Your Journey Begins Here
Welcome to FAST TRACK 1 – The Associate Level!
We’re excited to have you here and can’t wait to begin this next step in your coaching journey.
Before you dive into the course content, please take a moment to carefully review this module—it contains important information to help you understand the full ASSOCIATE LEVEL experience.
⚠️ Most importantly, this module outlines the REQUIRED PRE-WORK that must be completed before your first class.
To get the most out of your learning and start strong, it’s essential that you complete these steps in a timely manner.
Read on for everything you need to know to get prepared—we’re here to support you every step of the way!
ICG FASTTRACK Overview
FastTrack is a complete end-to-end experience to be recognized as a Coach in the industry. Other schools just provide the Education component to be a credentialed coach. We provide more than the required Education. We stay with you to provide opportunities to build your Coaching Experience, give you Mentor Coaching, get you ready for and to complete the Performance Evaluation, help you to complete the ICF application and still stay with you to get ready for the final ICF Credential Exam, which is the last step in gaining your credential as a coach.
You pick the level that meets your needs and budget, and we do the rest.
Your choices:
- ASSOCIATE LEVEL (THIS PROGRAM) – ICF Level 1. Provides all you need to apply to the ICF for the Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential OR to continue on to the ICF Level 2 program.
- PROFESSIONAL LEVEL – ICF Level 2. Provides all you need to apply to the ICF for the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential.
- ACC to PCC UPGRADE – ICF Level 2. Provides all you need to apply to the ICF for the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential.
- à la carte – Take the education that suites your needs now. Most courses may be taken by themselves and do not have pre-requisites. Ask to see the full course list.
What is the difference between the Associate and Professional Levels? The ICF offers three credentials; ACC, PCC & MCC. What differentiates those credentials is the amount of coach-specific-education you need, the amount of live client coaching experience you have completed and the length of time it takes to obtain each level. Perhaps a more important differentiator to consider is what level is your future client/colleague/job-role expect you to have?
The great part of the ICG FastTrack is you decide when to get off. The Associate or ICF Level 1 is required before you can progress to the Professional or ICF Level 2. Once you are on the Level 1 Track, talk to us and discover how easy it is to keep on going to be eligible for the PCC level credential.
This Associate Level 1 learning experience meets all the ICF Requirements and awards an ICF Level 1 designation upon graduation. The number of Coach-Specific-Education / CCEs awarded is 95 coach-specific-education hours. Consisting of 56 hours live online and 39 hrs self-paced. In addition you will be required to obtain a minimum of 100 hours of coaching-experience before you apply to the ICF for a credential.
If you have decided to stay on track for your ICF Level 2 Completion Certificate, you will be awarded awarded is 161 coach-specific-education hours and are required to have a minimum of 500 hours of coach-experience.
The Professional Level 2 learning experience meets all the ICF Requirements and awards an ICF Level 2 designation upon graduation. The only requirement left before applying to the ICF for your PCC designation is to document your 500 hours of coach experience since the start of your initial coach training.
Prerequisite for the ICF Level 2 (Professional Level) is you have achieved one of the following milestones:
- ICG Certified Coach Graduate Designation. (THIS PROGRAM)
- Completed the ICG Associate Level training. (Level 1 Complete)
- ICF Level 1 Complete designation from another ICF Accredited School.
- Hold a current ACC credential.
The Associate Level
The Associate Level 1 (THIS PROGRAM) is your first step toward establishing yourself as a credible, professional coach with the Associate Certified Coach (ACC) designation. It validates your foundational understanding of the ICF Core Competencies, Code of Ethics, and definition of coaching. Whether you’re early in your coaching journey, practicing part time, or integrating coaching into another professional discipline, the ACC signals your commitment to core coaching principles and best practices.
There are FIVE milestone we will walk together through.
- Coach-Specific Education
- Coaching Experience
- Mentor Coaching
- Performance Evaluation
- ICF administered ACC Exam
To gain your credential from the International Coaching Federation (ICF):
- You will successfully complete the first FOUR milestones above to obtain an ICF Level 1 Completed designation from us.
