School Counsellor in Training Program

School counsellors hold a dual qualification in teaching and psychology.

Teachers who wish to become a school counsellor will complete an Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) approved sequence of study, including a Master of Professional Psychology or similar.

Teachers who hold a full-time approval to teach and have worked for the NSW Department of Education within the last 3 years in a casual, temporary or permanent capacity are eligible to apply.

An applicant should seek advice from the university they intend to enrol in a degree through to determine if any additional psychological studies are required to be eligible in progressing into a fourth-year academic program.

Applicants should refer their enquiry to Charles Sturt University or the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) to identify if further psychology studies are required for eligibility to progress into a fifth-year academic program.

The department does not endorse individual programs of study. It is the responsibility of each applicant to ensure their program is APAC accredited.

For a list of approved sequences of study, visit the Australian Psychology Accreditation Council (APAC) website. Information on approved study sequences, including details on the required years of psychology study, is also available on the Psychology Board of Australia website.

Both school counsellors and school psychologists provide psychological support to students and are part of the same school counselling service.

School counsellors hold an initial teacher education degree and are employed under the Teachers Award, while school psychologists are employed under the Government Sector Employment Act.

The program model has changed to support the changing needs of the School Counselling Service.

There are currently no programs in place to support the first 3 years of an APAC-accredited psychology academic program.

Approved teachers with overseas qualifications will require an assessment by the Australian Psychological Society (APS), related to the National Office for Overseas Skills Recognition.

Please refer to the Assessment of overseas qualifications webpage on the APS website for more information.

To be eligible for the fourth-year scholarship teachers need to:

• hold full approval to teach with the NSW Department of Education
• have worked for the NSW Department of Education within the last 3 years
• have completed or will complete their third-year sequence of APAC-approved study
• meet the program’s eligibility criteria.

Scholarship recipients are responsible for funding their own fourth year of studies.

Recipients of a fourth-year scholarship will receive access to up to 40 days of study leave during their studies.

Yes, the program is open to all teachers. There are full-time and flexible scholarship options available to suit individual needs.

Upon completion of studies, all appointments will be to permanent school counselling positions. Any part-time arrangements will be negotiated with the principal.

Yes, if their current studies will be completed in the academic year prior to commencing their fourth or fifth year of their academic program under sponsorship.

Yes, however the benefits of the scholarship would also change to reflect this.

For example, the recipient of a Full-time pathway scholarship who is no longer able to commit to an appointment to a school in a rural staffing area, but is able to commit to an appointment to a priority metropolitan area will transition to a Flexible pathway scholarship. This means they will no longer receive the benefits of the Full-time pathway scholarship.

Successful applicants are required to sign a Scholarship Agreement with the department, committing them to:

• successfully completing the required studies and training
• accepting an appointment as a permanent full-time school counsellor in a NSW public school in one of the locations aligned with their Scholarship Agreement, upon completion of the required studies and training
• remaining in the appointed permanent full-time school counsellor position for a minimum period of 3 years
• attaining and maintaining General Registration with the Psychology Board of Australia.

Applications for the School Counsellor in Training Program are now closed. Please subscribe to the mailing list for updates about the scholarship.

During the application period, an 'Apply now' button will be available on the School Counsellor in Training Program webpage. Outside the application period, anyone interested in the program is invited to register for updates to be notified when applications open.

Applications must be submitted using the writable PDF form. A writable PDF is a document that includes certain fields that are editable without a PDF-editor software. Any writable PDF that opens in modern PDF viewers (Acrobat, Preview, Chrome, Bluebeam) will be usable in the Forms tool.

If an applicant has not signed a form using an electronic signature before, the department’s intranet has a how-to-guide with information on setting up an electronic signature.

Please ensure that your Adobe is up-to-date. All latest software is available through the staff portal. For additional support, please contact EDConnect on 1300 32 32 32.

Handwritten, photocopied or scanned applications will not be accepted.

The Master of Professional Psychology (School Psychology) is a program developed for the department’s scholarship recipients only.

Scholarship recipients will be invited to apply in Term 3 of the year prior to the program commencing.

Fourth-year scholarship recipients who will commence the master's degree from 2027 will be invited to apply to Charles Sturt University in 2026.

Those applying for the Full-time or Flexible pathways will be invited to apply to Charles Sturt University.

The principal’s supporting statement must be completed by the applicant’s current school principal or the principal they have worked with within the last 12 months.

The referee's supporting statement should be completed by a person who knows the applicant in a professional capacity, not personally, and is able to speak to their suitability for the role of a school counsellor.

We encourage applicants to commence and submit their application as early as possible during the application period.

Applicants will receive an application acknowledgment email within 48 hours of submission. Copies of all emails should be retained for their records.

If a confirmation email isn’t received or comes through to the junk folder, please email the department's Student Wellbeing Recruitment team via swr@det.nsw.edu.au.

All correspondence after the initial application acknowledgment will be sent to the email address provided as part of the application and not the email address the application was submitted from.

No, incomplete or late applications will not be accepted.

Yes. Both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified of the outcome via email once the selection process is completed.

If an applicant changes their contact details, they are advised to please email their updated contact details to the Student Wellbeing Recruitment Team via swr@det.nsw.edu.au.

