‘How I transformed my counselling with a six-letter word’

One of the biggest challenges we face as counsellors is managing the counselling cycle amid multiple deadlines and competing demands.

With students applying to universities around the world, it is crucial to prioritise tasks, plan ahead, and stay organised. My experience has taught me that effective counselling requires a combination of skill, strategy and technology.

To overcome this challenge, I have developed a set of strategies that I call “Uplift”. This is an acronym, standing for: upskill, prioritise, launch early, inform, follow up and technology.

Upskill

Upskilling is essential. It’s crucial for counsellors to stay up to date with the latest developments in the field, through research, training and collaboration with other counsellors. Training and qualifications, such as THE CAP, are invaluable.

Prioritisation

With so many tasks competing for attention, planning and preparation are essential. I recommend creating an annual calendar that’s shared with key members of the school community. Ucas, in the UK, and College Board, in the US, have useful application timescales that should be consulted before developing your own.

Our first year as a counselling department was very challenging, because of all the follow-ups and deadlines. Having a working document with a calendar helped streamline our activities in the counselling office.

Launching early

University preparation activities can begin as early as Year 7. In our school, we run workshops and programmes for students and parents from Year 9, to get students thinking about their future and building their portfolios.

I believe that there's no such thing as too much information when it comes to the application process. The more information students and their parents have, the better positioned they will be to make informed decisions.

In the students’ final year, start with a private information-gathering meeting with the student and parents. This first meeting is crucial and provides a great opportunity to establish a trusting relationship with them. At this first meeting, it is important to clarify expectations on all sides, and for the counsellor to be honest and open about what is within her or his power to do and what is not.

Prepare and send a follow-up document summarising this first meeting to the parents. This can provide a valuable reference during future conversations.

In addition, organise information sessions for the students and parents: forums, workshops, webinars and, of course, university fairs.

Follow up

Regular check-ins with students and parents can help avoid missed deadlines and ensure that everyone stays on track.

Depending on the size of the cohort, regular updates could be sent via email to the students’ parents. Sometimes, parents take their eyes off the process once they’ve had that initial meeting, not because they don’t care but because they are busy people who look to the counsellors to take care of everything related to university admissions.

This can lead to challenging situations, such as missed windows for application payments. Monthly check-ins can help avert this. The monthly check-in also provides an opportunity to flag up any issues observed in school by the counsellor, such as students’ falling behind on academic assignments.

Technology

Technology is an essential partner in the counselling process. From creating presentations with SlideShare to using online community platforms such as Teams and Google Classroom, technology can help streamline communication and keep everyone connected.

I have also started using AI to create better references for my students.

By implementing these strategies, I've been able to maximise opportunities for my students and support them in achieving their goals. Whether they’re applying to universities in Nigeria, where I work, or overseas, my goal is always to empower them with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.