Apprenticeship Standards Sports Coach (L4)
About the role
This Level 4 apprenticeship standard is typically designed as an 18-month programme (this does not include EPA period) and is for apprentices interested in the sport and physical activity sector and wish to gain the skills, knowledge and behavioural competences required to work in a high-performance, community and school environment role.
High performance sport coaches develop athletes and players in high-performance settings, including those on talent or development pathways, national or international programmes, professional or podium environments.
Community sport coaches motivate and engage people of all ages and abilities in community sports and physical activity settings. Community sport includes local authority, charity and national governing body of sport community initiatives or clubs.
School sport coaches collaborate with teachers to develop pupils’ mastery of psychomotor skills by applying a whole child approach in their coaching. They work in all categories of school and registered childcare environments.
The broad purpose of the Sport Coach occupation is to use extensive technical and tactical sports knowledge and skills to design and deliver coaching programmes that engage, motivate and evolve participants’ skills and performance.
Sport coaches aim to provide meaningful and high-quality learning, development, and performance experiences. They support the achievement of medals in talent, national and international competition, enrich performance in local competitions, increase participation, raise educational standards, enhance wellbeing and drive social change. Sport coaches can influence national wellness to reduce burden on the National Health Service.
Professional recognition
This standard aligns with the following professional recognition: The Chartered Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) for Coach Membership.
On this page
Standard
Mandatory requirement
In order to meet the apprenticeship standard apprentices will be required to hold or achieve:
- Minimum of Level 2 English and Level 2 maths
Apprentices without Level 2 English and maths will need to achieve this level prior to taking the end-point assessment.
For those with an education, health and care plan or a legacy statement, the apprenticeship’s English and maths minimum requirement is Entry Level 3. A British Sign Language (BSL) qualification is an alternative to the English qualification for those whose primary language is BSL.
End-point assessment
As an ESFA-approved Assessment Organisation, we provide a full range of assessment services, resources and support from our experienced EPA team to equip you and your learners with the diverse requirements of the apprenticeship standards.
You can use Pearson as your end-point assessment organisation, regardless of whether you choose to use our on-programme offer or not.
There are three assessment methods for this EPA
1: Work based project and presentation with questioning
This assessment method has two components.
The project should be designed to ensure that the apprentice’s work meets the needs of the business, is relevant to their role and is in the form of a 4500-word report. The report will then be summarised in a presentation with questioning. The structured presentation will last for 75 minutes typically including a presentation of 20 minutes and questioning for 55 minutes.
The project will be based upon the ‘project outline’ submitted at gateway.
2: Practical observation with questioning
This assessment method has two components.
This assessment will take the form of the creation of a coaching session plan and the observation of the delivery of the coaching session, followed by questioning. This must take place in the apprentice’s workbased environment to draw out the best of their competence.
The coaching session planning and practical observation with questioning will assess the planning, preparation, delivery and review of a coaching session for a selected individual or group of participants. The session will be based upon the plan and adaptations to coaching methods, activities and timings will be made in the moment to ensure that participants’ development needs are met. Following completion of the full session plan unaided, there will be a debrief.
The observation will be covered in a single 2-hour face to face session. This will include an assessment of 30-minutes preparation to include facility set up, equipment organisation and risk assessment, 60 minutes delivery and 30 minutes debrief through questioning.
The full session plan will be based upon the ‘coaching session outline’ submitted at gateway.
3: Professional discussion underpinned by a portfolio
This assessment method has one component.
This assessment will take the form of a professional discussion which must be appropriately structured to draw out the best of the apprentice’s competence and excellence. The professional discussion must last for 90 minutes.
The professional discussion will be underpinned by the ‘portfolio of evidence’ submitted at gateway.
Our range of EPA resources such as EPA specification, additional resources document and practice knowledge test are designed to enhance learners’ knowledge and/or hone essential skills required.
They are available to our customers who have signed up to Pearson EPA and include information on:
- Structure
- Grading
- Gateway requirements
- Assessment content
- Evidence requirement for each component
We have designed a step-by-step guide, with signposts to our key supporting information, resources and services available at every stage of the process.
