MSB’s Coach Education Programmes: Participant Terms and Conditions
These terms set out what you are signing up to when you join one of MSB’s Coach Education Programmes. We have written them in plain language because we want you to actually read them. Please do. There are things in here that matter.
If you are attending as part of a school or organisational cohort, your school has already signed a contract with MSB that covers the commercial arrangements. These terms are specifically for you as a participant.
If you are joining one of our open programmes and paying your own fees, additional cancellation and refund provisions apply to you as a consumer. These are clearly marked in the relevant sections below.
Our programmes and how they connect
MSB offers a suite of Coach Education Programmes. Some are standalone; others are part of a pathway. Here is how our core pathway programmes connect:
- Prologue is the entry point to the MSB coaching pathway. It is a prerequisite for Story.
- Story builds on Prologue and is a prerequisite for our Level 1 Accredited Coaching Programme.
- The Level 1 Accredited Coaching Programme is ICF-accredited and designed for participants who want a formal coaching qualification.
Enrolment in a programme does not automatically confirm a place on subsequent programmes. You will need to apply for each programme separately and meet the applicable completion requirements.
What you need to complete to pass
Prologue
Prologue is a 10-hour fully synchronous programme. To receive your Certificate of Completion you must attend all three parts in full and complete the onboarding questionnaire before the programme begins. That is the complete requirement. There are no written assignments or post-programme submissions.
Partial attendance does not qualify you for a certificate and does not satisfy the prerequisite for Story.
Story
Story is a 47-hour programme delivered over approximately four months. To receive your Certificate of Completion you must:
- Attend all synchronous sessions across all three parts in full.
- Complete all asynchronous self-study tasks before each subsequent session.
- Participate in five observed coaching sessions, of which at least three include written feedback.
- Participate in both Group Mentor Coaching sessions (Chapters 6 and 11).
- Pass the Observed Coaching Practice assessment in Chapter 12. You pass by demonstrating behaviours consistent with ICF standards across Core Competencies 3 to 8, with no significant behaviours inconsistent with those standards. Core Competencies 1 and 2 are assessed through the ICF credentialing exam, not through the observed session. If you do not pass at your first attempt, you are offered one further attempt. A second failure means you do not pass Story and will not receive a certificate.
- Complete and present a Coaching Story reflection in Chapter 13.
- Share evidence of your asynchronous learning through a Story presentation and your completed workbook.
Partial completion does not qualify you for a certificate and does not satisfy the prerequisite for the Level 1 Accredited Coaching Programme.
Level 1 Accredited Coaching Programme
The Level 1 programme is accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF). There are five elements you must complete to receive your certificate and to be eligible to apply to ICF for the ACC (Associate Certified Coach) credential.
- 60 hours of coach education. Prologue (10 hours) + Story (47 hours) + Level 1 (40 hours) = 97 hours in total. All synchronous hours must be attended or made up through the catch-up process.
- 100 hours of coaching experience. Logged over 18 months with a minimum of 8 clients. At least 75 of the 100 hours must be paid (this is an ICF requirement). Internal school coaching counts as paid. At least 25 hours must have taken place within the 18 months before you submit your credential application. MSB recommends a distribution of 40 hours paid external clients, 20 hours internal, 20 hours pro bono, 10 hours peer coaching, and 10 hours group coaching as a guide.
- 10 hours of mentor coaching. 4 hours are included in Story, 5 further group hours in the Level 1 programme. You must also complete 3 hours of individual one-to-one mentor coaching. At least 3 of the 10 total hours must be in a one-to-one format. This is an ICF requirement.
- Performance evaluation. A recorded coaching session of 20 to 60 minutes, reviewed and annotated by an MSB Coach Mentor against ICF Core Competency standards. If you have not met the required standard after your final one-to-one mentor session, one further recording submission is offered. If you apply through the Level 1 path, MSB handles the performance evaluation within the programme. You do not separately submit a recording to ICF.
- ICF credentialing exam. A 60-question computer-based exam delivered by Pearson VUE in two sections over 90 minutes. MSB will provide exam preparation support. Note: the current ACC exam tests the 2019 ICF Core Competencies, which may differ from the 2025 competency framework used in the programme curriculum. MSB will advise your cohort on which version to use for exam preparation.
