The UK Reiki Federation - Education
Education - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- What is Accreditation?
- Who can submit a qualification for accreditation?
- What are National Occupational Standards all about?
- Why is there a need for National Occupational Standards and a Core Curriculum?
- What is CPD?
- Who does the work on National Occupational Standards?
- How do I know that the course I am on is accredited?
- I am not happy with the Reiki course I have recently attended, what can I do?
- I run regular Reiki share evenings and day shares also, how many points should I give to my students for these?
- If I’m unable to afford to keep taking courses to evidence CPD will I still be allowed to be a member of the UK Reiki Federation?
- For CPD how do I prove that I read a book or went to a Reiki Share?
- I live in Scotland and would like to know how I go about getting my courses accredited?
- I would like to teach a Reiki course at the clinic I work at. Do I need a formal teaching qualification to do this?
- Do you provide accreditation for Reiki courses?
Note:
- To find a practitioner or teacher see our website listings of practitioners & teachers or contact the UKRF office.
- Members please also see Education FAQ on Member Pages (username & password required)
What is Accreditation?
This is a means of ensuring that a qualification meets national requirements. Also that an awarding body is competent to award a qualification and that a candidate's achievements are recognised. Accreditation is given by the QCDA (Qualifications Curriculum Development Agency) in England or SQA (Scottish Qualifications Authority) in Scotland, and the qualification concerned is then placed on the Qualifications Curriculum Framework which then may attract funding for training providers.
You may come across qualifications which state that they are accredited by a specific organisation and this is usually where the organisation has gained agreement from an insurance company that cover would be provided on completion of training, or that the qualification is accepted for CPD purposes by that particular organisation.
Who can submit a qualification for accreditation?
Any organisation can submit a qualification as long as it meets the criteria, there are just as many submissions from individual organisations as from Awarding Bodies. There are, however, criteria to be met and fees to be paid, which may be several thousands of pounds, you would need to contact the relevant body to check.
What are National Occupational Standards all about?
Following consultation in 2007/2008, a revision of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Complementary and Natural Healthcare was carried out, and in 2009 the finally approved standards were published, including those for Reiki. Full details of the standards are available through Skills for Health, whose website is www.skillsforhealth.org.uk. Further information is given on the page on National Occupational Standards (NOS).
NOS identify the performance criteria ie what individuals must be able to do and the underpinning knowledge and understanding ie what individuals must know. They are minimum levels of competence and do not specify any particular level of Reiki.
Why is there a need for National Occupational Standards and for Core Curriculum?
This is in response to the Government Response to the House of Lords Select Committee on Science & Technology's Report on Complementary and Alternative Medicine dated March 2001. It recommends that each regulatory body in the healthcare professions should develop clear guidelines on competency and training for their members on the position they take in relation to their members' activities in well organised CAM disciplines, as well as guidelines on appropriate training courses and other relevant issues. This should include communications with relevant complementary regulatory bodies and the Prince's Foundation for Integrated Health.
In more practical terms it is a way of helping to ensure that training given to practitioners becomes more standardised and that a minimum level of competence is reached. The NOS say what the competence is, the Core Curriculum supports the NOS and provides additional information to teachers to help them to devise their training to meet the standards required.
What is CPD?
Continuing Professional Development. This is a means by which the practitioner maintains their current level of expertise in line with best practice and develops this further to extend their skills and understanding.
Who does the work on National Occupational Standards?
This is under the remit of Skills for Health and they work with representatives from the relative therapies, ie for Reiki this is The Reiki Council (formerly Reiki Regulatory Working Group, RRWG) The UK Reiki Federation had a representative on both the Strategy Group and the Reference Group for the 2009 revisions. During the process the documents were available for consultation with practitioners and UK Reiki Federation members, and others, were given the opportunity to comment on them.
How do I know that the course I am on is accredited?
If accredited by QCDA or SQA there will be a reference number for the accreditation and you can also check out their website to confirm this. Individual awarding bodies, if they have the qualification accredited, would also have it on their website. Individual teachers and training establishments may have qualifications or courses accredited elsewhere as described above.
I am not happy with the Reiki course I have recently attended, what can I do?
If you know that the teacher is one of our members then you can make a formal complaint in writing, our Disciplinary Team will investigate and our Disciplinary Procedures may be implemented. If the person is not one of our members, we suggest that you find out if they are on any national register ie GRCCT or CNHC and make complaint to them. If not you could complain to the Reiki Council and they could ask their member associations if any of them have the teacher as a member.
I run regular Reiki share evenings and day shares also, how many points should I give to my students for these?
As a guideline, 2 points per share, up to 3 hours.
If I’m unable to afford to keep taking courses to evidence CPD will I still be allowed to be a member of the UK Reiki Federation?
There is no reason to pay out lots of money for courses, there are so many other things that you can do, including reading the newsletters, borrowing books from the library etc.
For CPD how do I prove that I read a book or went to a Reiki Share?
You keep a note of it, together with a summary called “reflective practice”. This can be called in for audit at any time by the professional organisation or the regulator.
I live in Scotland and would like to know how I go about getting my courses accredited?
This is the response the UK Reiki Federation received from the Scottish Qualifications Authority: “ Any organisation can submit a qualification as long as it meets the criteria, we have had just as many submissions from individual organisations as awarding bodies to the credit rating service. The external QA element need only be as you deem appropriate to the qualification and your organisation.
For example, you may employ an individual to act as external verifier or choose to work with another organisation who can do this for you. Some submissions that we have processed have come from one department within an organisation and another department in the same organisation provides the QA. As long as the QA is carried out by someone external to the development and delivery of the qualification we can consider this towards meeting the relevant to the SCQF guideline.
. . . the minimum fee for a single submission in £4000 but if you were to provide a breakdown of how many programs you intended to submit they could give you a more exact fee.
I would like to teach a Reiki course at the clinic I work at. Do I need a formal teaching qualification to do this?
You do not need a formal teaching qualification unless the organisation asks for one, however, you should be a qualified Reiki master teacher.
Do you provide accreditation for Reiki courses?
No we do not. Please see the question above “What is accreditation?”