Coach

Published on: Wed, 10 Jun 2026 - 07:58

Updated on: Wed, 10 Jun 2026 - 17:56

Occupation professional standard: Coach

The Coach occupation sits in the sport and physical activity sector as part of the community sport and performance sport industries

Occupation context

The role of the Coach is to:

The role of a Coach is to improve a participant’s experience of sport and physical activity by providing specialised support and guidance aligned to their participants’ individual needs.

Coaches can, and do, have an inspirational effect on individuals, groups and communities. They independently plan, prepare, deliver, and review coaching sessions within the sport and physical activity sector. They ensure that the coaching environment is designed to meet a participant’s rights and welfare needs and allow them the opportunity to achieve their goals and to meet their aspirations. The participant’s holistic development as a person is central to the Coach’s activity. This means actively listening to the participant’s opinions, giving them a voice and choice within the coaching environment. The Coach adapts sessions to the participant’s needs and champions inclusivity.

They work with participants, and potentially a range of others (such as other coaches, colleagues, volunteers, parents, guardians, carers, teachers, youth workers and health professionals), to ensure the experience is the very best it can be. This professional standard sets out the core knowledge, understanding and skills required for a Coach to deliver safe, inclusive and enjoyable sessions to their participants. Evidencing this professional standard can be the starting point towards becoming recognised as an expert Coach, for example:

• Coach Chartered Senior Practitioner

• High Performance Coach Chartered Practitioner

Coaches should seek to hone their knowledge and skills regarding the populations (for example Working with Children) and environments (for example Coaching in High Performance) that they work within as their career progresses by undertaking further CIMSPA endorsed training.

What people who have met the requirements of this standard know and can do.

UNDERSTAND

how to independently plan, deliver and reflect upon safe, inclusive and enjoyable coaching sessions, meeting the needs of their participants.

HAVE DEMONSTRATED

the ability to consistently plan, deliver and reflect upon safe, inclusive and enjoyable coaching sessions, meeting the needs of their participants, independently.

Professional status

Individuals who have evidenced all required competency statements in this professional standard will meet the requirements to hold the professional status of:

Coach Practitioner

Evidencing competency statements is typically achieved by completing a CIMSPA-endorsed educational product or products.
By evidencing this professional standard, it provides the Coach opportunity for future progression which may enable them to achieve a higher grade of professional status such as:

Coach Advanced Practitioner
Coach Senior Practitioner

Standard-specific product development guidance

Education product usage and combinations

This professional standard can be used as follows:

to create a standalone education product that can be used as evidence to gain practitioner professional status, for example:
- Coach Qualification
combined with a specialism to form an educational product, for example:
- occupation: Coach

– population specialism: Working with Children

combined with additional specialism(s) to form an educational product, for example:
- occupation: Coach
- environment specialism: Working in the School Environment (Out of Curriculum)
- population specialism: Working with Children. This may then open opportunities to gain a higher grade of professional status, for example advanced or senior practitioner

This may then open opportunities to gain a higher grade of professional status, for example advanced or senior practitioner.

Assessment minimums

Education partners should determine the total qualification time for the qualification/unit and outline the minimum requirements for practical assessment.

For the role of Coach, the minimum practical requirements have been outlined as below.

Knowledge and understanding

Education partners need to ensure that all the knowledge and understanding learning and assessment requirements are assessed via formative or summative assessment. A sufficient range of these requirements must be assessed via summative assessment.

Skills

All learners must be assessed summatively against all the skill-related learning and assessment requirements, that they can consistently undertake the following:

Plan a series of safe, inclusive and enjoyable coaching sessions that are appropriate to the participant’s rights and needs.
Deliver safe, inclusive and enjoyable coaching sessions that are appropriate to the participant’s rights and needs.
Review the effectiveness of the coaching sessions during and after, identify how to improve future sessions.

This information will be captured within the mapping document and reviewed as part of the CIMSPA endorsement process to ensure suitability.

