Level 3 accreditation is intended for coach education providers who are interested in having their education organization accredited by ICF Coaching Education.
Level 3 accreditation is for 75 contact learning hours and is designated as MCC Accredited Education.
Graduates from a Level 3 education and training program may apply for the Master Certified Coach (MCC) Credential using the MCC application path if they meet the credentialing application requirements.
ICF Coaching Education Accreditation confers legitimacy and credibility to providers and curriculum and is required for programs that want to be included in the ICF online registry. A rigorous accreditation process signals a commitment to continuous improvement and provides a common language and consistent standards.
ICF Coaching Education Accreditation is open to all education and training programs that equip people with the ability to use coaching skills in how they interact with others. Accreditation is open to all education and training programs that are educating and equipping coaches professionally, personally, and organizationally to maximize personal and professional potential, and want to be held to the highest industry standards.
The organization will be asked to document the following:
ICF Coaching Education recognizes the impact that a provider’s operations, organization, and administration have upon any participant’s experience of quality and equity in the provider’s program.
This will protect the ICF Brand as the standard of excellence in the field by having confidence that any participant enjoys quality and equity when engaged with any ICF accredited provider in and outside of the direct delivery of learning.
It will also affirm that ICF Coaching Education Accreditation generates credibility with purchasers, and along with that comes provider responsibilities to demonstrate consistent delivery of quality and equity.
The organization will be asked to document the following:
Historically, ICF practices in accreditation established an invisible boundary between the accredited providers and daily operations in the accreditation processes. In the recent 3-5 years this boundary has been softening and more interaction, collaboration and partnering occurs.
Both providers and program personnel must demonstrate, through initial and ongoing review of programs, that a mindset for continuous improvement underpins all coaching education decisions.
Accredited providers will be required to engage in a regular cycle process throughout the life of the accreditation that requires the provider to answer and demonstrate the expected competence that delivers quality and equity, and abides the ICF Values, Code of Ethics, and that the Code of Conduct for accreditation is fully incorporated with provider business practices.
The organization will be asked to document the following:
ICF-accredited providers will be designated with levels of accreditation (Levels 1, 2 and 3) to provide a more direct and clearer path to an ICF Credential. These name changes seek to eliminate jargon and to clearly communicate in the language of a non-coach participant so that the path for progressive development over time is clearer from the moment of introduction to that of becoming a professional coach in any context, academic or commercial.
Level 3 accreditations must meet the following requirements:
Contact Hours: 75 Contact Hours
Course List
The organization will be asked to document all the classes that make up the full intended program. The following details are required for each class:
Education/Training Materials Upload
ICF will request the following information to support an application:
Five (5) Observed Coaching Sessions for each Participant
ICF considers observed coaching sessions a vital component of quality coaching education. Level 3 accredited providers are required to provide a minimum of five (5) observed coaching sessions for each participant. Written feedback must be provided for at least three (3) of the five sessions.
Confidentiality
Organization should only be submitting recordings for which they have received explicit permission from the client/participant to submit recordings of their coaching sessions to be reviewed by ICF staff and performance evaluation assessors for the purposes of assessing the quality and methods of the coaching.
10 hours Mentor Coaching
Director of Education
The Director of Education provides oversight of the curriculum, instructional processes, education of instructors and all observation and examination processes.
We evolve and innovate our current global program accreditation model to maintain the highest standards for coach-specific education and to ensure ICF remains the standard-bearer for excellence.
Your organization is making a real and measurable difference in people’s lives, which is why we are passionate about making sure our coaches and the organizations that train them are well-equipped to do their jobs.
Level 3 accreditations must meet the following key standards areas:
For accredited providers to prepare and create great coaches, they must do more than teach skills and techniques. Organizations need to focus on the delivery methods, environment, and resources as those could make or break the participant’s learning experience.
To create a powerful and engaging experience, an ICF accredited provider is to focus on:
ICF accredited providers will establish a baseline for quality that satisfied the perspective from both the participant and the participant’s consumers. This baseline will be reported to the ICF through a series of self-study surveys released every six (6) months. All ICF accredited providers must agree to complete and submit these renewal surveys by the deadline provided by ICF Coaching Education.
Detailed statements of agreement, compliance and limitation, duty to notify and payment agreements are included in the sample application and online Level 3 accreditation application. Applicants must consent to these agreements as part of the application process.
75+ Contact Hours
$2,500 USD review fee
*Application fees are non-refundable and do not guarantee accreditation approval. Level 3 accreditation is valid for three calendar years.
If you have questions or need support regarding your ICF Coaching Education accreditation application, please visit the ICF Support page.
Organizations who apply for accreditation will receive an official communication from ICF upon the program’s accreditation. The organization accreditation start date will be the date the application was submitted for review. If the education and training offering has only been held once by the organization, ICF will retroactively approve the program’s first graduating class into the organization’s accreditation. If the organization has held the training program multiple times, ICF will only retroactively approve the group of participants who most recently graduated before the organization submitted the full application for Level 3 accreditation by ICF.
If you have questions or need support regarding your ICF Coaching Education accreditation application, please visit the ICF Support page.
Forgot username or password? Click here