Qualified Business Coach Training
Become a Qualified
Business Coach
Gain the skills. Build the confidence. Make a real difference.
Silver Training Provider
Internationally Accredited by the ICRWho this programme is for
This is a professional qualification, not an introduction to coaching. It is built for people who intend to practise — and who are prepared to be assessed against international criteria rather than simply attend.
Case study
For years, Sarah built a career in corporate leadership. She reached a point where she wanted to put that experience to work differently, and she knew that experience alone would not make her a professional business coach. Over five months she worked through the programme, and today she runs her own practice. Like many graduates before her, she describes the experience as life-changing — and, as several of them note below, one that paid for itself through the work it opened up.
Case study
A management consultant and facilitator with more than 25 years in senior management had already completed two executive coaching assignments when he approached us. He wanted three things experience alone could not give him: a coaching methodology he could rely on, a credential that would stand up to scrutiny, and the assessment tools to coach senior leaders properly. His aim was to grow executive coaching into a core part of his consulting practice, alongside the strategy and facilitation work he already did.
Second-career professionals
Executives and specialists with real commercial experience who want to convert it into a practice of their own.
Consultants and HR leaders
People already advising businesses who want a defensible coaching methodology and a recognised credential behind it.
Practising coaches
Coaches trained in a therapy-led tradition who need a business-coaching framework to work credibly inside organisations.
From Neale Roberts
Before you choose a training provider
Three questions worth settling before you commit to any coach training: which genre you are training in, which niche you intend to practise in, and whether you are going to credential at all. There are now over 40 coaching genres and well over a hundred niches, and the answers change which programme is right for you.
The importance of having a coaching framework and a coaching methodology · Neale Roberts
What you qualify as
Completing the programme makes you a Qualified SA Business Coach, and opens two separate credentialing routes — one local, one international.
A Qualified SA Business Coach
You complete the programme having been assessed against measurable competence thresholds, and you can practise using our framework and platform.
A route to COMENSA credentialing
Our programme is registered with COMENSA, so on completion you can apply to credential with them. COMENSA is recognised by SAQA as the professional body for coaching in South Africa. Once credentialed with COMENSA you may RPL (Recognition of Prior Learning) your credential with ICF (International Coaching Federation) or EMCC Global (European Mentoring and Coaching Council).
A route to ICR accreditation
The programme is internationally accredited by the ICR, so on completion you can apply to them for international accreditation.
The programme
Five modules over approximately five months, delivered entirely online. Each combines structured self-paced preparation with live facilitated workshop days, and each is assessed before you move on.
All 13 workshop days run live over Zoom or Teams, so you can qualify from anywhere in South Africa without travel or accommodation costs. They are facilitated sessions, not recordings — you coach, you are coached, and you are assessed in real time. You will experience the exponential effect of your peer learning and facilitator feedback.
Fundamentals of Coaching
The foundations — what coaching is, what it is not, and the core competencies every credentialing body expects you to demonstrate.
The Psychology of Business Coaching
How people behave under pressure inside organisations: patterns, habits, beliefs and values, and how they show up in a business setting. Coaching Psychology by industrial psychologist Dr Elana Siew.
Putting the Business Into Business Coaching
The commercial content that separates a business coach from a life coach working in business — strategy, models, numbers and how to coach around them.
Installing Business Coaching
Running an engagement end to end using the D.I.T.A.R.™ framework and the B.O.P.™ model, inside a client organisation with real stakeholders.
Managing Your Professional Business Coaching Practice
Building the practice itself — positioning, client acquisition, contracting, ethics and the business plan you complete in order to qualify.
How each module works
Every module opens with 25 to 30 hours of structured online content, which must be completed before the live sessions. That preparation is validated by an online test drawn at random from a bank of 100 questions per module — 500 in total — so no two tests are the same. The pass mark is 65%. Take the assessment as many times as necessary as each time you learn more.
Between modules you coach a fellow delegate and are coached by them, twenty hours in each direction. The programme concludes with a 70-hour business plan, which you must complete in order to qualify.
Accreditation, stated precisely
Coaching is an unregulated industry, which is exactly why accreditation matters. Here is who accredits this programme and what each of them actually certifies.
International
International Coach Register
The programme is internationally accredited by the International Coach Register (ICR). The ICR is ISO 9001 certified by LRQA — Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance — and its certification procedures are ISO 17024 based.
South Africa
COMENSA
We are an approved COMENSA Silver Training Provider, listed on the COMENSA Training Provider register. COMENSA — Coaches and Mentors of South Africa — is the coaching psychology accreditation body in South Africa, recognised by SAQA as the professional body for coaching in South Africa.
“SA Business Coaches training course is the most comprehensive business coach training course throughout Europe.”
What graduates say
Four of our graduates, in their own words. Several make the same point independently: the qualification paid for itself.
"This course teaches what you need to know to be a competent business coach. It arms you with knowledge, equips you with skills and provides a foundation for both international and domestic accreditation. This is the best professional programme I have attended, and the time and money I spent would be a bargain at twice the price."