Once you have earned the ACC, it must be renewed every three years with 40 hours of Continuing Coach Education. MSB will support you with renewal pathway guidance. On completion of the Level 1 programme, MSB will confirm your certificate of completion. You may describe yourself as having completed an ICF Level 1 accredited coaching programme with Making Stuff Better, but you may not use MSB’s logo, programme names, or brand assets in your own professional materials without our prior written consent.
ICF accreditation standards are reviewed periodically. The requirements above reflect current standards. MSB will notify you of any material changes that affect your cohort.
Other Coach Education Programmes
MSB offers additional Coach Education Programmes beyond the pathway described above. Completion requirements for these programmes are set out in the relevant programme materials provided at enrolment. The principles below apply to all programmes.
Attendance
Attendance at all live sessions is required. This is not a preference. For our ICF-accredited programme in particular, attendance is directly tied to the training hours that qualify you for a credential. Missing sessions means missing hours that cannot be recovered through independent reading or recordings alone.
If you have an emergency or become unwell and cannot attend a session, please contact your facilitator and the MSB team at hello@makingstuffbetter.com as soon as possible. Missing a session in an emergency does not automatically count against your completion. You will be expected to review a recording (if available) and attend a catch-up session with an MSB Facilitator before the session can be counted toward your attendance hours.
If you need to miss more than 10% of the synchronous hours for your programme, please speak to us. For Prologue that is 1 hour; for Story, 3 hours; for Level 1, 3 hours. We will work with you to explore options, which may include joining a future cohort. We cannot guarantee that incomplete attendance can always be remedied within the same cohort.
Catch-up sessions
If you miss a session and require a one-to-one catch-up session with a facilitator, this is available at a cost of £75 per session. This fee is payable by you or your sponsoring organisation before the session is confirmed.
Catch-up sessions are available at our facilitators’ discretion and subject to availability. They are not a guaranteed right and are offered as a genuine effort to support your completion where possible.
How we expect you to show up
Our programmes are designed to be genuinely transformative. That does not happen passively. We ask you to:
- Be on time and stay for the full duration of each session.
- Keep your camera on for online sessions. Presence matters.
- Engage actively in activities, discussions, and peer coaching exercises.
- Complete between-session tasks and submit them by the deadlines given.
- Treat other participants and facilitators with respect and openness.
- Maintain confidentiality about what other participants share during the programme.
Behaviour that disrupts the learning environment or compromises the experience of other participants may result in removal from the programme. In these circumstances, no refund will be issued.
Payment and fees
School-sponsored participants
If your organisation is sponsoring your place, payment is managed between your school and MSB under a separate client contract. You do not need to do anything regarding fees unless your organisation advises otherwise.
Open programme participants
If you are paying for your own place, your fee is as set out in your enrolment confirmation. Payment is required before your place is confirmed and before the programme begins.
We accept payment by bank transfer, by credit or debit card via Stripe (GBP), or by instalment plan via GoCardless (available in GBP, EUR, USD, SEK, DKK, AUD, NZD, and CAD). If you wish to pay in instalments, your first payment and direct debit mandate must be in place before the programme begins.
Invoices are payable within 30 days of issue and in any case before the programme start date, whichever is earlier.
If a payment is overdue, MSB reserves the right to suspend your access to the programme until the outstanding balance is settled, and to charge statutory interest and compensation in accordance with the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 where applicable.
Cancellation and refunds
School-sponsored participants
Cancellation arrangements for school-sponsored cohorts are governed by the client contract between your organisation and MSB. Please speak to your school’s relevant contact if you have questions about withdrawal.
Open programme participants
| As a consumer purchasing directly from MSB, you have the following rights under UK Consumer Law. Nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights. |
Cooling-off period. You have the right to cancel your booking within 14 days of purchase without giving a reason, provided the programme has not yet started. To cancel, email hello@makingstuffbetter.com within this period. A full refund will be issued within 14 days of your cancellation.
Cancellation before the programme starts (after the cooling-off period). If you cancel more than 14 days before the programme start date, you are entitled to a 100% refund. If you cancel less than 14 days before the programme start date, you are entitled to a 50% refund.
Withdrawal after the programme has started. If you withdraw after the programme has begun, no refund will be issued. You remain liable for the full programme fee, including any outstanding instalment payments.
Cancellation by MSB. If MSB cancels or significantly reschedules a programme, you will be offered a full refund or a transfer to a future cohort at no additional cost.
