Certificate Programme Payment FAQs
How much do the courses cost?
Most Certificate Programme courses cost £525.
The exceptions are:
- Dynamics of Biblical Change over 6 months – £485
- Dynamics of Biblical Change for Sabbaticals – £560
The Foundation and Intermediate Skills Days are £85 each.
The cost of the Advanced Skills Training 5-day residential will be confirmed in due course.
What is included in the cost?
Our great value courses offer quality education from experienced Biblical counsellors. For all 10-week and 6-month courses (with the exception of the courses listed below) the £525 fee includes:
- Canvas Online Education Platform – easy to navigate, intuitive platform that hosts all the resources, lectures, articles and guides you through step by step.
- 12-16 hours of quality video lectures delivered by experienced Biblical counsellors and theologians. Some courses are based on material from CCEF in the US, others are created by our BCUK academic team.
- Each course includes training in the theology of biblical counselling and in conversation skills. There are practical exercises to practise conversation skills with feedback and guidance.
- Contact time with both BCUK tutors and peers, often through the provision of 5 tutored seminars. Choose from face-to-face learning communities or online zoom groups, all hosted by experienced Biblical Counsellors
- A personal grader who supports and encourages you through the course, marking assignments and suggesting ways to grow your skills.
- Guided reading programme of Biblical counselling articles, blogs and books prepared by experts in the Biblical counselling field (see note below)
- Additional resources including audio talks, interviews, counselling sessions, and pastoral conversations from experienced biblical counsellors.
- Students learn through reflection papers, assignments, and projects with helpful guidance from tutors and graders.
- Digital Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced Certificates are awarded on the successful completion of appropriate courses.
Each course recommends 2-4 text books that need to be purchased at your expense. Required reading from the Journal of Biblical Counseling (JBC) or short excerpts of books and articles will be provided to you electronically through your Canvas course at no extra charge.
For Dynamics of Biblical Change over 6 months there are no compulsory tutored seminars. Instead, students have the option of attending any of the online tutor cafes offered – these give students the opportunity to ask questions of a BCUK tutor. The 6 months course offers contact with tutors but does not offer the same level of guided learning, and this is reflected in the cheaper price of £485.
Students who wish to continue studying to complete a Foundation Certificate will need to make up the contact hours for DBC, which you can do through our Access Programme. The fee for this is £55. DBC6m without the Access Programme will allow students to continue studying Helping Relationships (10 week or 6 month courses), and then study any other Certificate Programme courses.
For Dynamics of Biblical Change for Sabbaticals students will have 3 online tutorials with a BCUK Tutor experienced in pastoral ministry. They will also be allocated a more experienced grader who will mark their assignments. As this is a bespoke course with dates arranged to suit the student’s sabbatical timing, there is a slightly higher cost of £560.
As with the 6-month option, if you wish to progress to Helping Relationships you will need to make up the contact hours for DBC, which you can do through our Access Programme.
When do I have to pay?
The deadlines for fees are as follows:
- Autumn 2026 courses = 20th July 2026
- Spring 2027 courses (including 6 month courses) = 30th November 2026
- Summer 2027 courses = 30 March 2027
Is there another method of payment accepted?
With increasing cybersecurity issues in society, we find most people prefer to use a credit card as payments are generally safer than bank transfers because they offer legal protection against fraud, chargeback rights to disputed transactions, and do not directly access your main bank account. At BCUK, they also reduce the administrative work needed to reconcile transactions.
If you are unable to use a card to pay the course fee, you can instead pay by bank transfer through your online banking. Please contact for further details.
I am an international student – how do I pay?
The easiest way to pay is using the payment link you are sent and using a credit card (note that some cards have more favourable fees for international payments, e.g. Revolut).
If you do not have a credit card and need to pay through a bank (wire) transfer you will need to ensure you add on the cost of bank fees. Often there are two types of fee: transfer (sending) fees and receiving fees. Transfer fees are upfront costs paid by the sender to their bank/provider, while receiving fees are charged by the beneficiary’s bank to accept the funds. Both sets of fees must be covered by you.
Please refer to your bank for details of the transfer fee. Contact with details of which country you are paying from for the cost of the receiving fee.
My church is paying for some/all of the fee – how do I obtain an invoice?
Some students, with the agreement of their churches, pay for the fee in full and then claim back the money directly from the church. When you pay, you will automatically receive an email receipt to show your church as proof of payment.
If you hope to apply for a bursary, please follow the Bursary application process.
Alternatively, if your church wants to pay BCUK directly, please contact with details of your church and we can arrange for them to be invoiced electronically. We need to know:
- Your name
- Name of the course you are applying for
- Your unique course registration ID number (given in the payment request email)
- Seminar venue (if applicable)
- Name of church
- Name of person responsible for the payment
- Email address to send the invoice to
- % or amount of the fee they are paying
If you are still paying a proportion of the fee, we can then issue you with a discount code to apply at the point of payment to reduce the fee accordingly.
What is the refund policy?
Our online learning platform, Canvas, will automatically open access to all course materials one week before the course commences. This is the Course Access Threshold (CAT).
Before CAT, students who withdraw will receive a 100% refund.
After CAT, students who withdraw before the end of week 3 receive a 50% refund (for six-month courses please note this is the academic study week 3, not the third calendar week).
If a student withdraws from week 4 onwards, no refund is payable.
All students who withdraw after the Course Access Threshold (CAT) will be able to book the same course within 2 years for 50% of the fee. Please contact to obtain a discount code to apply to your payment.
The refund policy is represented visually here:
What is the deferral policy?
Our usual practice is not to offer deferrals.
All students who withdraw before the end of week 3 may receive a refund in accordance with our refund policy (see previous question).
All students who withdraw after the Course Access Threshold (CAT) will be able to book the same course within 2 years for 50% of the fee.
Is there financial assistance available?
Yes. You may be eligible for a bursary. Our Bursary Fund match-funds financial assistance from a student’s local church of up to one third of the course fees. Click here for an application.
Is the course accredited?
The course is run on a non-accredited basis. The online teaching material from CCEF has been adapted by us for the UK context, and we have added to it material of our own. The seminars, together with Skills Training Days in the Foundation and Intermediate Certificates, and Advanced Skills Training provide the practical component of the course.
Accredited counselling courses, such as those that would be recognised by BACP (The British Association of Counsellors and Psychotherapists), include extensive requirements for supervised counselling hours and serve a different purpose to that provided by this programme.
Students satisfactorily completing the Foundation and Intermediate certificates will be able to indicate that they have completed training in the theory and skills of conversational ministry.
Students completing the Advanced Certificates will be able to indicate that they have successfully completed training in the theology and practice of biblical counselling.
More questions?
The Student Handbook gives details of course policies.
