Scottish secondary school students' preferences for location, format of counselling and sex of counsellor

Within the United Kingdom there is a significant revival of therapeutic counselling services in schools. This study looks at three factors which may affect students' willingness to attend such a service: location of the service (school-based or external); format (individual or group); and sex of counsellor. The views of 584 students from four Scottish secondary schools were surveyed. Approximately three-quarters of students expressed a preference for seeing a counsellor in their school. Over 80 percent of students expressed a preference for seeing a counsellor on their own, and this was particularly marked in older pupils. There was also a preference within the sample for female counsellors, particularly amongst female respondents, and most markedly amongst young female respondents. Implications of these findings are discussed in the light of related qualitative research, and methodological limitations of the study are highlighted.