Your Guide to ICF Certification

The International Coaching Federation (ICF) provides the gold standard in coach certification. Coach Training EDU is an ICF-accredited organization, which makes getting your ICF credential a breeze.

About the ICF 

The ICF is a non-profit organization dedicated to “advancing the coaching profession by establishing standards, providing independent certification, and building a worldwide network of trained coaching professionals.” Founded in 1995, the ICF is the oldest and most established credentialing program for life coaching. It has over 20,000 members.

While the ICF is an association dedicated to advancing the coaching profession, they don’t offer any life coaching services or independent coach-training programs. The primary function of the ICF is to establish standards for coaching and provide credentials for individuals seeking coach certification. The ICF also accredits coach-training programs, like CTEDU, which can then offer ICF coach certification.

Levels of ICF Life Coach Certification

The ICF offers three levels of life coach certification, which are laid out below. Because it can be a little overwhelming to look at the ICF’s various requirements and paths for certification, we have laid out the breakdown of each certification and how the ICF's requirements map onto the various CTEDU requirements.

1. Associate Certified Coach (ACC)

• 60 Training Hours Needed | Accomplished by completing a CTEDU 1.0 course
• 10 Mentor Hours with ACC or higher Needed | Accomplished through the CTEDU Overview process and the Group Mentor Coaching course
• 100 Logged Life Coaching Hours | You will begin this log during your CTEDU program
• Completion of the ICF Credentialing Exam | You will be adequately prepared for this exam by completing any CTEDU 1.0 course
• Performance Evaluation | Completed by successfully passing a CTEDU overview

2. Professional Certified Coach (PCC)

• 125 Training Hours Needed | Accomplished by completing a CTEDU 1.0 course and the CTEDU 2.0 course
• 10 Mentor Hours with PCC or MCC Needed | Accomplished through the CTEDU Overview process and the Group Mentor Coaching course
• 500 Logged Life Coaching Hours | You will begin this log during your CTEDU program and log a minimum of 20 coaching hours between the 1.0 and 2.0 courses
• Completion of the ICF Credentialing Exam | You will be adequately prepared for this exam by completing any CTEDU 1.0 course
• Performance Evaluation | Completed by successfully passing a CTEDU overview

3. Master Certified Coach (MCC)

• 220 Training Hours Needed | Accomplished by completing the CTEDU 1.0 course, CTEDU 2.0 course, and two to three advanced courses
• 10 Mentor Hours with an MCC Needed | Accomplished through the CTEDU Overview process and the Group Mentor Coaching course
• 2500 Logged Life Coaching Hours | You will begin this log during your CTEDU program and log a minimum of 40 coaching hours between the courses you select
• Completion of the ICF Credentialing Exam | You will be adequately prepared for this exam by completing any CTEDU 1.0 course
• Performance Evaluation | Completed by successfully passing a CTEDU overview

Each of these levels requires the same five elements but differ in the number of training hours, coaching hours, and the credentialed level of your mentor coach.

The ICF has various paths that coaches can take to earn an ICF credential. To learn more about ICF paths to credentials, visit the ICF’s website.

Applying for ICF Certification

Once you have completed your coach training and mentor coaching hours, the next step is to log your remaining coach/client hours.

If you have completed all of the requirements for one of Coach Training EDU’s Level Two programs (meaning you completed a 1.0 course, the 2.0 Coach Training Program, and additional mentor coaching), you can easily apply for certification using the Level Two path.

If you have completed a single training program with Coach Training EDU (meaning you only completed a 1.0 level program or the 2.0 Coach Training Program), you can use the Level One path to apply for certification.

The timeline from clicking the apply button with the ICF to getting your credential has been about two weeks for our graduates who have taken the Level Two path and approximately one month for those going the Level One route. This tends to vary depending on how busy the ICF is with other applications.

ICF Credentialing Exam Prep

While your training will prepare you to pass the ICF's credentialing exam, here are a few additional resources you can use to ensure you are ready:

• ICF Core Competencies - https://coachingfederation.org/credentials-and-standards/core-competencies
• ICF YouTube video Series on the Core Competencies - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMBtOVpaN5DjRt-VAJIa0Xe0MLuA-LZNk
• ICF Vimeo video with overview video on the Core Competencies - https://vimeo.com/372622916
• ICF Code of Ethics - https://coachingfederation.org/ethics/code-of-ethics
• Credentialing Exam Content page – sample questions are available - https://coachingfederation.org/credentials-and-standards/credentialing-exam-content
• Minimum Skills Requirement - https://coachingfederation.org/credentials-and-standards/performance-evaluations/minimum-skills-requirements

If after reviewing these resources, you find you’d like additional help, here are some additional tips: 

1. Review your coursework. 
2. Hire a mentor coach to receive additional feedback on your coaching and help you identify the core competency skills you most need to work on developing.
3. Look for opportunities to review case studies and common coaching situations that you might encounter. 

Types of coaching questions: 

• Scenario Questions: 
  The answer to the scenario question isn’t necessarily what YOU would do in that moment, but what is most aligned with the competencies. It will also ask you to explore what is least aligned. 
• Worst Response Questions: 
  As a coach, considering what NOT to do can be just as important as what TO do (the idea of "do no harm"). In these questions, all of the possible responses are technically possible, but one is considered the “worst” as it pertains to its alignment with the core coaching competencies. 

Notice:

8.2.2022 - Read more on the ICF Credentialing Exam Requirements Change 1 “ICF, the Gold Standard in Coaching | Read About ICF.” Accessed October 5, 2021. https://coachfederation.org/about.