The ECI is an independent Professional Coaching Body which is made up of professional coaches and coaching organisations, working with International Standards and Ethics. The skill sets, competencies, standards and ethics defined for the ECI are designed by mutual agreement between coaches from across the world. These coaches have made the commitment to design, build and maintain the highest standards you would expect in any profession.

Coaching has it's own unique set of skills. As coaching is not yet a regulated industry there are many individuals and organisations representing themselves as coaches or coaching organisations - some of these are individuals who are calling themselves coaches without any formal coach training. In these cases they may be transferring their skills from other professions into their coaching. Coaches often have to 'unlearn' old skills from their previous professions before they can competently learn the skills required for to be an effective coach. Therefore selecting to work with a coach who has no formal coach training, may result in an inadequate or in-effective coaching experience for you.

So if you are considering hiring a coach, as you will see from the 'how to hire a coach' details one of the questions you should ask is what coach specific training they have had and what accreditation level they have achieved? Deciding whether a coach is competent cannot be defined by the fees that they charge or by non-coach specific training.

To understand the differences in Accreditation levels, we have provided a summary of the accreditation requirements below:

FECI - Accredited Fellow Coach (ECI)

600 hours of specific coach training (This is an additional 450 hours over Accredited Practitioner Coach training, or an additional 300 hours over Accredited Corporate Coach or Accredited Senior Coach training, or an additional 150 hours over Accredited Master Coach training.) Copy of Coaching Log, showing 8,000 hours of coaching experience, of which at least 80% is paid Copy of Training Certificate(s) Copy of Continuing Professional Development log Testimonials from 5 paying clients Tape or CD recording of 2 coaching sessions Successful completion of interview with a member of the ECI Accreditation Team Completion of Declaration of Integrity Payment of one-off registration fee and application fee.

MECI - Accredited Master Coach (ECI)

450 hours of specific coach training (This is an additional 300 hours over Accredited Practitioner Coach training, or an additional 150 hours over Accredited Corporate Coach or or Accredited Senior Coach training.) Copy of Coaching Log, showing 4,000 hours of coaching experience, of which at least 80% is paid Copy of Training Certificate(s) Copy of Continuing Professional Development log Testimonials from 5 paying clients Tape or CD recording of 2 coaching sessions Successful completion of interview with a member of the ECI Accreditation Team Completion of Declaration of Integrity Payment of one-off registration fee and application fee.

SECI - Accredited Senior Coach (ECI)

300 hours of specific coach training (This is an additional 150 hours over Accredited Practitioner Coach training.) Copy of Coaching Log, showing 750 hours of coaching experience, of which at least 80% is paid Copy of Training Certificate(s) Copy of Continuing Professional Development log Testimonials from 5 paying clients Tape or CD recording of 2 coaching sessions Successful completion of interview with a member of the ECI Accreditation Team Completion of Declaration of Integrity Payment of one-off registration fee and application fee.

CECI - Accredited Corporate Coach (ECI)

300 hours of specific coach training (This is an additional 150 hours over Accredited Practitioner Coach training.) Copy of Coaching Log, showing 750 hours of coaching experience, of which at least 80% is paid Copy of Training Certificate(s) Copy of Continuing Professional Development log Testimonials from 5 paying clients Tape or CD recording of 2 coaching sessions Successful completion of interview with a member of the ECI Accreditation Team Completion of Declaration of Integrity Payment of one-off registration fee and application fee.

PECI - Accredited Practitioner Coach (ECI)

150 hours of specific coach training Copy of Coaching Log, showing 50 hours of coaching experience, of which at least 80% is paid Copy of Training Certificate(s) Copy of Continuing Professional Development log Testimonials from 5 paying clients Tape or CD recording of 2 coaching sessions Successful completion of interview with a member of the ECI Accreditation Team Completion of Declaration of Integrity Payment of one-off registration fee and application fee.

WECI - Accredited at Work Coach (ECI)

100 hours of specific coach training Copy of Coaching Log, showing 50 hours of coaching experience and the benefits of using coaching at work, of which at least 80% is coaching within your work environment. Copy of Training Certificate(s) Copy of Continuing Professional Development log Testimonials from 5 individuals at work Tape or CD recording of 2 coaching sessions Successful completion of interview with a member of the ECI Accreditation Team Completion of Declaration of Integrity Payment of one-off registration fee and application fee.