History
The Qualifying Horary Practitioner (QHP) is a correspondence course devised by Olivia Barclay in 1984. This was the first ever traditional course in the United Kingdom. The traditional methods, which are taught by the QHP, are those practised by the great seventeenth century astrologer William Lilly. It was Olivia’s edition of William Lilly’s Christian Astrology (London, 1659), which facilitated the new edition of Christian Astrology by Regulus Publishing in 1985. The astrological community world-wide owes much to Olivia Barclay.

The QHP has been a member of the Advisory Panel for Astrological Education (APAE) for over 25 years. The QHP is an advanced and rewarding course, with students world-wide. The focus is practical rather than philosophical. Instead of seeking to change or modify the astrological doctrine handed down by our ancestors, or denying that astrology is about prediction, an attempt is made to identify and analyse the most worthwhile tools and techniques.

Courses
The QHP is a correspondence course: all Lessons are sent via email. Students study the QHP both in the United Kingdom and world-wide.

The QHP is divided into two: The Certificate is a one-year course of 6 Lessons covering basic methodology. A QHP Certificate holder is entitled to use the initials QHP (Cert).

The Diploma is a two-year course of 10 Lessons. Traditional astrological doctrine is used in a practical way, in order to answer a variety of questions connected to relationships, finance, health, pregnancy, property, sport and career. In the final Lesson, students are asked to make an accurate, verifiable prediction. This, together with continual assessment, replaces a final examination. Upon graduation the student becomes a Qualified Horary Practitioner at Diploma level QHP (Dip) and eligible to join the Association of Professional Astrologers International (APAI).

All QHP details are regularly updated and posted on the QHP website http://qhpastrology.co.uk  Tutors also offer online discussion and extra tuition via Zoom, the cost to be agreed beforehand. For further details including enrolment, please contact the QHP convenor, Sharon Knight, on astrologersharon@aol.com

Admission Requirements
Students are expected to have a basic understanding of planets, houses, zodiacal signs and the casting of charts. However, extra tuition is available from Sharon Knight: astrologersharon@aol.com

A Letter from Olivia to her students (1998)
“Hundreds of people have tried the course, but it is difficult and those who expected it to be easy have dropped out. Of those who successfully completed it, some have produced periodicals, some have devised their own horary courses, some have more or less adapted mine, both in the UK and America. But this is the original course and I have more experience than the others. Running the course is my motivation and it is my repayment to Mr Lilly for the information he has given us.

About the Principal: Barbara Dunn
An expert in traditional astrological doctrine, Barbara is also an author, teacher and researcher. Barbara’s fourth book, Horary Astrology Re-Examined: The Possibility or Impossibility of the Matter Propounded is the definitive textbook on traditional astrology, more than five hundred pages in length. This book, together with The Qualifying Horary Practitioner (QHP), is highly recommended by Robert Hand “for serious students of astrology”. Prior to her astrological life, Barbara was a postgraduate at the London School of Economics, working towards a DPhil. In 2014 Barbara returned to university at Exeter, where she graduated in 2016 with an MA in History with distinction. Barbara is currently a Welcome Trust funded doctoral student researching the theory and practice of medical astrology in early modern England. Also, a well-known media astrologer, Barbara has written for numerous national and international titles, including The Sun, Sunday Mirror, Cosmopolitan, Woman’s Own and New Woman.