12. NCHP Structure and External Accreditation

The Structure of the NCHP

The NCHP, formerly Blythe Tutorial College, founded in 1977, provides training in Hypno-Psychotherapy at venues in Liverpool, Oxford, Glasgow and London. The NCHP is administered from its registered offices in Nelson, Lancashire, by an Academic Board, details of which are given below.

Academic Board

Chairman - Keith Thompson, MA(Oxon), MEd

Emeritus Vice Chancellor, Staffordshire University

Members of the Academic Board are responsible for the conduct of the NCHP exams, for the marking of all exam papers and for the issue of various awards to successful students. Such awards are confirmed by an external moderator.

Members of the Board include various persons who, although trained in their respective field and who have gained academic status, are not members of the staff of the NCHP. This external factor, combined with our accreditation by the British Accreditation Council for Independent Further and Higher Education, gives prestige and credibility to the awards gained by students of the NCHP. Further to safeguard student interests, two student members are invited to meetings of the Academic Board.

Assessment is based upon conventional academic norms: continuous assessment by Tutors; course work essays; exams (properly invigilated by external invigilators); dissertations and practical exams. Other than the continual assessment, all other assessment is carried out by appropriately qualified independent assessors, such as psychology lecturers in the state education sector, and externally moderated by appropriately qualified personnel.

Regulations concerning specific aspects of the NCHP training, such as the submissions of course work, standards to be achieved, conduct of exams and appeals procedures are indicated in the relevant documentation.

Complaints and, or, criticism of any aspect of the NCHP training can be made on the forms issued for these purposes at the end of all stages of the course. In addition, students may request that such issues be brought to the attention of the NCHP in the Tutor's report which is submitted after each block of class contact. Whilst it is hoped that complaints may be resolved by negotiation with individual Course Tutors, students are entitled to raise issues with the Academic Board should they prove intractable.

The Academic Board is continually reviewing the course content to take account of developments in the profession, and expanding and amending material where necessary.

External Accreditation

The British Accreditation Council for Independent Further and Higher Education

Without regulation and statutory registration for our profession, our policy has been to seek meaningful external accreditation for our training. We first achieved such accreditation in 1993. After a successful interim inspection in 1996, a further full inspection led to our re-accreditation in 1998, and most recently in 2004.

In the event of regulation and statutory registration, our external accreditation should be invaluable to our graduates. Meanwhile, it is an assurance to potential students bewildered by competing claims.

The British Accreditation Council for Independent Further and Higher Education (see enclosed leaflet), was established in succession to an initiative by the, then, Dept of Education and Science. Included amongst its sponsors are the bodies mainly concerned with maintaining academic standards in Britain, such as Universities and Colleges, national validating bodies' public and professional examining boards, and the British Council.

To conduct its inspections, The British Accreditation Council calls upon the services of some 70 specialist inspectors, including former HMI's LEA inspectors and advisors and current/former heads of Universities, Colleges and Institutions of Higher Education and Colleges of Further Education.

A copy of the 2004 Inspection Summary appears on the inside back cover of this prospectus. Copies of the complete Institutional Report are available upon request.  In order to protect your interests we suggest that you ask any other training organisation to which you are considering applying for similar documentation.

The inspection enquired into all aspects of the NCHP's: accommodation and learning resources; administration and staffing; quality control; welfare arrangements; teaching, an assessment of academic staff; and the NCHP's financial and legal viability. The accreditation is subject to renewal, following re-inspection, at five-yearly intervals and review at mid-term. Not surprisingly, such accreditation has been described by the, then, Secretary of State for Education as: "...the only public guarantee of standards in independent institutions of further and higher education in the UK.".

Under guidelines issued by the Home Office in December 2000, and by virtue of its accreditation by the British Accreditation Council, the NCHP is identified as a "bona fide private education institution".

Education UK

The British Council's Education Counselling Service describes the NCHP as a UK institution "with appropriate recognition", as it is accredited by the British Accreditation Council. The NCHP is licensed to use the Education UK brand, which was launched by the Prime Minister in 2001.