AC accreditation requirements: training, practice and assessment

Association for Coaching requirements are set per level, and they are counted in separate categories. Coach training hours, coaching delivery hours, supervision sessions and continuing professional development are four different ledgers. Adding them together produces a wrong answer about readiness.

Before you use any figures, settle which scheme you are applying to and by which route. AC runs separate schemes for personal coaches, executive coaches, team coaches, leader coaches and supervisors, and the team, leader and supervisor schemes have their own level names and criteria. The main table below covers the written Coach and Executive Coach scheme. Live assessment and RAP differences follow it; do not apply the table to team, leader or supervisor accreditation.

The published minima by level

AC's Coach Accreditation Overview, document reference CAO 11/25, sets these requirements for the four levels of the coach and executive coach scheme. Requirements checked on 11 September 2026 against CAO 11/25 and the more detailed applicant guide, CAAG 11/25.

Sources: AC Coach Accreditation Overview, CAO 11/25 and Applicant Guide, CAAG 11/25, sections 9–10. Membership at Member level or above and professional indemnity insurance, where applicable in your resident country, also apply.

CPD wording needs care. CAO's first page labels the figures as totals over three years; its detailed rows and CAAG's annual table say 30/35/40 hours per year above Foundation. Use those annual rates, with the last three years recorded and reflections on the last 12 months. Foundation has conflicting wording: CAAG's annual table says 10, while the overview and application form say 10 hours since initial training, with the log covering since training or three years, whichever is shorter. Confirm the Foundation period with AC; do not treat 10 hours as an unqualified annual or three-year rule.

The live assessment route uses the same delivery thresholds. AC's live assessment overview, reference CALA 11/25, lists the coaching log requirement as 50+, 100+, 500+ and 1,500+ hours by level, alongside training certificates, client references and supervision evidence. CALA specifies one CPD certificate at Foundation, Coach and Professional, and two at Master. It does not give the written-route annual CPD table.

RAPO 11/25 also retains the delivery thresholds but lists 3/4/4/4 supervision sessions by level, with ratios 1:15, 1:15, 1:30 and 1:40. Its training row recognises the current ICF/EMCC requirements. Do not import the written route's six-session rule into RAP. For the accelerated-course route, obtain your specific scheme-and-level pack from the provider.

Those figures are entry requirements. AC describes both its written and live routes as assessing fitness to practise and coaching competence against the AC Coaching Competency Framework. Meeting one threshold alone does not establish eligibility; the other requirements still apply. It does not settle the outcome.

What counts as coaching delivery

The applicant guide, reference CAAG 11/25, defines which activities belong in the delivery log. Checked 11 September 2026.

Pro bono work counts. The guide states: "You may include pro bono (no charge) coaching hours." AC does not set a paid minimum on this scheme in the way ICF does on its credentials, so do not carry an ICF rule across.

Virtual and face-to-face both count. The guide states: "You can include both virtual and face to face coaching."

Team and group coaching can count, under the guide's own definitions. Where you deliver specific one-to-one coaching inside a group or team engagement, that time can be recorded as individual coaching, provided you do not also count it as group work. Follow the guide's arithmetic rather than estimating. Attending or facilitating an event is not coaching delivery.

Old sessions still count. AC's help and support answer on counting coaching delivery hours says: "You can go back in your coaching experience records as far as you need to in order to demonstrate the required number of coaching hours for the level you are applying for" (AC, Counting coaching delivery hours, checked 11 September 2026). That answer sets no cut-off for the delivery-hours total. Other evidence, including client references and the written-route recording, has its own recency requirements.

Service exchange is addressed, but reciprocal swaps are not named. CAAG 11/25 says coaching delivered in a service exchange without payment counts as paid hours; its example is an hour of coaching exchanged for marketing consultation. It does not explicitly classify two coaches exchanging coaching sessions. If your total depends on that arrangement, ask AC whether your specific swap fits its service-exchange rule.

Training-period client work and classroom roleplay need separate treatment. The reviewed delivery guidance does not explicitly decide whether classroom practice inside a course qualifies. Do not count it merely because it appeared on a timetable.

Executive applications have a context requirement. At least 75% of logged hours must involve coaching in an organisational context. The guide includes a coachee's self-employed work and does not restrict this to senior executives. Formal internal coaching may count; ordinary line-management meetings do not. For a 50-hour total, 75% is 37.5 hours. The guide also prints a Foundation example of 37 hours; confirm that discrepancy with AC rather than rounding down.

Group and team hours are elapsed coaching time. Appendix I illustrates two four-hour sessions with four coachees as eight hours, not 32. The engagement must meet the guide's shared-purpose/learning-agenda definition and be coaching rather than instructional training.

