Discover how to become a life coach in the UK and what life coaching courses and qualifications you need to make a real difference in people’s lives.
Not everyone in the UK is familiar with life coaching or can say confidently what a life coach is.
So, it may surprise you that if you successfully become a life coach in the UK, you’ll be joining the second-fastest-growing industry in the world. That’s right, the number of life coaches has risen 33% worldwide between 2016 and 2020.
However, there’s some stigma surrounding the profession due to an influx of coaching cowboys. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
In this blog, we explore what it takes to become a fully certified and legitimate life coach in the UK.
What Is a Life Coach in the UK?
A life coach is a person who serves to improve the happiness, progression, and stability of their clients within their personal or professional lives. Often, this comes down to goal setting and accomplishing. Together with the client, the life coach will help identify their goals before supporting the individual to achieve them.
A common flaw with most people is an inability to see themselves as others see them. As Anaïs Nin once stated, “We don’t see things as they are; we see them as we are.”
A good life coach will comfortably take the client outside the current comprehension of themselves and the world to help them understand who they are and what their role is on this planet. This process is also prominent in psychology practises within other self-improvement courses, such as NLP training. Your best life coaching is dependent on this ability.
A life coach works as a mentor, trusted advisor, and companion. The best professional life coaches will attain various life coaching courses and training programmes to achieve life coaching qualifications and certifications.
Why Become a Life Coach?
There are various executive opportunities available to life coaches. It’s a profession closely associated with the highest-earning members and top-performing tiers in society.
A-list celebrity actors such as Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman and Penelope Cruz have all hired life coaches. Even sportsmen like Tiger Woods and Michael Phelps, arguably the highest ever achievers in their respective fields.
When we start uncovering the role of a life coach in society, it becomes clearer why the profession is growing in popularity, reputation, and recognition.
“Everybody should have a coach.” ~ Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google
It’s not just Oscar-winning actors and world-class athletes who require life coaches. It’s ideal for anyone looking to:
- Become more confident
- Improve their self-esteem
- Lower their stress levels
- Find peace
- Increase their focus
Arguably, anyone looking to achieve more tomorrow than they did today should think about hiring a life coach.
How Much Do Life Coaches Make?
Some life coaches in the UK make anywhere between £60 to £120 per hour.
The average life coach salary in the UK will start around £35k. Depending on experience, a life coach salary in the UK can go up to £120k a year.
Do I Need a Qualification to Be a Life Coach?
Technically, no. It is not illegal to claim to be a life coach without specific life coaching qualifications or certificates. However, to become a life coach in the UK, it is highly recommended you should complete accredited life coach courses to build credibility and set yourself apart from the competition.
It’ll be like turning up to a job interview with no previous experience, qualifications, or references. Also, having some background in psychology, education, wellness, and business will prove very beneficial to your journey in becoming a life coach.
Sadly, underqualified life coaches taint the industry and take advantage of others’ insecurities and confidence issues.
Therefore, to become a life coach in the UK and create a thriving business off the back of it, you should prioritise life coaching qualifications.
Let us not forget, the very essence of life coaching is coaching. The hypocrisy involved if someone expects to become a life coach in the UK without any professional coaching in courses or training goes against the very structure, function, and purpose of the vocation in the first place.
Things to Consider with Life Coach Qualifications
Now we have established the importance of professional life coaching courses, let’s explore the best ones available.
Before committing to a life coaching course in the UK, make sure you do a background check into the validity of the training and education.
A professional life coaching course in the UK will be accredited by a governing body such as the Association for Coaching (ACA). The ACA is supported by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) and the International Coaching Federation (ICF) to help deliver the highest standards of life coaching to the UK.
Even further than being accredited, you might want to see if the life coaching course you’re thinking of beginning has won an award.
If the life coaching course you’re thinking about is not accredited by one of the three governing bodies, then you should take your investment elsewhere.
How Long Does It Take to Become a Life Coach?
To become a life coach in the UK will take an average of 300 hours of study time. And how long this takes to complete depends on your capability to learn, your approach and your personal circumstances. The recommended study time can range from six months to two years.
The most important thing is to take your time and absorb all the information, expertise, and resources available to you. To become a top life coach in the UK, you must dedicate time, be willing to learn, and show enthusiasm to want to change people’s lives.
Find a Credible Life Coaching Certification UK at UKCPD
With so many accredited life coaching courses to choose from in the UK, which life coach certification is the best? At UKCPD, we have been providing specialist life coaching training and certifications in the UK for over 20 years. Whether it’s to achieve goals in your personal or professional life (or both), we have the expertise to help you get there successfully.
The UK College of Personal Development is an award-winning, accredited, independent training organisation. We offer a range of professional courses, such as AC coaching qualifications.
Firstly, our award-winning Foundation Diploma in Life Coaching is an online self study option with full personal tutor support. Explore a range of coaching models and key ideas before putting them into practice.
We also offer our LIVE online options:
A more advanced option with full NLP Practitioner
All these courses have garnered awards, certifying the credibility of UKCPD as an exceptional provider of life coaching qualifications in the UK.
If you seek any advice or have any questions regarding life coaching, get in touch with UKCPD today. We’d be happy to offer our expertise to help set you on the right path to becoming a life coach.
