How to become a school counsellor
Official title: School counsellor
Also called: Academic counsellor, Admissions counsellor, Education and career guidance counsellor, Educational guidance counsellor, Student vocational counsellor, Vocational guidance counsellor, Admissions counsellor, Educational guidance counsellor, Student vocational counsellor
School counsellor provides practical and emotional support to students in educational institutions, either in small groups, classrooms, or individually. He/she functions as an accessible school official whom students may contact for a wide variety of issues. He/she may also provide advice on personal problems such as social integration and behavioural issues, and on school-related matters such as composing adequate curriculum schedules, discussing test scores, and informing students on further education options. He/she may work closely with a school social worker and/or school psychologist and make referrals to other support services if necessary.
Main tasks
- Interviewing clients, preparing case histories and assessing problems
- Providing counselling, therapy and mediation services and facilitating group sessions to assist clients to develop skills and insights needed to deal with and resolve their social and personal problems
- Liaising with social service agencies, educational institutions and healthcare providers involved with clients to provide information and obtain feedback on clients’ overall situation and progress, and identify additional or alternative services and provide referrals
- Evaluating the effectiveness of counselling programmes and interventions, and clients’ progress in resolving identified problems and movement toward defined objectives
Ways in
- University: Social Work & Community degrees, Offered by 1 universities in Singapore
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a school counsellor?
Ways in include: Social Work & Community degrees.
Will AI change the work of a school counsellor?
Generative AI can do relatively little of this work, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026