Changes in the requirements for ICF

ICF has just announced important changes to its certification and certification renewal requirements, and therefore affect us all.

Certification ACC

One of the most relevant changes is that as of July 31, 2018, coaches who want to be certified ACC and do not have an ACTP degree will again have to take an oral exam. This requirement existed in the past, currently already applied to apply for the PCC via ACSTH, and the ACC if you do not have accredited training by ICF (via Portfolio). It consists of presenting one (ACC) or two (PCC) recordings of real sessions with clients plus their literal transcription in Word.

The change favors coaches who have completed an ACTP-accredited training program at a coaching school, where the school conducts the oral exam and it is validated by ICF. By becoming certified with ICF, these coaches are not required to take an oral exam for either ACC or PCC, and it is up to the training entity to periodically justify that it meets all quality standards to maintain the accreditation seal.

Thus, the new measure means that every coach ACC will have demonstrated adequate mastery of the 11 Key Coaching Competencies and the Code of Ethics of ICF through an oral exam. On the positive side, this step increases the value and credibility of a ACC certification in the eyes of our clients, but it may also make it more difficult to obtain certification.

There are still a few months left to take advantage of the current conditions, and you will only need to submit the following:

• ACTP degree of at least 60h
• Client registration with 100 hours of coaching, minimum 75 hours paid
• 10 hours of mentor coaching, minimum 3 hours individual and maximum 7 hours group coaching.
• Written test: the "Coach Knowledge Assessment".

But, whether you want to present for this date or later, the mentoring process you do should prepare you for coaching aligned with the ICF competencies, with clear guidelines to be able to submit a recording to ICF that meets the requirements and pass the oral exam. Depending on whether your goal is to record a session to submit to the exam or not, your mentor will be able to propose a process that suits your development needs. At the end of this post you will find a link to the workshops I teach.

Renewal of certification

Effective March 2018, changes have also been made to the requirements for certification renewal. Every three years we have to demonstrate that we have continued our professional development as coaches and submit 40 CCE credits as evidence of this. Although the pool of CCE credits is very large, it is not always easy to collect them. Some of the new criteria make it easier, but others restrict the options.

These are the new rules:

1) To renew the ACC, you can now count the mandatory 10 hours of mentor coaching as part of the 40 credits in the Core Competency Development section. Since 1 hour corresponds to 1 CCE credit, you will only have to justify another 30 credits. This is good news!

2) In the case of renewals of PCC or MCC, Mentor Coaching to receive feedback on your coaching aligned with the ICF competencies is no longer mandatory, but despite being considered a vital element of coach development, there is a limit of 10 hours maximum to include as part of the 40 credits. And for professional mentor coaches who were previously able to count their mentoring work under this heading, it is now also limited to 10 hours total.

3) Same for Coach Supervision, both receiving and facilitating, only 10 hours of this reflective work on your coaching practice may be submitted for credential renewal.

In conclusion, we are encouraged to seek a wider variety of continuing education. There are a few more changes that you can check out on the ICF website at this link.