Companies are rapidly realising the value of improving their managers' coaching abilities as a vital part of their management training strategy. In the UK, ILM awards offer a complete curriculum of development and evaluation leading to a nationally recognised qualification.

There are three levels of qualification aimed at different groups, each of which contains units in both theory and practice:

• Level 3 Award & Certificate in Coaching for Team Leaders/1st Line Managers


• Level 5 Certificate & Diploma in Management Coaching & Mentoring


• Level 7 Certificate & Diploma in Leadership Mentoring & Executive Coaching

Applicants follow a schedule of learning, development and assessment which includes the following activities:

• Induction and Learning Materials


• A set number of hours of structured group learning


• Tutorials and development activities


• Assessment testing both knowledge and skills.

Prices start at £1175 + VAT per head for Level 3 and £1495 + VAT per head for Level 5 fully taught Programmes.

Quality Education & Development Ltd is the first UK ILM Centre to offer a blended learning package for Level 5 Certificate and Diploma in Coaching & Mentoring. This gives candidates more flexibility and offers employers a cost-effective method of providing training for their management team. QED's clients can now choose between the blended learning and fully-taught packages.

All candidates receive course materials, tutorials, coaching supervision and full support during their assessment.

QED provide a number of coaching and mentoring services for their clients, including:

• ILM qualifications for supervisors, managers and executives at levels 3,5 & 7
• bespoke courses ranging from one day tasters to longer programmes
• course for head teachers, teachers and teaching assistants
• individual coaching for executives, managers and business owners
• online ILM-approved coaching programmes.

QED offer flexibility and affordability to their customers, with blended learning programmes that mean delegates are away from their workplace for less time but still get the same quality of training.

QED also offer a range of leadership and management development programmes for business:

• ILM qualifications for supervisors, managers and executives at levels 3, and 4
• bespoke courses ranging from one day tasters to more in-depth programmes
• leadership and management coaching.

QED can design and deliver short- or long-term programmes on leadership or management topics. Each programme is tailored to suit the client's needs. These programmes are suitable for those who wish to acquire the various skills but do not require a qualification.

QED have 20 years of active involvement with NVQs, and have been an NVQ centre with City & Guilds since 1990. They specialise in the development of assessors, verifiers and trainers and provide the following services:

• qualifications for assessors and verifiers
• qualifications in learning and development for trainers
• CPD for assessors and verifiers
• NVQ consultancy services.

QED can help with any NVQ needs that you or your company may have. Their approach is to simplify and streamline the process so that clients can get the most out of the NVQ process. Confusion has reigned in NVQs for many years, due to an abundance of paperwork and administration. QED offer a holistic approach to assessment, with the emphasis on high quality verification and concise portfolios.

The QED website has a wealth of highly useful resources for trainers and trainees. It also features a regularly updated blog with all the latest news and information from the world of coaching. Have a look around it, and if you can't find the information you're looking for online, contact QED directly. They are always happy to give advice and information.

QED has been involved in coaching in a myriad of ways since it began trading in 1988. Initially coaching was employed as an integral part of the delivery of various NVQs, management and trainer training programmes. Since 1998, when coaching made its' way across the Atlantic from the USA, we have embraced it fully into all our services and programmes, with many trained coaches on our staff team and a coaching ethos throughout the organisation.

We are linked into the coaching community through the ICF (International Coaching Federation), which promotes ethical and high quality coaching and coach training worldwide and liaises with other organisations who deliver training across the spectrum of coaching including life, business and executive coaching areas.

We know from our own experience that coaching has countless uses and benefits in the development and success of individuals, teams and whole organisations. We have been particularly successful working in the small business sector. To date more than 100 individuals have been through the 12 month QED Small Business Coaching Programme for entrepreneurs with extremely positive results ranging from doubling business income, vastly increasing customer bases to reducing working hours from 80 to 40 per week.

There are however, gaps in the provision of coaching training across the UK and Europe. With so much emphasis on the American approach to coach training and the market focus on life coaching courses, we have been aware for some time that there was a need to provide both structured learning and recognised accreditation for those coaching in organisations across the public and private sectors.

We were therefore eager to take the chance to become a pilot centre for the new awards and were approved in January this year. We believe that these awards will fill the gap in provision and offer managers at all levels a comprehensive programme of learning and experience that will give them both the skills and the confidence to become effective coaches in their organisations and ultimately make a real difference to individual and organisational performance and help to tackle current employment issues such as work-life balance.

In addition to the ILM requirements for each of the coaching awards at Levels 3, 4 and 5, QED provides for every candidate to receive one-to-one coaching throughout their programme. Additionally we are now developing online learning for each award, which will be available from the Autumn, to give more flexibility to customers wishing to develop their staff as coaches.

It is true that everyone has the potential to be a coach and that coaching is an entirely 'natural' skill. We believe that thorough training and supervised practice are vital in the development of truly effective coaches.