Starter Kit for Newly Qualified Therapists in the UK
A free, practical checklist for setting up in practice: registration and insurance, the ICO fee, records, privacy notices, contracting, supervision, online work and getting listed. Each step links to the official source.
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Please read. This is general information, not legal, financial or professional advice. Your regulator and professional body set the rules that apply to you, and they change, so their own websites are always the final word. We checked the facts on this page on each organisation’s own website on 21 October 2026. If you’re unsure, ask your professional body, insurer or a qualified adviser.
1. Registration and Insurance
- Get on the right register. Some titles, such as practitioner psychologist, art therapist and occupational therapist, are protected by law and need HCPC registration. Counsellor and psychotherapist aren’t protected titles, so most practitioners join a register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority. The PSA’s Check a Practitioner page shows which registers cover your profession. Our guide to UK registers lists them all.
- Arrange indemnity cover. The HCPC says having a professional indemnity arrangement is a condition of registration, and that if you’re self-employed or in independent practice, you need to make your own arrangements. BACP’s Ethical Framework says members will be covered by adequate insurance when providing services to the public. Check what your own body requires and what your policy covers (for example, online work or work with children).
- Read your code of ethics. BACP (its Ethical Framework 2026 becomes mandatory on 3 November 2026), UKCP, NCPS, HCPC or your own body’s code.
2. The ICO Data Protection Fee
The ICO says that under the Data Protection (Charges and Information) Regulations 2018, organisations, including sole traders, that use personal information need to pay a data protection fee unless they are exempt. Use the ICO’s fee self-assessment to check whether you need to pay. The fees when we checked on 21 October 2026:
| Tier | Who (as the ICO describes it) | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1: micro organisations | Maximum turnover of £632,000 for your financial year, or no more than 10 members of staff | £52 |
| Tier 2: small and medium organisations | Maximum turnover of £36 million, or no more than 250 members of staff | £78 |
| Tier 3: large organisations | Everyone who doesn’t meet tier 1 or tier 2 | £3,763 |
The ICO says the fee is £5 less if you pay by direct debit, and that it covers 12 months. Charities that aren’t exempt only pay the tier 1 fee. Source: ICO guide to the data protection fee.
3. Record Keeping
- BACP’s Ethical Framework says members will keep accurate records that are “adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary” and that comply with data protection requirements. The UKCP and HCPC codes cover records too.
- Information about someone’s health is special category data under UK GDPR, which needs extra protection. See the ICO’s guidance on special category data.
- Decide, and write down, what you record, where it’s kept, who can see it, how it’s secured and how long you keep it. Your professional body and insurer may have guidance on retention.
4. Privacy Notice Basics
Clients need to know how you use their information. The ICO has a free privacy notice generator for sole traders and small organisations, including a health and social care version. The ICO notes that its guidance is under review following the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, so check for updates. There’s a privacy notice outline below to help you gather what you need.
5. Contracting With Clients
BACP’s Ethical Framework says members will contract with clients about the terms of the work, including how confidentiality will be protected, and give clients a record of what’s been agreed. UKCP says clients can expect a clear contract, preferably written, and information about fees, likely length of therapy and methods. There’s a client agreement outline below.
6. Supervision
Your professional body sets its own supervision requirements, so check its current guidance. Our supervision page explains the basics, links to each body’s guidance, and lists members who offer supervision or want to join a peer group.
While you’re setting up, plan who would contact your clients if you were suddenly ill or died. See our guide to clinical wills for therapists.
7. Setting Up Online Work
- BACP’s Ethical Framework says its ethical principles apply whether you work online, face-to-face or by any other means.
- Check that your insurance covers online work, and where your clients are based.
- Choose a video platform and note-taking tools you can secure, and include them in your privacy notice.
- Agree with each client what happens if the connection drops, and how you’d respond to a risk concern when you’re not in the same room.
- Our online therapy safety checklist shows what clients are told to look for.
8. Listing Your Practice for Free
Therapist Circle is free to join and use. We check your registration before your listing goes live, and you can then add a free badge to your own website. Join free or read how the free listing works.
