Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching

The Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching offers a broad foundation in a range of best practice, coaching competencies and models. This empowers you as a coach by developing your confidence, ability and credibility. Whether you're new to the field, or several years into your coaching career, the Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching is designed to support a range of competence levels.

You will learn in a highly practical and interactive learning environment, with ample opportunity to apply your learning. From the very start of the programme, you will have the opportunity to apply your knowledge within the classroom and with external coaching clients. Upon completion of the programme, you will be able to coach clients in a professional context, at all levels of experience and in any industry sector – either within your organisation or as an independent coach.

This part-time course is typically studied over nine months, and it is accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Association for Coaching (AC) and the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC). The programme attracts a diverse range of participants, from those wishing to start a new career in coaching to senior leaders aiming to embed a coaching culture within their organisations. By the end of the course, you will have a firm grasp of the fundamentals of coaching, and a better understanding of your own abilities as a coach.

You can choose between in-person and live-online delivery. You will also need to undertake a minimum of 20 hours of coaching practice outside of the workshops and online learning. You can also be confident in the fact that all of our tutors and mentors are accredited, including several at ICF Master Certificated Coach and EMCC Master Practitioner level.

Suitable for

Individuals with some formal or informal knowledge and experience of executive coaching, including independent coaches and those wishing to develop coaching skills in an organisational context.

You will have a minimum of 5 years' management experience, and may have a prior degree. We also welcome applications from candidates with substantial knowledge, experience and skills in a relevant field who do not meet these requirements*.

The programme is conducted in English. An excellent level of English is therefore essential and proficiency testing may be requested.

*A good degree or the equivalent professional or international qualification is desirable; However we do welcome applications from candidates with exceptional management experience who may not hold a degree-level qualification. If you have a minimum of 5 years' managerial-level experience without a degree, we would be happy to consider an application. All applications will be reviewed by the Programme Director for suitability.

All programmes are subject to limited availability. We recommend applying a minimum of 4 weeks before the programme start date to guarantee sufficient time for your enrolment and on-boarding.

Full list of dates

• View all live-online cohorts (PDF)
• View all in-person cohorts (PDF)

Delivery options

The Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching is offered in a choice of study formats:

• In-person
  • Includes full-day workshops followed by virtual supported study, mentoring and supervision
  • Mostly delivered at our Greenlands campus, but also available at our international campuses
  • Weekday and weekend intakes available
• Live-online
  • Includes full-day live-online workshops followed by virtual supported study, mentoring and supervision
  • Weekday and weekend intakes available

For all formats you will need to undertake a minimum of 20 hours of coaching practice outside of the workshops, and self-directed online learning and reading.

Programme content

The Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching runs over a total of nine months part-time, as broken down below:

Modules or course content marked as optional are indicative and may be subject to change. Please note, constraints in timetable scheduling may mean you are unable to take some optional modules at the same time as others.

Further study

Those with a Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching will already have completed Module 1 of the MSc in Coaching for Behavioural Change. (Please note: exemption from this module is available for participants who have previously completed the PCEC no more than five years prior).

Alternatively, you could develop your career with the Professional Certificate in Team, Board and Systemic Coaching, which together with your PCEC forms Henley's ICF-accredited ACTP programme.

Accreditation

The Certificate is accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF at Level 1), Association for Coaching (AC) and the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC at Senior Practitioner level). This recognises the quality of the learning experience and provides the option for individual accreditation with any or all of these bodies following successful completion of the programme.

Find out how the PCEC can lead to individual accreditation >

Set in sweeping parkland on the banks of the River Thames, Henley Business School's Greenlands campus provides an inspiring and reflective environment for focused work and study.

Find out more about our facilities and how to find us

The Henley Centre for Coaching

The Henley Centre for Coaching is a global leader in coaching research and coach training. The Centre is home to a wealth of resources, including the National Coaching Resources Centre, and is a proud recipient of the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) Coaching Award.

Executive Education at Henley

For 80 years, Henley Business School has developed confident and resilient business leaders. Executive Education at Henley is:

• Practical: we combine academic rigour with a strong practical focus, so you can immediately apply what you have learned back in your organisation.
• Relevant: Henley faculty are experienced practitioners who can support you in exploring solutions to your organisation’s challenges.
• Collaborative: Open programmes enable you to expand your network, gain new perspectives and share ideas with peers from a range of backgrounds and sectors.
• Personal: deliberately small learning groups allow you to benefit from individual attention and a confidential environment. We encourage you to understand your unique strengths, leadership style, and areas for development.