"The content and structure of the coach training is exceptional and unique in focusing on the specific expertise of business coaching. The delivery is professionally structured with online learning and practical hands-on training. This course put me on a new professional life trajectory."
"This intense qualification has significantly increased my ability to lead, guide and mentor my leadership team, with visible results evidenced in the enterprise. The content is of an exceptionally high standard and the practical application ensures real competence. The new learning and competencies are already paying for the cost of the training."
"The content and structure of the coach training are by far the best I have experienced. The programme is comprehensive, practical and supported by live training and structured methodology. The new learning and competencies are already paying for the cost of the training."
Dates and fees
Each intake is capped at twelve delegates and admissions close two weeks before the first live session, because there is online preparation to complete before you start.
2027 Intakes
Next training dates to be advised
Dates and fees for the next intake are being finalised. Register your interest and we will send them to you directly as soon as they are confirmed.
Fees are per delegate and include all online content, assessments and live workshop days. There are no travel or venue costs. Please book at least two weeks before your first live session — there is online material to complete beforehand.
How to apply
Take the assessment
Start with our free "Am I a Good Coach?" assessment. It takes a few minutes and tells you something useful either way.
Have a conversation
Every prospective delegate is interviewed. We explain what the programme demands, and you decide whether it is for you.
Secure your place
Places are confirmed on booking, and admissions close two weeks before the first live session.
Begin the online work
Your first module's online content opens immediately, so you arrive on day one prepared rather than catching up.
Am I a good coach?
A free assessment. No cost, no obligation, and an honest answer either way.
Frequently asked questions
What qualification do I come out with?
You qualify as a Qualified SA Business Coach. That opens two credentialing routes: you can apply to COMENSA, which is recognised by SAQA as South Africa's professional body for coaching, and you can apply to the International Coach Register for international accreditation. Each body sets its own criteria, so completing the programme qualifies you to apply rather than credentialing you automatically.
Who accredits the programme?
The programme is internationally accredited by the International Coach Register (ICR), which is ISO 9001 certified by LRQA — Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance — and whose certification procedures are ISO 17024 based. In South Africa we are an approved COMENSA Silver Training Provider, listed on the COMENSA Training Provider register. One of the thirteen COMENSA credentialing requirements is that you show 60 hours of COMENSA-approved coach training. Our course covers that requirement for you.
Why does accreditation matter if coaching is unregulated?
Precisely because it is unregulated. Anyone may call themselves a coach, so buyers need something to rely on. South African government departments increasingly specify COMENSA-credentialed coaches, and corporate clients are following. There are roughly eleven international accreditation bodies, so the useful question is not whether a provider is accredited, but by whom. Passing this course and credentialing through COMENSA also gets you through the RPL door of international accreditation bodies such as the ICR and the EMCC.
How much time does it actually take?
Over five months: 25 to 30 hours of self-paced preparation per module, 13 live online workshop days, 20 hours coaching a fellow delegate, 20 hours being coached, and a 70-hour business plan to conclude. More than 360 hours in total. The preparation must be done before each set of live sessions.
What is the difference between business coaching and life coaching?
Life coaching largely grew out of therapy and psychology, and places the individual at the centre. Business coaching places the individual in their business context — the strategy, the numbers, the team and the stakeholders — and works on all of it. Many people coaching in businesses today were trained in a therapy-led tradition. We teach a business-coaching framework instead, which is a different discipline rather than a different label. This course trains you first in coaching psychology — the generic international life-coaching requirement — and then progresses onto Business and People Mastery coaching. Three masteries (B.O.P.™) in one course.
Is there a market for business coaches in South Africa?
There is, and it is worth being specific rather than optimistic. South Africa has roughly 2.7 million small and micro enterprises employing about half the working population, corporate South Africa is one of the largest users of coaching, and government is an increasing one. There are over a hundred niches within business coaching. The programme's final module deals directly with choosing a market and building a practice in it.
Who teaches the programme?
It was designed by practising credentialed business coaches, industrial psychologists and business specialists — several of whom previously developed executive MBA programmes in strategy and leadership. The course draws on adult learning principles and current neuroscience, and it is facilitated by professional business coaches who qualified through the programme themselves.
What does it cost, and what does that include?
Fees for the next intake are being finalised. The fee covers all online content, all assessments and all live workshop days, and because the programme runs online there are no travel or accommodation costs. Register your interest and we will send you the fee schedule as soon as it is confirmed.
Is the programme online or in person?
Entirely online. All 13 workshop days run from 08:00 to 17:00 with an hour for lunch, and are run live over Zoom or Teams, alongside the self-paced online content between modules. They are facilitated sessions rather than recordings — you coach, you are coached, and you are assessed in real time. It means you can qualify from anywhere in South Africa without travel costs.
Twelve places. Three intakes a year.
If you intend to practise as a business coach and you are prepared to be assessed against international criteria, start with a conversation. We will tell you honestly whether this is the right programme for you.
Talk to us about becoming a coach
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