Switching to HICS

You will not pay twice for the same months.

If you are already a member of a counselling association, a pastoral board or a professional council, but would like to make HICS your professional home, we would like to assist. Your first HICS year is charged only for the months your current membership does not already cover. An introductory offer, until 31 December 2026.

How it works

Twelve months from admission, less the months already paid for.

Your HICS year runs for twelve months from the month you are admitted. The months of it your current membership already covers cost you nothing. The months after it ends are charged at the R2,950 annual fee pro rata, in one payment when your current membership ends. From your first anniversary you pay the annual fee in full, like every member.

The year stays a full twelve months because the annual CPD requirement is met within it, from your first month. CPD recorded with another body does not carry over to HICS.

Your first year, worked out

For example: admitted in December 2026, with your current membership paid up to the end of June 2027.

Your first HICS year

R1,229.17

For five of its twelve months, instead of R2,950. You save R1,720.83.

What you pay, and when

  1. When HICS clears you to sit

    The board examination

    R1,000

    Covers one sitting, as for every applicant. It is the only fee before admission.

  2. July 2027, when your current membership ends

    Your first year, pro rata

    R1,229.17

    Five of its twelve months (July 2027 to November 2027), at the annual fee pro rata, in one payment.

  3. December 2027, and each year after

    The annual membership fee

    R2,950

    Paid in full from your first anniversary, like every member, at the fee in force at the time.

An estimate. HICS confirms your dates and the amount when it assesses your application.

The terms.

  • Who it is for. Counsellors who are paid-up members of any professional body, board or council for counsellors, and who apply on or before 31 December 2026.
  • Claiming it. You claim the offer as part of your application on the member portal.
  • Your HICS year. Twelve months from the month you are admitted. Your first year’s fee covers the months of it that your current membership does not.
  • The pro rata fee. One payment, by EFT, when your current membership ends: the annual fee of R2,950 pro rata, for the months that remain of your first HICS year.
  • After your first year. The annual membership fee in full, each year from your first anniversary, at the fee in force at the time. HICS consults members before any change to its fees.
  • The figures. Every amount on this page is an estimate. HICS confirms your dates and the amount when it assesses your application.

What the offer does not change.

  • The route in. Every applicant meets the same five entry criteria and sits the same written board examination. The examination fee, R1,000 for one sitting, is paid as usual once HICS clears you to sit.
  • The CPD year. The full annual CPD requirement applies to your first HICS year, as it does to every member’s. Points recorded with your current body are not transferred.
  • Statutory registration. HICS membership does not replace registration with the HPCSA or the SACSSP.

Applying

Applications are open, on the member portal.

Read the entry criteria and what to have ready, then apply. The offer changes what your first year costs, never what admission asks of you.

How to apply

HICS is a voluntary, non-statutory membership body. Membership is not a legal requirement to practise, confers no statutory authority, and is not equivalent to registration with the Health Professions Council of South Africa.