Accreditation and certificates
Certificates of completion are issued only to participants who have met all programme requirements. We are unable to issue certificates or partial credit for incomplete participation.
For the Level 1 Accredited Coaching Programme, MSB’s ability to issue certificates and support ICF credential applications is contingent on participants meeting ICF’s minimum requirements. MSB cannot issue a certificate that misrepresents participation hours or completion status. We take this responsibility seriously.
If you believe you are close to meeting requirements but have not quite done so, speak to your facilitator or contact hello@makingstuffbetter.com. We will always look at individual circumstances and explore what is possible.
Transfer of credit
MSB does not currently accept partial course credit from other organisations or programmes. Even if you have completed equivalent training elsewhere, you must complete the full MSB programme to receive our certificate.
We are not currently able to offer partial credit for incomplete participation in an MSB programme. If exceptional circumstances make full completion impossible, please contact us and we will discuss options with you.
Your work and intellectual property
All materials provided to you as part of the programme, including slides, workbooks, recordings, facilitation guides, and any content on the learning platform, remain the intellectual property of Making Stuff Better Ltd. We grant you a personal, non-transferable, perpetual, royalty-free licence to use these materials for your own professional development and coaching practice. This licence is yours to keep for your continued personal study and professional practice; it does not expire when the programme ends and is not affected by whether you complete or withdraw from the programme. It does not give you the right to share materials with others, use them to deliver training or education, adapt or build on them, or use them commercially. You may not record any sessions, or use AI or other tools to capture, transcribe, or reproduce MSB programme content, without our prior written consent. Once you have completed a programme, please note that access to the learning platform is provided for the programme period and for a reasonable time afterwards at MSB’s discretion. Please save any materials you want to keep before your access closes.
The work you produce during the programme, including written reflections, self-assessments, coaching logs, recorded coaching sessions, and assignments, remains yours. By participating, you grant MSB a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use anonymised examples of your work for quality assurance, research, and programme improvement purposes only. MSB will never identify you in connection with any such use.
Confidentiality
Our programmes create a learning environment where people share honestly and take risks. What participants share in sessions stays in sessions. You agree not to disclose identifiable information about other participants outside the programme context.
MSB facilitators operate in accordance with the ICF Code of Ethics. Any facilitation-related concerns can be raised with Naomi Ward, MSB Head of Learning, at hello@makingstuffbetter.com.
Your data
MSB will hold and process your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and our Privacy Policy, available at makingstuffbetter.com.
You have the following rights over your personal data:
- The right to know what data we hold about you and why.
- The right to request a copy of your personal data.
- The right to have inaccurate data corrected.
- The right to request deletion of your data where there is no longer a lawful reason to hold it.
- The right to restrict or object to how your data is processed.
- The right to withdraw consent at any time where consent is the basis for processing.
To exercise any of these rights, contact our Data Protection Officer at hello@makingstuffbetter.com. We will respond within one calendar month.
We will hold your data for seven years after the completion of your programme. Where you have enrolled through a sponsoring organisation, we will share your participation data with that organisation as necessary for programme management.
Accessibility and inclusion
MSB is committed to making our programmes as accessible as possible. If you have a disability, a learning difference, or any other circumstance that may affect your participation, please contact us before the programme begins at hello@makingstuffbetter.com so that we can discuss what adjustments might be possible.
We welcome participants regardless of race, age, religion, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, disability, or any other characteristic. We do not and will not tolerate conduct that discriminates against or harasses any participant or facilitator.
Raising a concern
If something is not right, we want to know. Please try the following:
- Raise it directly with your facilitator in the first instance.
- If that does not feel comfortable, or if the issue is not resolved, contact Naomi Ward, MSB Head of Learning, at hello@makingstuffbetter.com. She will respond within two working days.
- If the matter remains unresolved, you can submit a written appeal to hello@makingstuffbetter.com, marked for the attention of a Director. We will respond in writing within five working days. Appeal decisions are final.
A few formalities
These terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes that cannot be resolved through the process above will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
MSB’s total liability to you under these terms will not exceed the programme fee paid. We are not liable for any indirect or consequential losses. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, or for fraud.
If you are an open programme participant, nothing in these terms affects your statutory rights as a consumer under applicable UK law.
Questions? Contact Jonathan Hann, MSB Head of Operations, at hello@makingstuffbetter.com.
