Highest UK Qualification – Exciting News for 2024
Overview – BTEC Level 6 Clinical Massage
Qualifications and training is absolutely crucial when looking for a massage therapist who can help you effectively – the extent to which they can treat and to which they can improve your circumstances. After 3 years of training, learning, exams, assessments, massage & love I am so happy to have attained the highest UK qualification in massage.
The BTEC level 6 in Advanced Clinical and Sports massage qualification offered by Jing Institute of Advanced Massage Training and Complementary Medicine is the highest UK qualification. The Jing Institute are the only educational provider in the UK able to offer a legitimate, internationally recognised BTEC level 6 in massage therapy. The accreditation of the course by Pearson was a milestone and put the UK on a par with other educational leaders in the massage industry such as the US and Canada. It offers a celebrated curriculum, the graduates of which are pioneers in the field of massage therapy and 
major contributors to the wider arena of complementary health.
The UK massage industry is dominated by lower – level qualifications – level 2, 3 and level 4. This leaves the UK floundering far behind international leaders such as the USA, Canada and Australia who offer degree level courses as standard. It also puts UK massage therapists at an extreme disadvantage when communicating with other professionals in the field such as osteopaths, chiropractors and physiotherapists who are all trained to degree level. The Jing level 6 course aims to rectify that discrepancy and provide a clear learning route to excellence for massage therapists in the UK, so that they may have similar standing in the international arena.
Qualification Accreditation
• The BTEC level 6 is accredited by Pearson (formerly EdExcel) on the self regulated framework (SRF) and undergoes a rigorous independent standards verification process annually by Pearson. The Jing centre number is 56928
• The BTEC level 6 has been designed to meet the national standards for massage therapy and covers the NOS for both massage therapy and the new sports massage therapy standards. Jing work closely with the following organisations in the design and delivery of the programme and to ensure that the programme is fit for purpose:
Complementary Natural Health Care Council
The CNHC is the national regulatory body for complementary therapies. CNHC is the holder of an Accredited Register by the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, the independent government-appointed body that oversees and 
scrutinises the work of the nine statutory medical, health and care regulators. These include the General Medical Council (GMC), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and the Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC).
• The CNHC is the voluntary regulator of standards for both the massage register and (currently in process) a new Sports massage register – I am registered with the CNHC.
• As a Jing graduate I meet the standards set out for membership of the CNHC in both the current massage register and the newly formulated sports massage register.
• One of the Jing co-directors and programme leaders, Meghan Mari is a board of the CNHC, and works with their PSBs (professional specific board members) and others significant stakeholders around the creation and upholding of national standards. This enables Jing as an institute to be fully abreast and agile in terms of emerging developments in the field around standards.
Sports Massage Association (SMA)
The SMA is the national association of soft tissue therapists who have been taking a lead on creating the new National Occupational Standards for the profession of Sports Massage.
• Jing are an accredited school with the SMA and have worked collegiately with them in a highly detailed review of their curriculum and learning outcomes. They have taken great care to ensure that the BTEC level 6 aligns with the new NOS for Sports massage and to that end have followed several recommendations from the SMA including moving our Sports and Event module to year one of delivery, and changed methods of assessment to include a thorough practical assessment of sports massage techniques and treatment with their assessment process observed by the SMA.
Complementary Health Professionals Association (CHP)
Jing have also worked closely with the CHP to ensure that students who wish to join the massage register of the CNHC can do so after year one of the programme via the CHP.
Other Professional Bodies
• The Jing Institute also works closely with all other major professional bodies in the UK including the Federation of Holistic Therapists (FHT) and Complementary Therapists Association (CTHA) to ensure recognition of the BTEC level 6 qualification.
• General Council for Massage Therapies – the level 6 fully meets core requirements laid out by the GCMT.
• The MOD’s Enhanced Learning Credits Administration Service for UK armed forces: ELCAS
Jing are an approved learning provider for ELCAS. Their BTEC level 6 is a Ministry of Defence (MoD) approved course entitling service men and women who are leaving the army to retrain using the Enhanced Learning Credit (ELC) Scheme and our average evaluation score is currently 97%.
• Complementary Health Foundation Degree at Sussex Downs: Jing have worked closely with the staff at Sussex Downs college so that the BTEC level 6 is a recognised pathway for further study for their graduates who study massage at level 5 as part of their course.
Research Module & NHS Work
As a Jing graduate I have had the opportunity to enter the world of evidence-based practice by completing my own unique research project on “Evaluating the effects of The Jing Method™ of Advanced Clinical Massage on stress, anxiety, depression, and low mood in those with desk-based work/lifestyles”. This aspect of my qualification elevates my professional status to a similar level to physiotherapists, chiropractors and osteopaths. Please see my Research page for more details, to download as copy or read the study. It took place over 16-weeks with 22 participants and was subsequently written up as my dissertation.
The results of the study were significant and I am looking to publish soon:
Overall levels of mental health issues: decreased 74%
Levels of Depression: decreased 77%
Levels of Anxiety: decreased 85%
Levels of Stress: decreased 66%
In a field where there is increasing need for evidence-based research, the dissertation project offers a substantive resource into the use of massage as a complementary health pathway and have led to collaborations with the NHS. I am one of these graduates and less than 3 months after graduation I am now working at the St. Charles Centre for Integrated Health and Well-Being at the St. Charles Hospital in Ladbroke Grove. I work as an independent therapist for Community Massage London CIC and take NHS referrals for massage and meditation/relaxation sessions as part of the North Kensington Healthier Futures programme working with those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire and with severe mental and physical health conditions. I have also been attending NHS conferences such as the BHMA annual conference. Please see my page on my NHS Work for more details.
Independent Scrutiny
The BTEC Level 6 qualification programme is subject to a standards verification process annually by an independent adviser appointed by Pearson. The standards verifier independently samples students work and reviews policy and practice. Areas of good practice highlighted by Pearson quality reports include
• Practice centred teaching and assessment.
• Provision of detailed assessor feedback.
• Very high standard of work produced and nicely presented.
• Appropriately qualified and experienced practitioners as tutors and assessors.
• Openness of centre to discuss issues and look for options to continually improving practice
Jing Education Team
The BTEC Level 6 programme has been devised and is led by the directors of Jing – Rachel Fairweather and Meghan Mari. Rachel and Meghan have received several awards in recognition for service to the industry and the development of the BTEC level 6. Rachel and Meghan have twice received an ‘Outstanding Achievement’ award at CAM Expo and the Holistic Health Award for ‘Best Training School’.
Their book “Massage Fusion: The Jing method for the treatment of chronic pain” (published by Handspring) is selling worldwide, has be recognised as a core training text for massage therapy as well as the physiotherapy category. This is spreading worldwide awareness of the courses we offer. (On a side note the text has just been translated into Korean).
Our research programme is overseen by Dr Bettina Karsten PHD, who is our research project leader for our year 3 students and teaches advanced exercise rehab, bringing her latest research into our classrooms.
Qualification: Elevating Massage Practice for the Future
Jing graduates such as myself are making a tremendous difference to the industry and to people’s lives and are now themselves 
becoming leaders in the industry, not only setting up successful clinics working in chronic pain, but also lecturing at high profile conferences such as the British Fascial Symposium, authored books (e.g.: Amanda Oswald – Living Pain free with myofascial release) and working with consultants in the NHS to carry out research (e.g.: (https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/application-summaries/research-summaries/treating-carpal-tunnel-with-a-standardised-massage-protocol-30/).
I myself will be speaking and poster presenting on my research study at the 3rd World Congress on Mental Health and Psychiatry in Amsterdam in March 2025.
