Communicourt intermediaries are highly trained and skilled communication specialists. We are proud of the professional standards which we have developed and uphold.
Our Intermediary Training Programme is externally accredited as an NCFE Customised Qualification, and our standards are based on our experiences of working with over 10,000 people with communication needs in the family and criminal courts.
Our intermediaries are graduates from relevant degree programmes (such as Speech and Language Therapy or Psychology). Many of them already have extensive experience of working with people with communication needs in a variety of settings. Many of them have worked in social care, mental health hospitals, prisons and the court system.
We hold rigorous recruitment and selection days to find the right candidates (around 10-20% of total applicants are offered an intermediary role per application round). All successful candidates will then complete our comprehensive training programme, which is based at our dedicated training space in Birmingham city centre.
Our Intermediary Training Programme
This is an initial two-week intensive programme, followed by 6-9 months of additional training modules including communication skills, assessment skills and effective report writing.
Over the next 6-9 months, all intermediaries complete a comprehensive competency framework, evidencing skills that they develop through regular supervision with an experienced practitioner. They also have dedicated team leaders and mentors for advice and support if needed.
They must all pass structured exams to test their practitioner skills and evidence their capabilities.
Ongoing training
All of our intermediaries have ongoing continuous professional development (CPD) pathways and structured clinical supervision. If you are a speech and language therapy graduate, we also offer support in developing and evidencing your RCSLT competencies.
Intermediaries attend up to eight compulsory CPD days per year (organised on Saturdays to avoid disruption to the courts), to ensure that Communicourt continues to provide the most effective support to vulnerable adults and children.
Our intermediaries complete regular (initially 2 weekly) supervision sessions with a senior practitioner.
They must also meet our safeguarding checks – all our intermediaries are appropriately insured, and DBS checked.
All of our intermediaries have now adapted their practice to work remotely if needed, including developing new assessment tools and methods, and making creative recommendations to the court.