TBC

Learning and assessment requirements

Key areas

0.1

reference unknown

Professional Standard Type

Occupational professional standards

Ref	Knowledge and understanding	Competency statements – an Assessor must:	Recommended assessment method(s)
K10.1	Conduct	know how to conduct themselves and portray a professional image, for example: respectful of participants and other professionals positive honest empowering motivating trustworthy committed non-judgemental consistent a good role model with professional personal conduct and integrity.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K10.2	Ethics	know the professional ethics related to own role, for example: duty of care professional membership role boundaries/scope of practice and responsibilities representation of skills, abilities, and knowledge interface with other relevant professionals business practices professional code of conduct.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K10.3	Legislation and organisational procedures	know the current legislation and organisation procedures relevant to own role such as: data protection participant confidentiality conflict of interest health and safety at work disclosure and barring service procedures (DBS checks) safeguarding children and adults at risk equality and diversity personal liability insurance reporting of injuries first aid regulations individual organisational policies and procedures.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K10.4	Good practice	know good practice regarding conduct, ethics, legislation and organisational procedures.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K10.5	Self-development	know the sources of support to develop themselves.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K10.6	Team development	know sources of support to assist colleagues.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion

Ref	Skills	Competency statements – an Assessor must:	Recommended assessment method(s)
S10.1.1	Responsibility and professional duty of care to participants	ensure participant safety and wellbeing at all times.	Observation Demonstration
S10.1.2	Responsibility and professional duty of care to participants	demonstrate compliance with relevant legal responsibilities, for example: health and safety at work equality and diversity safeguarding data protection hazard identification safe working practices ethical and professional conduct.	Observation Demonstration
S10.1.3	Responsibility and professional duty of care to participants	demonstrate appropriate duty of care to participants.	Observation Demonstration
S10.2	Clarify roles and responsibilities	demonstrate to the participant the Assessor’s role, responsibilities and limitations in providing assistance, for example: scope of practice duty of care.	Observation Demonstration
S10.3	Developing self	demonstrate a commitment to their own ongoing development.	Observation Demonstration
S10.4	Developing teams	demonstrate a commitment to developing a positive learning culture.	Observation Demonstration

Ref	Knowledge and understanding	Competency statements – an Assessor must:	Recommended assessment method(s)
K5.1.1	Plan for assessment	know the key factors to consider when planning assessment in authentic environments.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K5.1.2	Plan for assessment	know the benefits of using a holistic approach to assessment.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K5.1.3	Plan for assessment	know how to plan a holistic approach to assessment.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K5.1.4	Plan for assessment	know how to minimise risks through the planning process.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K5.2.1	Involve the learners in the planning process	know the importance of involving the learner and others in the assessment process.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K5.2.2	Involve the learners in the planning process	know the types of information that should be made available to learners and others involved in the assessment process.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K5.2.3	Involve the learners in the planning process	know how peer and self-assessment can be used effectively to promote learner involvement and personal responsibility in the assessment of learning.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K5.2.4	Involve the learners in the planning process	know how assessment arrangements can be adapted to meet the needs of individual learners.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion
K5.3	Resources	know how to prepare resources and conditions for the assessment of vocational skills, knowledge and understanding.	Portfolio Worksheet Professional Discussion

Ref	Skills	Competency statements – an Assessor must:	Recommended assessment method(s)
S5.1.1	Be able to plan for assessment	plan assessment of occupational competence based on the following methods: observation of performance in the work environment examining products of work questioning the learner discussing with the learner use of others (witness testimony) looking at learner statements recognising prior learning.	Observation Demonstration
S5.1.2	Be able to plan for assessment	communicate the purpose, requirements and processes of assessing occupational competence to the learner.	Observation Demonstration
S5.1.3	Be able to plan for assessment	plan the assessment of occupational competence to address learner needs and current achievements.	Observation Demonstration
S5.1.4	Be able to plan for assessment	identify opportunities for holistic assessment.	Observation Demonstration
S5.2.1	Be able to prepare assessments	select methods to assess vocational skills, knowledge and understanding which address learner needs and meet assessment requirements in an authentic environment, including: assessments of the learner in simulated environments skills tests oral and written questions assignments projects case studies recognising prior learning requirements for assessment adaptions where required, for example: BSL Makaton	Observation Demonstration
S5.2.2	Be able to prepare assessments	prepare resources and conditions for the assessment of vocational skills, knowledge and understanding.	Observation Demonstration
S5.2.3	Be able to prepare assessments	communicate the purpose, requirements and processes of assessment of vocational skills, knowledge and understanding to learners.	Observation Demonstration