Advanced Coach (Level 4)
Are you a high performing coach looking to use research and expertise to enhance your programme?
The Level 4 Advanced Coach Certificate is designed for coaches who want to develop their practice to the highest level, irrespective of the level of athletes they work with. This professional education programme has been designed to create an optimum learning environment for coaches.
On successful completion you will be able to design, implement and evaluate the process and outcomes of long-term specialist coaching programmes significantly impacting on the learning, development and performance of your athletes/participants and on the sport as a whole.
How is the Award structured?
The Award includes a Post Graduate (PG) Diploma in Professional Sports Coaching Practice delivered in partnership with the University of Stirling. It is a work-based learning course designed to provide you with theory and research to challenge, support and inspire current coaching practice. During the two year course, there will be distance learning opportunities, a residential coaching symposium, and visits by coaches and technical mentors to your host club.
You will be required to complete 360° feedback and work with specialists to support your development, provide a coaching log as well as completing assessments.
These assignments will be relevant to your own situation, enabling you to apply any findings directly to your own coaching environment and allowing you to draw upon your own coaching practice and experience. All assignments are mapped to the Level 4 Advanced Coach outcomes that you are working towards and will be counted as additional evidence.
At the end of year two, following your successful completion of the PG Diploma, you will be invited to the final Level 4 Advanced Coach assessment. This will take the form of a presentation to a panel and will also include a professional discussion.
You may complete and be awarded the PG Diploma at the end of year two but find that you need to provide further evidence against the Level 4 Advanced Coach outcomes before being awarded a Level 4 Advanced Coach. You cannot however achieve the Level 4 Advanced Coach without meeting the assessment criteria of the PG Diploma.
At the end of this programme of study you have the option to continue your studies and complete credits to make the diploma up to Masters level.
Application criteria
This qualification is aimed at coaches who are committed to their own development, have the desire to learn, are open to taking on new ideas and to reflecting on their current coaching practice. Coaches interested in the programme will be invited to an information day to learn more about the programme, to decide if it is the right option for them, and to identify their next steps.
To apply to study for the Level 4 Coaching Certificate, you will be required to:
- Hold a Level 3 Coaching Certificate or recognised equivalent qualification, such as World Rowing / other federation coaching qualifications or suitable postgraduate diploma.
- Demonstrate that you’ve been a high-performing coach in a specific environment for a minimum of five years and display high-performing characteristics aligned to the Level 4 criteria.
- Provide two references who are able and prepared to verify your expertise and experience.
As part of the application process, it will be necessary to demonstrate that you can:
- Provide a range of evidence of on-going professional development and of your current high-performing coaching practice
- Employ an athlete-centred approach to your coaching
- Hold an ambassadorial role in rowing
You are encouraged to identify a mentor to support you with specialist, sport-based, technical development.
Next steps
Further information about the structure and the course content of the PGDIp and L4 elements will be fully explained to coaches at an online information session led by Programme Director Stephen Macdonald, on 4 March 2025 from 10.30am-12.30pm (no registration required – simply click the button below on the day).
Join Stirling's Information Session (4 March)
This will be followed by a ‘sense -making’ workshop hosted by British Rowing L4 Programme Manager Loretta Williams and Learning, Ediucation and Development Manager Sarah Harris on 10 March 2025 at 7.30pm (registration required).
Register for the Workshop (10 March)
How to apply for September 2025
Applications will open following the above online sessions in March 2025, and will close on 30 May 2025.
If you have any questions before that, please contact Loretta Williams, British Rowing Level 4 Programme Manager ([email protected]).
Further information
Level 4 Coach Richard Chambers, who graduated in 2023, reflects on how the course has helped him to develop his coaching practice here.
