We have been training coaches for over 10 years, and one of the most consistent questions we get is around coach certification and accreditation. And it is no wonder – if you are new to coaching it can be very confusing.

To help you sort some of the confusion we have created a Top 7 Certification Questions List. These are the questions we get asked on a daily basis. Hopefully you will leave us with a clearer picture, if not then please email us directly and we would be happy to answer your individual questions.

Q1. Do I need to be certified to practice as a Professional Coach?

The short answer is no. Currently there are no national or international regulatory requirements for coaches that we know of. However there have been several countries and states that have from time to time attempted to bring in some sort of regulation similar to that required for psychologists or accountants. And it may be that someone is successful.

In the meantime coaches are generally treated like management consultants. Inevitably it is the client or customer who chooses their criteria for hiring or firing. Normally that includes qualification and experience (or a combination of both)

Q2. So why should I get certified (or even qualified) as a Coach?

In the absence of any regulatory body several “accrediting” and “credentialing” bodies have started up. All these bodies have created some sort of  ‘standards framework’ by which they measure the quality of coaches and coaching. Not only is this great for the development of the profession, it is also very useful for clients when they come to hire a coach. It provides some sort of guide, some way from separating out the serious coaches from the hobbyists.

The ICF is one such accrediting body (others are the IAC, WABC etc.) The International Coach Federation was founded in 1995 by a man commonly referred to as the “grandfather” of coaching, Thomas Leonard. It now has over 19,000 members worldwide and has accredited 100’s of coach training schools.
We are great believers in standards here at ICA and we are also passionately committed to building a strong coaching professional around the world. To do this we need agreed apon standards, coaches need ongoing professional development and clients want the peace of mind a known credential can bring. We believe the ICF is the world leader in not only setting these standards but in building a community of coaches worldwide who endorse these standards.

Q3. What’s the difference between accreditation, certification and a credential?

This is a great question. If it isn’t already confusing enough to have several accrediting bodies, they all use different terms. Here are the 3 main terms and what they mean

1. Accreditation
Programs get accredited not people.
In our case the ICF has accredited our flagship coaching program “Certified Professional Coach Program” That means they have examined it fully and assessed its quality against both their ICF Core Competencies, and their own internal policies.
In order for us to become what they call an “”Accredited Coach Training Program” our program must fulfil the following:
•    A minimum of 125 hours of coach-specific training
•    Training on all ICF Core Competencies and the ICF Code of Ethics
•    A minimum of 6 observed-coaching sessions with an experienced coach
•    A comprehensive final exam that evaluates a student’s coaching competency
•    In the US and Canada, a Director of Training holding the MCC credential; outside the US and Canada, and Director of Training committed to obtaining the MCC credential within 3 years of the application

In addition we had to demonstrate the following
•    Our curriculum mapped across the ICF Competencies
•    Our trainers had relevant and current qualifications and experience
•    We had a professional development process in place for trainers
•    Our assessment was well designed and adequately measured learning outcomes
•    Our students support was of a high quality
•    We had all the necessary policies and procedures in place

2. Certification
Certificates are issued to graduating students by their coach training school
Individual training schools issue their own coach training certificates. In or case we issue a Certificate of Professional Coaching to all coaches who meet our assessment and graduation requirements

3. Credentialing
The ICF issues credentials to trained and experienced coaches. They have 3 levels of credential – ACC, PCC and MCC
There are two ways to apply for any of the 3 credentials – an ACTP application and a Portfolio application. The ACTP application is for coaches who trained with an  ACTP school. The Portfolio application is coaches who have trained with a non-ACTP school. The difference is that when you go to submit your application, ACT students simply tick a box, whereas Portfolio students must demonstrate that the training they undertook meets the requirements of the ICF competencies.

Q4. What are the different levels of coach certification coaches can have?

Associate Certified Coach (ACC)
The ICF Associate Certified Coach credential is for the practiced coach with at least 100 hours of client coaching experience.

Professional Certified Coach (PCC)
The Professional Certified Coach credential is for the proven coach with at least 750 hours of client coaching experience.

Master Certified Coach (MCC)
The Master Certified Coach credential is for the expert coach with at least 2,500 hours of client coaching experience. (There is a single application type for the MCC)

Q5. I don’t want to get certified or credentialed now; I just want to start coaching. Is that OK?

That’s perfectly fine and a lot of our coaches take this path. Our one recommendation is to always train with an ACTP program so that when you do want to apply for credential you can. Also – our coaches don’t wait until they finish training before they get clients, we encourage them to do that right away. And even if you are not yet credentialed with the ICF, just being able to tell your clients that you are enrolled in an ICF accredited program gives you credebility

The benefits to you as a coach are:
•    Enhances your credibility and reassures potential clients that you are an experienced and professional coach
•    Demonstrates that you stand by a strong code of ethics
•    Demonstrates a high knowledge and skill level
•    Reinforces the integrity of the coaching profession nationally and internationally.

Q6. I’m from <insert your country> do I need a different qualification?

We get this question all the time and our answer is the same no matter what country you come from.
Coaching is a global profession, and by that we mean that your clients can come from all over the world. Since most coaching is conducted over the phone there is no need to meet face to face. The only exception to this is executive or corporate coaching, where the company or the executive may require initial coaching to be face to face, (but even that can swiftly move to phone coaching once all parties see the benefit.) So for this reason, it far more important to align yourself with an international qualification and credential than a local one.

Q7. But what if my clients ask for <insert your country> qualifications

In our experience most countries have heard of the ICF, even and including most government departments. And once you explain the rigorous evaluation involved with an ICF credential we find that most clients are satisfied. However if you only plan to work face-to-face and you only plan to work in your local region you may wish to find a local qualification. Our only other word of warning with this is that the local qualifications we have seen to date are very low level. They cover basic coaching competencies only and are more suited to beginner coaches. In our case we find that most of our students are coming to us with one or 2 qualifications already, they are not entry level students, they are operating more at the post graduate level.