An expression of interest form for prospective applicants to the Advanced Coach Programme and Accreditation, aiming to be the next step in your learning journey from Athletics Coach or Coach in Running Fitness, has gone live today. The programme is a key priority in the UK-wide Coaching strategy which was announced last year.

Outlined in the strategy is the aim of supporting coaches to achieve the highest standards across all ages and stages of the athlete/runner journey, in all events and in all environments. The Advanced Coach Learning Programme and accreditation is differentiated for coaches working with children, youth, senior or performance, with a learning curriculum written by experts in each of these domains and in all events. At the end of the programme, there will be the opportunity to be assessed for accreditation as an Advanced Coach.

The Programme has been designed to equip experienced and aspirational coaches with:

• A greater understanding in areas of individual needs. These will be identified in an Individual Coach Plan.
• Enhanced levels of coaching skill and behaviour in the coach’s own environment and with the athletes they coach.
• Higher levels of competence and confidence within the complex and multifaceted role that coaching is.

The UK Athletics coach education team working with the Home Country Athletics Federations (HCAFs) intend to begin delivery of the Advanced Coach (Youth) programme in Autumn 2022 with the Children’s and Senior programmes scheduled for early 2023. The Performance programme will begin later in 2023. The programmes are designed to be delivered over a 12–18 month period with the aim to run each of the four programmes twice per year depending on demand.

At this stage, we would like to know more about the people who would be interested in applying, to assist in the planning of delivery structure, format and timing. If you are interested in finding out more about the programme, please fill in the survey via the link and the UKA Coach Education team will contact you soon to share more information.

The information you provide will not be shared with anyone outside the Coaching Departments at UKA and the HCAFs. We will use it to inform the course delivery plan and share information back with you in due course.

The survey can be found HERE.