FAQs

The Talking Therapies Postgraduate Diploma in CBT is a one-year full-time course.

The course is a full-time one year course and is not available part-time.

The course starts in mid-October running to the end of August, but training placements in the clinical service are for 12 months.

The course is full-time and is linked with employment at a Talking Therapies service. You would not be able to continue working at your current place of employment whilst on the course as you would be working in the Talking Therapies service.

The course is full-time (Monday – Friday) and you will be employed as a full-time trainee.

You will be working three days per week in a London Talking Therapies service (Monday - Wednesday), and attending workshops at King’s or the Royal Holloway on the other two days (Thursday and Friday).

The course fees are funded by NHSE as part of their National Talking Therapies initiative.

Applications for the 2025/26 intake will open on Monday 14 April at 09:00 (UK GMT) and close on Sunday 27 April at 23:59 (UK GMT).

The course is only available to Home (settled status) applicants and is not available to international students*. There are institutions who offer the same/similar course where it is available to international students who may have to self-fund.

If you look on the BABCP website there is a list of institutions who offer accredited courses and so you can then check their individual websites to see if they offer the course to international students.

*Those without a valid permit to live and work in the UK are not eligible to apply for this training.

The PG Diploma in CBT is a Level 2 BABCP accredited course.

This course meets full requirements necessary for BABCP Accreditation. Successful completion of this course enables graduates to be eligible for registration as an accredited Cognitive Behavioural Therapist with the BABCP.

Yes, you need to apply for registration with BPS or BABCP while you are still a PWP, working in your service, if you haven’t already. During the registration process you must sign to say that you are currently a PWP working in a practice, and that you will contact the BABCP if your circumstances change (including that you cease practicing as a PWP). Making false declarations (i.e. submitting an application for accreditation after you have ceased practicing as a PWP) is a a breach of the BABCP Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics
This also is has implications for your KSA portfolio.

The course is an academic postgraduate course requiring evidence of critical and independent thought. Preference will be given to candidates with demonstrable experience in systematic therapies with a commitment to the CBT approach.

Access to suitable CBT training cases, i.e. straightforward depression and anxiety, is essential.

Teaching is pitched at a postgraduate level, so candidates need to be able to produce academic work to this level relatively independently.

• A professional mental health qualification (e.g., clinical psychologist, mental health nurse, BACP accredited counsellor) with relevant clinical experience. Clinical Psychologist applications are accepted without post-qualification experience due to the nature of the Clinical Psychology training.
• Those without a core profession who have at least three years’ experience, two of which are as a qualified practitioner, and are able to demonstrate they meet the required KSA criteria.

We cannot comment on individual applications. Please refer to the job description and personal specification. The minimal entry requirement is a mental health professional qualification (such as a clinical/counselling psychology or mental health nurse) or KSA equivalent (e.g. PWP with at least three years experience, two of which are as a qualified practitioner, or a counsellor not yet BABCP/BPS accredited etc.).

We look for a minimum of two years post-qualification clinical experience and so perhaps you may wish to consider doing a Psychological Wellbeing Practioners course in the first instance.

No you do not. When applying for the course you are applying for a training post and will have the opportunity to include two preferred sites to apply for.

Training course fees on this programme are fully funded by NHSE.

In addition, trainees will receive a salary from the London Talking Therapies service where they are employed as a CBT trainee over the year of the programme.

This is usually at NHS band 6 or equivalent.

Please note, some services are not NHS providers and therefore terms and conditions will vary. London high cost area supplement varies across different London services.

Choose the service you wish to work for, and your HEI will be the one which is linked with that service.

King's College London Services
King's Barking & Dagenham (North East London Foundation Trust)
King's Bexley (Mind in Bexley)
King's Bromley (Bromley Healthcare)
King's Camden & Islington (Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust)
King's Croydon (South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust)
King's Greenwich (Time to Talk NHS Talking Therapies, OXLEAS NHS Foundation Trust)
King's Hackney (Talk Changes, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust)
King's Havering (North East London Foundation Trust)
King's Lambeth (South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust)
King's Lewisham (South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust)
King's Newham (East London NHS Foundation Trust)
King's Richmond (East London NHS Foundation Trust)
King's Southwark (South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust)

