The Coaching Academy

The Coaching Academy: coaching training with ICF and AC accreditation

The Coaching Academy is a coaching training academy based in the United Kingdom, established in 1999. It presents itself as a provider of coaching courses and certifications accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and the Association for Coaching (AC), and claims to have trained over 14,000 coaches worldwide. Its offering combines theoretical training with supervised practice and online resources.

Diplomas and specialist courses

The main programme is the Life Coaching Diploma, described as the foundation of all its training and professionally accredited. It covers the GROW model, live coaching practice, business development and allows you to choose ICF or AC accreditation. Alongside it, the academy offers other diplomas and courses:

• Corporate & Executive Coaching Diploma, accredited by AC, aimed at coaches working in large organisations or with senior leaders; covers executive coaching frameworks and organisational dynamics.
• NLP Diploma, an INLPTA-accredited course that teaches the fundamentals of Neuro-Linguistic Programming.
• NLP Practitioner Programme, accredited by ANLP, to train as an NLP practitioner.
• Business Coaching Diploma, for those who want to coach businesses and their leaders.
• Coaching within Education Diploma, accredited by AC, to apply coaching skills in educational settings and with young people, within safeguarding frameworks.

These programmes can be taken independently or combined with the main diploma.

Methodology and professional standards

Assessment for the diplomas combines observed coaching practice, written assignments and continuous feedback from tutors. The training integrates theory with practical sessions, supervised coaching and real case studies. Students learn from qualified professional coaches with experience in training and clients, and receive support from mentors during the programme. The academy maintains an online learning platform (OLP) with updated materials and progress tracking, accessible for flexible study.

Student profile

The programmes are designed for people seeking professional coaching training, including career changers, professionals adding coaching skills to their current role and those wishing to develop a formal coaching practice. Suitability depends on individual goals and commitment to the course requirements.

Promotional offer and events

The site indicated a September enrolment promotion: when signing up for the Life Coaching Diploma, the NLP Diploma was included, a qualification valued at £2,000, with 30 hours of live virtual training delivered by Master Trainers and two years to complete it. The offer ended on Wednesday 30 September at midnight and 7 of 45 places remained. In addition, the academy organises free webinars, such as the 45-minute session "How to become a successful Life Coach" and a monthly series of coaching conversations, as well as continuing professional development (CPD) workshops and workshops on coaching niches.

Complementary DISC training

The academy offers DISC profiling training structured in four levels: Level 1 - Certification, Level 2 - Accreditation, Level 3 - Advanced Practitioner and Level 4 - Licensed Trainer. It also has a DISC resource shop with online profiles and materials for coaches and their clients.

Community and resources

The academy maintains an alumni community of over 14,000 students and publishes stories and reflections from former students on its blog. It also offers articles and guides on topics such as how to become a business coach, wellbeing coach or certified career coach. On Trustpilot, the site showed a rating of 4.8 out of 5 based on 1,685 reviews.