BACP changes from February 2026, what this means in practice

From 11 February 2026, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) is introducing a new set of application routes for individual members to move between membership categories, including progression towards accreditation. These routes are aligned with the SCoPEd framework and apply to practitioners, not training providers.

BACP has confirmed that this change relates to individual recognition, rather than the approval or absorption of external awarding or accrediting bodies. Professional organisations such as ACCPH and NCIP remain independent, and are not being accredited by, or merged into, BACP.

For practitioners who have trained on non BACP accredited courses, one of the available pathways is expected to be a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) style route. This involves submitting a portfolio of evidence demonstrating that your training, experience, supervision, and ethical practice meet BACP’s published standards at the time of application.

Based on BACP’s published consultation materials, this process is likely to involve an application fee, which has been indicated as being in the region of £300, though final fees and evidence requirements will only be confirmed by BACP once the routes formally open.

In summary: no accrediting body used by UK Therapy Guild is being recognised or absorbed by BACP. Responsibility for gaining BACP status from 2026 onward remains with the individual therapist, using the new BACP application routes available at that time.