- In parallel to above, document a minimum of 100 hours of coaching with clients. Log the hours coached starting from the start of your coaching education. (NOW)
- We will then guide you (line by line) how to formally submit to the ICF an application for a credential. Once your application has been reviewed by the ICF, you’ll be notified by the ICF if you qualify for the written exam.
- The ACC Exam is the final step in earning your credential. We have you covered here as well. This is the point you take our Credentialing Exam Prep. Course to help you prepare for that specific exam.
Mindset Needed
The best advice we can offer you is exactly what a credentialed coach expects from their client. You will need to do the work. As your coach, we will provide you with the structure for learning, the tools to use and feedback to excel.
You need to plan to develop yourself, challenge your preconceived ideas, be humble and vulnerable. You will find this experience PAINFUL, if you are just looking for the checkmarks to complete your credential. You will find this experience LIFE ALTERING and ENLIVENING if dig deep and choose to evolve who you are.
Having knowledge of other professions may prepare you to be a good coach, but in fact it may interfere with the speed of your learning. Students who have experience in consulting, counselling, training, academic, trusted adviser and even facilitation roles have to “UN-LEARN” some of those key skills that allowed them to be successful in those other professions.
It is an interesting twist:
“You can use coaching in other professions, but you can’t always use other professions in coaching.”
Program Overview from Our Courseware Designer
Course Descriptions
The Associate Level contains the following modules for your development:
(Toggle down on each course to read more)
This learning experience is live online using Zoom. Student-Coaches gather to learn and practice the 5-step process to have a coaching exchange, the 5 core skills needed by anyone using coaching and the 5 guiding leadership principles that govern how the coach interacts with their clients and colleagues.
Duration: 8 Weeks
Location: Live Online. 1.5 hours per week. 8.5 self-paced hours
Pre-Requisite: None
This learning experience is live online using Zoom. It runs concurrently with the 5.5.5 Coaching Skills Training Program. Here we develop your coaching abilities with interactive activities, personalized guidance with powerful knowledge and experience sharing.
Duration: 4 sessions over 8 Weeks
Location: Live Online. 1.5 hours per session
Pre-Requisite: Must be enrolled in an active 5.5.5 Coaching Skills Training Program™
In the JumpStart Coaching program, YOU are the Coachee being coached by an ICF Credentialled Coach. This is a learning and growth opportunity as you experience true coaching from a PCC or MCC designated coach. There is no better way to learn coaching than being coached.
Duration: 3 sessions totaling 1.5 hours
Location: Live one-to-one session
Pre-Requisite: None
Video: Overview From Our Director of Certification
Peer-To-Peer Coaching Program is FREE to all of our student-coaches. Run typically twice a week, you will have the opportunity to coach a peer student-coach for 30 minutes and then switch roles. The time you are the coach counts for your Coaching Experience hours. ACC candidates are required to document at least 100 hours and PCC candidates are required to document at least 500 hours.
Duration: 1 hour session
Location: Live online. Sign-up often.
OBTAIN YOUR SPOT NOW:
The ICF Core Competencies were developed to support greater understanding about the skills and approaches used within today’s coaching profession as defined by ICF. These competencies and the ICF definition of coaching serve as the foundation of the Credential process, including the ICF Credentialing Exam. ICF defines coaching as partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. Each competency is considered core and critical for any competent coach to demonstrate.
This learning experience consists of three elements taken concurrently over an 6-week time span:
- KNOWLEDGE – ICF Core Competencies Revealed
- INTERPRETATION – Coaching Fundamentals™
- APPLICATION – Integrating Core Competencies Coaching Fundamentals Lab
ICF Core Competencies Revealed (CCR)
This is self paced online program that uses video, reading material and interactive quizzes to explain and deeper the understanding of the eight ICF Core Competencies.
Duration: Self-paced over 6 Weeks. Typically, 1.5 hours per week
Location: Online.
