Deciding which Assessment to take - Level 4 or Level 5?

Vocational qualifications are concerned with real world application. We can think of this in terms of levels of knowledge, skills and intelligence to be able to solve various problems of increasing complexity.

Simple, clearly defined problems with simple “out of the box” solutions are at the lower levels.
Complex, poorly defined problems with multiple interacting factors (or multiple complex problems) are the higher end of scale.

Thus a Level 5 qualification requires the ability to identify and address more complex and less well defined problems, with more interacting factors than a Level 4 qualification.

Our Diploma training programme teaches at many different levels and we have many people taking and using the information and learnings at Level 7 (Masters).

However we are only assessing at Level 4 and Level 5.

Yes you can. The course content is the same. You will need to resubmit 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6 and have those remarked before moving to units 2 – 5. There is still a requirement for case studies, but for level 5 you need to complete 20 therapy session hours with between 4 & 6 volunteers. Please see the full guidelines for further information. This isn’t mandatory and the additional hours that are required can be gained with new volunteers.  There are additional essays required for Level 5, full details of the assessment can be found here.

Yes you can.  You can apply to pay the difference between what you have currently paid, and the assessment fee for Level 5.  You can do that by following this link.

Examples of cases you could be working with:

Phobia.  At level 4: you will be confident working with a simple phobia such as an animal phobia where the client doesn’t experience anxiety elsewhere in their life.  At level 5: the client may wish to work on a phobia and has experienced their anxiety increasing into other situations not related to the phobia.

Habit reversal.  At level 4: you will be confident working with simple habits such as nail biting & teeth grinding. At level 5: the client may also be experiencing anxiety across a number of areas in their life, a low level of self-esteem and a lack of confidence in their ability to address these issues.

Social anxiety.  At level 4: you will be confident working with mild social anxiety, lack of assertiveness, lack of confidence representing themselves, people pleasing rather than asserting.  At level 5 the client may also be reporting outbursts of anger when feeling threatened, a lack of control over emotions and displaying inappropriate behaviour, low self-esteem and sense of worth.

It is important that case studies are conducted with the permission of the volunteer client.  If you are currently working with or about to commence working with a client and can gain this permission then this is acceptable to continue. Using a client as a case study without their permission would be unethical and unacceptable by the College.  You will find the permission letter for all your volunteer clients in the case study section.

It is also important to note that volunteer clients shouldn't be charged for their sessions with you as you are still in traiinng.

Yes this is possible.  The requirements will depend on when you qualified.  For full details please visit this page.