Royal Holloway Services
RH Barnet (Let's Talk Talking Therapy Service)
RH Brent (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Service)
RH Ealing (West London NHS Trust)
RH Enfield (Let's Talk Talking Therapy Service)
RH Hammersmith & Fulham (West London MH NHS Trust)
RH Haringey (Let's Talk Talking Therapy Service)
RH Harrow (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust)
RH Hillingdon (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust)
RH Hounslow (West London MH NHS Trust)
RH Kensington & Chelsea (Central and North West London Foundation NHS Trust)
RH Kingston (South West London and St George's NHS Trust)
RH Merton (Merton Uplift, South West London and St George's NHS Trust)
RH Redbridge (North East London Foundation Trust)
RH Sutton (South West London and St George's NHS Trust)
RH Tower Hamlets (Talking Therapies)
RH Waltham Forest (North East London Foundation Trust)
RH Wandsworth (South West London and St George's NHS Trust)
RH Westminster (Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust)

Applications for the 2025/26 intake will open on Monday 14 April at 09:00 (UK GMT) and close on Sunday 27 April at 23:59 (UK GMT).

Please note in order to process your application to this programme, King’s College London (the College) will collect, hold and process the personal data that you supply on the application form via the admissions portal "King’s Apply". It is essential for us to do so in order to manage our operations effectively and provide you with teaching, research and administrative support. Applications will be shared with the other organisations that provide the training and recruitment initiative, including the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London (KCL), Royal Holloway, MIND, Addaction and the NHS Trust or Trusts that you have chosen in your application. By completing and submitting your application form you are agreeing that the College can process and share your data in this way. Applicants should note that the College will retain information on unsuccessful applications for statistical and audit purposes and in the event of a complaint or appeal.

All personal data will be processed in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation and college policy.

Please refer to the Application Procedure page - you have to register an account with King's College London to submit an application. You can register a new account and the link is below the blue 'Login' button.

Please refer to the Application Procedure page. You have to follow the instructions exactly as written.

You may have chosen the wrong programme which is why you cannot see a start date. Or you may be trying to apply too early - this course will only show up as available to select after applications have opened.

Please ensure to select the programme "Cognitive Behavioural Therapies PGDip Full Time."

If there is no availability at your preferred site, you will be considered for a place at one of the other London services.

If no site preference is stated, your application will be allocated randomly across sites.

Please note we reserve the right to adjust the location of positions based on the needs of the programme.

You apply and submit an application online as normal. There are two stages to the KSA for CBT accredited courses:

1. If you are shortlisted and called to interview, you will be contacted and informed about KSA and asked to complete self-statements - information will be provided via email. The KSA self-statements are then discussed in the interview.
2. If you were successful and offered a training place, you would need to compile a portfolio and will be given guidance on this.

Regardless of whether you are applying through the KSA route or not, you complete an online application through the King's Application Portal in the first instance.

If you are assessed as a KSA student you will be informed of what is required and what the next steps are if you are shortlisted for interview.

Yes, and this is preferred. Please use this Personal Statement Template and then attach it to your application as a separate MS Word document. Please ensure your statement is no longer than two to three pages.

Applications must not be submitted through NHS Jobs.

You must submit your application through the King’s website. Please refer to the Application Procedure for information on how to apply and complete your application.

Please contact our admissions team via the portal, as they will be able to update your application. As you have submitted your application already you can contact them via the same account you used to submit the application.

Log in to your account and in the ‘Help’ box there are instructions on how to send the admissions team a message. They will then be able to link your message directly to your application.

Applicants will be notified via email if they have been shortlisted for interview.

Please ensure to check your junk/spam folder as at time emails may be redirected there.

Please note that this is a joint training initiative with Royal Holloway/CNWL and a large number of NHS services, so it may take some time for applications to be processed.

Following interview and subject to references, the employing service will make an offer of employment to successful candidates as a ‘trainee CBT therapist.’ Offers will be subject to the relevant employer’s terms and conditions of employment and reference checks etc.

Interview dates for the 2025/26 intake with King's College London will be in May/June. Applicants will be contacted in due course if they have been shortlisted for interview.

For Royal Holloway please contact them directly to enquire about their interview dates on cnwl-tr.infocbt@nhs.net.

We are unable to offer feedback to unsuccessful candidates due to the sheer volume of applications we receive. Please refer further to the Talking Therapies website for further information about Talking Therapies and the skills required. Talking Therapies are hugely over-subscribed and competition is fierce.

You will only need to attend one interview for the programme and clinical placement.

When you are invited to interview we will inform you of which clinical service you are interviewing with.

Interview panels consist of a member of staff from the KCL/Royal Holloway course team and two members of staff from the clinical service you are interviewing for.

Unfortunately, we are unable to defer places.

Yes, it is a requirement of the BABCP that you become a member. Once you have been enrolled on the course and accepted your offer, you will need to apply to become a member asap, and provide the course with your BABCP number. Once you have accepted your offer of a place on the course you will be eligible for student membership.