Pre-Requisite: None
Coaching Fundamentals Program™ (CF)
This learning experience is live online using Zoom. In this six-week program, participants will learn how to interpret the ICF core coaching competencies and discuss how to apply these foundational principles and skills into the art of coaching.
Duration: 6 Weeks
Location: Live Online. 1.5 hours per week
Pre-Requisite: Must be taken with the ICF Core Competencies Revealed.
Coaching Fundamentals Lab (CFL)
This is a practice lab for the Coaching Competency Series it is delivered live online using Zoom. After leaning about each core competency intellectually, a coach needs to decide how to integrate these professional skills into their coaching style and approach. We find the Core Competencies have a profound impact on who you are as a person as they also inform who you are as a coach.
Duration: 6 Weeks, concurrently with the same 6 weeks of the Coaching Fundamentals Program.
Location: Live Online. 1.5 hours per session.
Pre-Requisite: Must be taken as part of the Coaching Competency Series.
The ICF Code of Ethics describes the core values of the International Coach Federation (ICF Core Values), and ethical principles and ethical standards of behavior for all ICF Professionals. Meeting these ICF ethical standards of behavior is the first of the ICF core coaching competencies.
This is a self-paced course to help know and understand the ICF Code of ethics. It consists of explores the various standards and culminates in a quiz to verify understanding. Adherence is up to the coach.
Duration: Self-paced. Typically, 2.5 hours.
Location: Online.
Pre-Requisite: None
Ever wonder how your coaching skills measure up? This program gives you timely feedback at two points along with your learning experience. One at the end of the 5.5.5 Coaching Skills Series and the second mid-wat through the Coaching Competency Series. The guidance with written feedback is provided by an ICF Certified coach.
Duration: Two 1-hour sessions
Location: Live one-to-one session.
VIDEO: About Learning Partners
Coaching is not just about “doing” the skills (the “What”) and following a process (the “How”). An equal partner in the art of coaching is “WHO” you are being as you are coaching.
The “mindset” of the coach makes the fundamental shift from being that person who is just dispenses advice into being a true catalyst for the growth and transformation of others.
How you think as a coach, what you believe as a coach and how you “show up” as a coach is in fact the whole key to your clients’ success and ultimately yours.
This learning experience is live online using Zoom.
Duration: 4 Weeks
Location: Live Online. 1.5 hours per week
Pre-Requisite: None
This learning experience is live online using Zoom. Participants of this program will refine their integration of the ICF Core Competencies by coaching others and hearing others coach in the classroom overseen and gain feedback from an ICF certified professional coach. Modules within the course prepare the participants for the One-One-Mentoring Program as well. This program qualifies for the ICF Requirement of a maximum of seven group coaching mentoring hours. Feedback is provided in the context of the ICF Core Competencies.
Duration: 6 -Weeks
Location: Live Online. 1.5 hours per week
Pre-Requisite: None
This learning experience is live online using Zoom in a one-to-one session with an ICF Certified professional coach. This is real-time feedback on your ability to demonstrate the ICF Core Competencies. Either live or via a recording of your coaching session, you meet with your Mentor to analyze, learn and grow in your coaching abilities as a professional coach. This program qualifies for the ICF Requirement of a minimum of three one-to-one mentoring hours that must occur over a minimum of three months. Feedback is provided in the context of the ICF Core Competencies.
Duration: 3 hours over a minimum of three months
Location: Live Online. 1.0 hours per session
Branch out here if you are continuing on to obtain your Level 2 or Professional Level designation. Follow on to the PROFESSIONAL LEVEL module from your MY COURSES page. Within the Level 2 program, you will be guided to the Performance Evaluation process.
Otherwise continue on the Level 1 track below.
Before applying for an ICF credential, you must achieve a PASS on a formal Performance Evaluation. This evaluation is conducted by a qualified ICF Assessor who reviews a recording of a coaching session with a real client. A PASS is awarded only when the recording clearly demonstrates the ICF’s Minimum Skills Requirements for the credential level being pursued.
