and demonstrate this to the Course Accreditation Officer. Failure to do so will result in the withdrawal of the courses IACP accredited status.
  • Failure to engage in the Annual Monitoring process will result in the withdrawal of IACP accredited status.
  • The IACP uphold the right to visit a course at any stage during the six-year accreditation period. 

Accreditation status is provided to individual courses rather than institutions. If an institution runs two or more courses in supervision training, separate applications are required for each course. 

Download - IACP Supervision Training Course Accreditation application
(PDF Fillable xxxKB)

Download - IACP Supervision Training Course Re-Accreditation
(PDF Fillable 554KB)

Courses which have successfully completed the Accreditation Process and have received formal confirmation of their IACP Accredited status may include the words 'IACP Accredited Supervision Course' on their publicity material. Agencies or institutions engaged in training should not include in their publicity material any statement of the fact that they intend to apply or that they have applied for Accreditation.  

Fees

First Time Supervision Course Accreditation Application    

€2,000

Supervision Course Renewal / Re-Accreditation

€1,200

Annual Accredited Supervision Course Membership

€1,870

Download Form - IACP Supervision Training Course Criteria
(PDF Fillable 544KB)

Download Form - IACP Supervision Training Annual Monitoring Report
(PDF Fillable 2.31MB)

Multiple Course Accreditation is an option that the IACP offer for Course Providers who run the same counselling and psychotherapy course on a different day, at a different time or in a different location.

This form of accreditation offers a condensed application form, which requires the Course Provider to submit academic content, policies and procedures and course design and rationale once. Each course must be visited separately by the Course Accreditation Officer and Course Assessor to verify that each course is the same except for staff, time, location, day and facilities.


First Time Accreditation process for Multiple Courses

1. Courses who wish to apply for IACP Course Accreditation for multiple courses with varying weekdays or locations are asked to complete a Multiple courses application form which is available for download from the ‘Apply Now’ box on this page.

2. The Course Provider is asked to download, read and sign the Terms and Conditions for Courses contract. This is an important document that must be submitted with the completed application form.

3. The Course Provider is asked to submit the academic content, extra documentation and completed checklist and terms and conditions contract once. All other variations specific to location, staff, time, weekday and facilities are outlined in the Multiple Course Accreditation Application Form.

4. An assessment visit is conducted for each course and is conducted in the same manner as a first-time accreditation/re-accreditation visit assessment. The assessment visit will be assessed by the Course Accreditation Officer and a Course Assessor.


Please Note:

  • All courses applied for in multiple course accreditation must have completed a full cycle of the course before applying for accreditation.
  • Any misleading or inaccurate information that is given to the IACP will result in all courses being withdrawn from the Course Accreditation Process or in the case of multiple course re-accreditation or for courses with IACP accredited status; the IACP Accredited status will, depending on the circumstances, be withdrawn from a course/all the courses in question.

Courses who wish to apply for re-accreditation of multiple courses after their six year accreditation period are:-

  • Asked to complete a Multiple courses Re-Accreditation application form which requires the Course Provider to submit the academic content and checklist extra documentation once.
  • They are also asked to account for any variations in the courses since their accreditation.
  • All other variations specific to location and weekday are outlined in the one document. 
  • The course is asked to sign a disclaimer to verify that all the information enclosed is correct for each course.
  • The assessment visit is conducted separately for each course in the same manner as re-accreditation.

The Re-Accreditation process for Multiple Courses

1. Courses who wish to apply for the re-accreditation of multiple courses after the awarded six year accreditation period will be asked to complete a Multiple Courses Re-Accreditation application form available for download from the ‘Apply Now’ box on this page.

2. The Course Provider is asked to download, read and sign the Terms and Conditions for Courses contract. This is an important document that must be submitted with the completed application form.

3. The Course Provider is asked to submit the academic content, extra documentation and completed checklist and terms and conditions contract once. All other variations specific to location, staff, time, weekday and facilities are outlined in the Multiple Course Accreditation Application Form.

4. An assessment visit is conducted for each course and is conducted in the same manner as a first time accreditation / re- accreditation visit assessment. The visit assessment will be assessed by the Course Accreditation Officer and a Course Assessor.