Practise with other coaches while you build delivery hours

If you want regular practice while you build your delivery hours, look for other coaches on Robin. Ask AC whether your specific swap fits its service-exchange rule before you count those hours. A platform does not decide whether a session counts. If you’re new, you’ll set up your profile and create a free account before connecting.

Explore peer practice on Robin →

Supervision and CPD

For the written route, meet both the session minimum and the supervision-to-coaching ratio. Spread sessions regularly across the previous 12 months and remain in supervision when applying. CAAG accepts individual, group and peer supervision under its definitions; a peer supervisor must still meet its supervisor criteria. This is different from EMCC's individual-supervision rule.

Your supervisor need not be AC-accredited. They must meet AC's professional-body, coach-training, relationship-boundary and experience criteria, including at least two of its listed experience/qualification conditions. Read AC's supervisor eligibility guidance and CAAG section 9 before committing to paid sessions.

For written-route CPD, distinguish annual learning from the period your log covers. Above Foundation, CAAG asks for a three-year log, reflections for the most recent 12 months, and two certificates or other evidence. At least half the required annual CPD must focus on coaching skills or knowledge; reading must not exceed half your CPD for any year. The Foundation period conflict is explained above. The live route uses CALA's certificate list instead of this written evidence checklist.

Assessment: what actually happens

On the live assessment route, AC sends pre-reading before the session, including the Global Code of Ethics, the AC Coaching Competencies, and guidance on ethical scenarios and professional discussion questions. Supporting documents go in beforehand. The session runs with a maximum of six participants working in triads with one assessor. You coach, you are coached, and you observe your peers, then discuss your coaching approach with the assessor and set development goals. AC's page advertises results in five working days (AC, Individual Coach Accreditation, checked 11 September 2026). Treat that as AC's published service standard, and confirm current timings when you book.

On the written route, you submit a written application covering your coaching approach and fitness to practise, with word-counted sections, ethics responses and evidence that varies by level. Foundation uses a reflective fitness-to-practise statement; Coach, Professional and Master require a recording, verbatim transcript and critical reflection under CAAG section 7.

On the accelerated route, your training provider supplies the submission details and documents, because the process recognises proficiency already demonstrated on the course.

On the Recognized Accelerated Pathway, you submit a portfolio application, and the pathway overview maps ICF and EMCC levels to AC levels. Delivery-hour evidence is still required at the level you apply for.

Peers in a live assessment session are participants, not assessors. The AC assessor makes the judgement.

A readiness grid you can fill in

Copy this and complete one row per requirement. It is an illustrative working tool, not an AC form.

Keep the ledgers apart. A fictional example: a coach with 42 delivery hours and 40 training hours has 42 delivery hours, eight short of Foundation's 50, and 40 training hours, five above its 35-hour training minimum.

Record what you delivered, not what you booked. A 60-minute slot that ran 45 minutes of coaching plus 15 minutes of scheduling talk is not an hour of delivery. If you want a rounding rule, get it from AC rather than inventing one.

Write the document reference and date next to every figure. AC revises these overviews, and a copied figure may belong to an older version or a different route.

Before you pay

Confirm how Member-level membership is arranged for your route. The accelerated-course route advertises a complimentary year; check with AC before buying a separate one. Download the current overview for your scheme and route and check its reference and date against the figures you have been working with. Then list the activities you are unsure about, especially reciprocal practice and classroom practice, and ask AC in writing before you submit.

Once your totals hold up, the next job is assembling the evidence itself: logs, references, supervision records and reflective writing in the formats AC's own forms ask for.

Related guides: Coaching accreditation explained · ICF, EMCC and AC compared.

Sources

• AC Coach and Executive Coach Overview, CAO 11/25, pp. 1–2: training, delivery and written evidence. Its summary CPD period conflicts with detailed guidance. Checked 11 September 2026.
• Applicant Guide, CAAG 11/25, sections 3, 7, 9–10 and Appendix I: delivery definitions, service exchange, executive context, recording, supervision, annual CPD and log arithmetic. Checked 11 September 2026. Foundation CPD period and executive rounding discrepancies are stated above.
• Live Assessment Overview, CALA 11/25: pre-assessment documents and live activities. Checked 11 September 2026.
• RAP Overview, RAPO 11/25: separate supervision minima and evidence. Checked 11 September 2026.
• AC Individual Coach Accreditation, Counting coaching delivery hours and Supervisor eligibility: route process, historical records and supervisor standing. Checked 11 September 2026.

Reciprocal coaching swaps and classroom-roleplay eligibility remain unconfirmed; the published service-exchange rule does not name those arrangements.