This self-paced course is designed to guide you through the entire process—from understanding the ICF evaluation criteria to successfully preparing and submitting your recording. You’ll learn how to structure your coaching session, receive tips on making a strong recording, explore real examples of successful submissions, and complete guided self-assessments to evaluate your readiness.
- ACC applicants must submit one recording
- PCC applicants must submit two recordings
This course also walks you through the official ICF submission process to ensure you’re fully prepared for success.
Once you have officially received a PASS on your Performance Evaluation and successfully completed the required One-to-One Mentor Coaching, you will be awarded your Level 1 Complete certificate and designation.
However, please note that this does not yet make you eligible to apply for your ICF credential. In addition to completing Level 1 program, you must also meet the ICF requirement of 100 hours of coaching experience, with all hours taking place on or after the start of your formal coach training.
If you’re reading this before finishing Level 1, now is the time to recognize how important it is to build your coaching experience hours in parallel with your training. Staying proactive in this area will ensure you’re fully prepared to apply for your credential as soon as all requirements are met.
What’s Next on Your FAST TRACK 1 Journey
As you approach the final steps of your credentialing path, there are three additional programs designed to support you through your ICF application and exam process:
- APPLICATION – Application Submission Support
- ICF EXAM PREP – ICF Core Competencies Revisited
- ICF EXAM PREP – ACC Credentialing Exam Preparation Course
These programs are ideal to complete after you’ve earned your Level 1 certificate, logged your 100 coaching hours, and are ready to submit your application to the ICF.
We’ll share more details soon—but for now, just know that these resources are here to support you, just like we are when you’re ready to take the final steps.
Time Sensitive Actions
Let’s get prepared quickly. In your first week, we be throwing a lot at you in a short amount of time. We will walk you through in order of time and importance.
- FIRST CLASS – 5.5.5 Coaching Training Skills Program
- NEXT WEEK – Start the 5.5.5 Practice Lab Course
- BEFORE YOUR FIRST CLASS – Join your student community in SLACK
- ANYTIME NOW – Set-up you Learning Partner sessions
- ANYTIME SOON – Select your JumpStart Coach
5.5.5 Coaching Skills Training Program
What to expect.
This is an 8 week zoom based course that runs once a week for 90 minutes. ADD another 1.0 to 1.5 hrs. between sessions you will have Fieldwork. In addition to reading additional material, you will be expected to coach a fellow student AND actively practice your coaching with as many people as you can.
To access the course materials, go the The COURSE DASHBOARD within this course OR at any time from the course tile on your MY COURSES page of the website.
The link to the ZOOM class is contained in the 5.5.5 Course Tile.
5.5.5 Practice Lab
What to expect.
This is an 4 session zoom based course that runs once EVERY SECOND week for 90 minutes. This runs in concert with the 5.5.5 Coaching Skills Training Program to practice and apply whet you have learned.
To access the course materials, go the The COURSE DASHBOARD within this course OR at any time from the course tile on your MY COURSES page of the website. Check-it out
The link to the ZOOM class is contained in the 5.5.5 Practice LAB Course Tile.
EXAMPLE OF WEEKLY FIELDWORK
Reinforce Learning
- Re-read Learner’s Guide: The 5-Step Coaching Exchange.
- Watch: The Coaching Exchange – The 5-Step Coaching Exchange.
- Capture notes in your Learning Journal.
Field Work
- Conduct at least two Coaching Exchanges before the next class.
- Discover what is working and not working for you.
- Reminder to do the Credentialling QUIZ.
Prepare for the Next Class:
- Read: The Learner’s Guide:
Guiding Principle: Be Curious
Core Skill: Listening - Watch the video Coaching Skills – The 5 Core Coaching Skills
- Bring topics you wish to be coached on.
One-To-One Coaching Programs
JumpStart Coaching
We believe to learn how to coach, you need to experience coaching.
We believe this so much, that for our Fast-Track student-coaches we offer three coaching sessions.
Get coached by a professional coach on us.
How It Works
- Must be completed in three months from the middle of your 5.5.5 program (month 2).