Yes, feedback can be requested by contacting the Student Wellbeing Recruitment Team via swr@det.nsw.edu.au. The Student Wellbeing Recruitment Team will endeavour to provide feedback as soon as possible after it is requested.

The selection process is a 3-part process which includes shortlisting, interview, and final selection.

Applicants will initially have their application reviewed, including responses to the application questions, supporting statements, academic record to date, and the nominated School Staffing Areas. If the applicant is successful at the shortlisting stage, they will be invited to attend an online interview.

Invitations to attend an interview will be sent via email from a third-party provider and not a department email address. Applicants are advised to check their junk or spam folders to ensure advice is not missed.

Final selection will be based on an applicant's overall application, including nominated staffing areas, interview performance, academic results to date, and university requirements.

The selection process is merit based. Meeting the eligibility criteria is the first step.

Priority will be given to applicants prepared to work in rural and remote areas of workforce need in NSW.

Applicants should have received no less than a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 75.

Please discuss your academic record with Charles Sturt University.

Charles Sturt University.

The study pattern of the Master of Professional Psychology (School Psychology) will be completed over a 1-year period consisting of 8 subjects, which includes 2 professional placement subjects.

The study pattern of the Master of Professional Psychology (School Psychology) will be completed over a two-year period:

• Year 1: 4 units (2 units per semester)
• Year 2: 4 units (2 units per semester) and 2 professional placement subjects

The study pattern must be followed accordingly, noting that there are units that may only be offered in Semester 2 and pre-requisite subjects must be completed in Semester 1.

Financial support is dependent on the scholarship pathway.

Fourth-year scholarship recipients will receive:

• Provision of up to 40 study leave days.

During the fifth year, scholarship recipients will receive the financial support as outlined below.

Full-time pathway scholarship recipients will receive:

• Payment of one year of full-time tuition including placement supervision
• One year of teacher’s salary

Flexible pathway scholarship recipients will receive:

• Payment of one year of full-time tuition including placement supervision
• Provision of up to 120 study leave relief days

The salary will be aligned with their current teaching salary once appointed to their permanent school counselling position. For example, a teacher on Step 7 will commence as a school counsellor on SC5, receiving $144,717 (correct as of July 2025).

Full-time scholarship recipients who are executive staff, will commence their temporary engagement as a school counsellor in training at the highest non-executive teacher salary.

The rates of pay for a school counsellor can be found on the Industrial Relations Teaching Service webpage.

Those in executive positions will be placed on a temporary contract at the highest comparative non-executive teacher’s salary, if they are the recipient of a Full-time pathway scholarship.

No, they will be receiving a full-time teacher’s salary to complete their academic program and will be required to relinquish their substantive position while in training.

There isn’t a provision for a salary under the fourth-year or Flexible pathway scholarships.

Recipients are encouraged to utilise the study leave and casual relief opportunities at schools to support them during their studies.

A study leave form will be provided to scholarship recipients, which will require their principal’s endorsement.

Yes, as long as they are meeting the study and completion requirements of the program, leave can be taken.

Upon successful completion of Master of Professional Psychology and having met all the scholarship requirements, the scholarship recipient will be appointed as a permanent school counsellor. Any leave at this time will need to be negotiated with their principal.

When the department provides employees with benefits, there may be a Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) implication.

Where the department incurs FBT for benefits provided to its employees, the Commonwealth requires certain benefits to be disclosed on the individual employee’s payment summary. This is known as a Reportable Fringe Benefit Amount (RFBA). Scholarship recipients will not have an income tax or FBT liability when they have an RFBA on their payment summary. However, the amount is used to access eligibility for other Commonwealth benefits and obligations, for example the Medicare levy.

Applicants may refer to the Australian Tax Office website at www.ato.gov.au for further advice.

Yes, upon successful completion of Master of Professional Psychology (School Psychology), a teacher will be appointed as a permanent school counsellor.

Scholarship recipients are appointed in line with their Scholarship Agreement, in areas of workforce need.

Applicants should be aware that appointments are not based on their current residential location.

It is recommended that applicants consider the potential implications of an appointment which is not within driving distance.

Appointments to rural areas in NSW will be prioritised.

School counsellors work across all school settings from preschool to high school. Regardless of their teacher training, they can expect to support children across all settings.

In most circumstances, appointments to their school counsellor position will commence from Term 3 in their final year of study.

In some circumstances, the appointment may not be advised until prior to the commencement of Term 1 of their appointment year, with flexibility given to any relocation arrangements.

All scholarship appointments are full-time. The internship commences in the first year of permanent appointment as a school counsellor.

Available Staffing Areas for appointment are listed in the application form.

Applicants should familiarise themselves with the schools located within each 'staffing area' in the NSW public schools by staffing area spreadsheet resource.

Priority will be given to applicants with an interest in working as a school counsellor in rural and remote NSW public schools.

Yes. On completion of the School Counsellor in Training Program and appointment to a permanent position, scholarship recipients may be eligible for a wide range of benefits and incentives. The benefits vary from school to school.

Use the benefits calculator to find out about the benefits and incentives that are available to school-based employees at individual schools.