Template Outlines
This is general information, not legal advice. Adapt it to your practice and professional body, and get advice if unsure.
Client agreement outline
1. Who we are
- Your name, profession, registration body and number, and how clients can check it.
- How to contact you, and when you reply.
2. What we'll do together
- The kind of work you offer, and the approach you use.
- Session length, how often you meet, and how you'll review progress together.
- Any fixed number of sessions, and how endings are planned.
3. Where and how we meet
- In person (address and access) or online (platform, what to do if the connection drops).
- What the client needs for online sessions, such as a private space.
4. Fees and cancellations
- Fee per session, how and when to pay.
- Your cancellation and missed-session policy, and any notice periods.
5. Confidentiality and its limits
- What stays confidential.
- When you might need to share information (for example, risk of serious harm, safeguarding, or a legal requirement), and how you'd usually tell the client first where possible.
- That you discuss your work in supervision, and how you protect identity there.
6. Records and data
- What notes you keep, where, how they're protected, and for how long.
- A link to your privacy notice.
7. Contact between sessions and urgent help
- How (and whether) clients can contact you between sessions.
- That you're not an emergency service, and where to get urgent help (999, NHS 111, Samaritans 116 123).
8. Breaks, endings and if something goes wrong
- Your planned breaks, and what happens if you're unexpectedly unavailable.
- How to raise a concern with you, and your professional body's complaints process.
9. Agreement
- Space for both of you to confirm what's been agreed, with the date. Give the client a copy.
Privacy notice outline
Who I am
- Your name or business name, contact details, and your ICO registration number if you have one.
What information I collect
- For example: contact details, session notes, information about health (special category data), payment details.
Why I use it, and my lawful basis
- Each purpose (providing therapy, taking payment, meeting legal or professional duties) and the lawful basis you rely on.
- For health information, the condition you rely on for special category data. See the ICO's guidance on special category data.
Who I share it with
- For example: your supervisor (anonymised), your insurer, your accountant, IT or notes providers, and anyone you're legally required to tell.
Where it's stored and how it's protected
- Paper and digital storage, security measures, and any transfers outside the UK.
How long I keep it
- Your retention period for each type of record, and why.
Your rights
- Access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection and portability, and how to ask.
Complaints
- How to raise a concern with you, and the right to complain to the ICO: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
Changes to this notice
- The date of this version.
This is general information, not legal advice. Adapt it to your practice and professional body, and get advice if unsure.
Questions
Do I need to pay the ICO data protection fee?
The ICO says organisations, including sole traders, that use personal information need to pay a data protection fee unless they are exempt. Use the ICO’s free fee self-assessment to check. When we checked on 21 October 2026, the fee was £52 for tier 1 (micro organisations), £78 for tier 2 and £3,763 for tier 3, with £5 off if you pay by direct debit.
Do I need professional indemnity insurance?
If you’re HCPC-registered, the HCPC says you must have a professional indemnity arrangement in place as a condition of registration, and that self-employed practitioners need to make their own arrangements. BACP’s Ethical Framework says members will be covered by adequate insurance when providing services to the public. For other bodies, check their own requirements.
Can I use these templates as they are?
No. They’re outlines to help you think through what to cover. This is general information, not legal advice. Adapt it to your practice and professional body, and get advice if unsure.
Sources
- ICO: Guide to the data protection fee
- ICO: Registration FAQs
- ICO: Fee self-assessment
- ICO: Create your own privacy notice
- ICO: Special category data
- HCPC: Professional indemnity
- HCPC: FAQs on professional indemnity
- HCPC: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics
- BACP: Ethical Framework for the Counselling Professions
- UKCP: Code of Ethics
- UKCP: Therapy ethics, what to expect
- NCPS: Code of Ethics
- PSA: Check a Practitioner
Therapist Circle is independent. We’re not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the NHS, the ICO, the HCPC, the PSA, BACP, UKCP, NCPS, the BPS or any other professional body or regulator named here. Last reviewed 21 October 2026.
Are you a registered practitioner? List your practice free in our free UK therapist directory.