- Jump on this chance now. Engage with one of our JumpStart Coaches, we recommend using this service part way through 5.5.5 and into Coaching Mindset courses.
- Select your coach from the Coach Pool section located in the JumpStart Course tile.
- Once processed, schedule your three coaching sessions.
- Start JumpStart Coaching
Learning Partner
You will have two opportunities to interact with one of our faculty in the role of your Learning-Partner. This is NOT an evaluation, these are coaching session supporting you development as a coach.
Look for an email from us with the name of your Learning-Partner. You are responsible to reach out to your Learning-Partner to schedule your two sessions.
Your Two Key Touchpoints
Session 1 – At the end of their 5.5.5 training course – The focus is on the 15 elements in the 5.5.5 course (5 Skills, 5 Steps, and 5 Guiding Principles).
- Session 2 – Midway through the Competency Series – The focus is on learning and demonstrating the 8 ICF Core Competencies.
Reach out to your Learning-Partner now to get your time in their busy client load.
Finding Your Rhythm
At the start, the pace of the program may feel a bit intense—but that’s completely normal. As with any meaningful growth experience, it takes some time to find your rhythm. The good news? With the right mindset and a bit of planning, you’ll thrive.
How to Set Yourself Up for Success
Just like in a coaching relationship, your growth depends on your engagement. Here’s what to expect and how to prepare:
5.5.5 Series Zoom Classes:
- Every even-numbered week, you’ll have one 90-minute Zoom class.
- Every odd-numbered week, you’ll attend TWO 90-minute Zoom classes.
Self-Study:
- Plan for at least one hour per week of independent learning.
- (This time counts toward your total training hours.)
Coaching Practice:
- Aim to coach at least two clients per week.
- Begin building your client base early to stay on track.
By managing your time and staying intentional, you’ll confidently move through the program and build real momentum toward becoming a professional-level coach.
We’re here to support you every step of the way!
House Keeping
🧭 Navigating Your Courses: A Quick Guide for Getting Started
Welcome! Our platform gives you flexible ways to move through your courses, which is a big time-saver—but it can feel a little confusing at first. Here’s how it works:
Course Access
- Every course you’re enrolled in has its own Course Tile on the My Courses page of the website.
- Start by opening the Associate Level course tile—this is your main entry point.
Track Your Progress
- Each course tile includes a progress bar so you can easily see how far along you are in completing that course.
Zoom Class Access
- The Zoom links for your live classes are found inside each specific course tile. Go to MY COURSES.
- Each class has its own dedicated page, visible in the blue navigation bar on the left side of that course.
Course Materials & Resources
- All course materials are contained within each Course Tile.
- You’ll frequently find downloadable handouts, key concepts, and resource documents to support your learning.
- Be sure to check each section as you move through the course to access these helpful tools.
Reflection & Personal Growth: The “Note-to-Self” Feature
- As you move through the course, you’ll encounter Reflection Points—moments designed to help you pause and think deeply about your learning and growth.
- At each of these points, you’ll be invited to create a “Note-to-Self”—a space for you to write down your insights, questions, and personal guidance.
- Once completed, each Note is sent directly to your email inbox.
- Every course uses this feature. We strongly recommend creating a personal system—such as a folder in your email or a journal document—where you can store and revisit these Notes.
- You’ll be asked to reflect back on these insights throughout the program to guide your continued development and improve your coaching impact.
The Course Dashboard
- Inside the Associate Level course tile, you’ll find a page called Course Dashboard.
- This dashboard contains access tiles for all the additional Level 1 courses you’ll complete as part of the program.
Getting Started Tip
Begin with the “Associate Level” course tile and use the Course Dashboard inside it to explore and access the other courses.
You’ve got this—and we’re here to support you every step of the way!
The Student Coach Resources hub is a dedicated space tailored to empower aspiring coaches on their academic and professional journey.
Join our ongoing conversation in Slack by clicking the logo below:
If you need assistance, please contact our Student Service team at support@coachingoutofthebox.com
