Programme summary for Post-Graduate Certificate/ Diploma/ MA Career Coaching
The new MA course in Career Coaching at UEL is the only one of its kind in the UK. This course will offer students the chance to develop practical skills supported by a strong theoretical basis that will enable them to provide an effective and credible career coaching service to a wide range of clients. Our postgraduate course in Career Coaching both reflects and responds to the many changes that are taking place in the world of work, the career professions and to the developments within academic research and offers career coaching training that meets the needs of the current workplace.
For further details of the Career Coaching courses and how to apply please contact Julia Yates (j.c.yates@uel.ac.uk).
- Theory and practice
- What you will learn
- Links with industry
- Teaching and study
- Teaching staff
- Future work
- Study options
- APL
- Support
- Admission
Theory and practice
We have thought hard about the balance of theory and practice on the programme, and student feedback suggests that we’ve got it about right, as one of our students this year comments, “‘it’s a serious academic degree, but practical and relevant”. You will develop high-level practical skills and learn about the most effective career coaching tools and techniques. But underpinning these practices you will gain an understanding of why these methods work and will feel confident about your academic credentials.
What you will learn
Year 1: Two core modules
Semester A
Evidence Based Coaching Theory and Practice
This core module offers students the opportunity to develop a broad and informed perspective of the major theoretical models such as humanistic, behavioural and cognitive behavioural coaching. Students will critically assess and discuss existing empirical research and develop an understanding of the current state of the evidence for coaching within an international context.
Semester B
Career Coaching Theory
This module brings together coaching skills and techniques together with career choice and development theory. Students will learn about the factors that influence individuals’ career choices and what leads to satisfaction and dissatisfaction in the work place. We will identify theories and practical tools that coaches can use to support clients including Motivational Interviewing, Transactional Analysis and Positive Psychology
Year 2: Two optional modules. Choose one from Semester A and one from Semester B
Semester A
Career Interventions: Beyond the One to One*
This module explores career support delivered in a group context and online. Students will learn theories about group dynamics and group learning, and will develop practical skills in delivering career education to groups, large and small. We will examine the kinds of tools available for online delivery of careers material and evaluate their effectiveness in the light of the evidence about e-learning.
Psychological Perspectives of the Self and Others
This module offers students an opportunity to critically discuss and analyse notions of the “self” and “other”. Students will engage with the use of psychological instruments as a route to understanding personality. Students will also develop an understanding of themselves as agents.
Semester B
Coaching and Mentoring in Education
This module examines the theory and practice underpinning successful coaching interventions in a range of educational settings including primary and secondary schools and within FE and HE contexts. Students will develop confidence in their knowledge and ability to provide effective coaching within this sector.
Leadership and Organisational Coaching
This module develops an understanding of executive coaching within organisational settings. Students will engage with major theoretical models of leadership and critically discuss themes such as organisational design, strategy and change. Importantly, students will consider how coaching can be used within organisations for individual and organisational development.
The World of Work
The first part of this module focused on the labour market, occupational information and the theories and evidence that allow us to understand how people make sense of the world of work. The second part looks at the processes involved in actually getting a job: which are the most successful job search strategies, what CVs actually lead to an interview and what are the best interview techniques.
*This module needs to be chosen for your course to be recognised by the Institute of Career Guidance.
Links with industry
The course has now been officially recognised by the Institute of Career Guidance and we are in the process of ensuring that graduates from our course are automatically eligible to apply to go on the Register for Career Practitioners (subject to certain module choices and submission of a professional portfolio).
We work closely with the Association for Coaching, and by September 2013 we anticipate that our course will have AC recognition.
In partnership with The Careers Group London, we have developed an HE pathway through the programme.
Teaching and study
Each module involves five intensive days of teaching at our Stratford campus, which take place every three to four weeks during each of the semesters. Teaching will be on Fridays or Saturdays.
Teaching dates for 2013/14
- Friday 20th September
- Friday 11th October
- Friday 1st November
- Friday 22nd November
- Friday 6th December
Dates for Semester B (February to May 2014) have not yet been confirmed.
In addition, we organised additional optional seminars on afternoons of the Thursdays or our teaching weeks. These seminars are student driven, so we ask students to suggest and sometimes to lead on topics that interest them. Recent seminars have focused on narrative coaching, the use of collage in coaching and setting yourself up as a self-employed coach. On those evenings, UEL hosts a networking event in conjunction with the BACP, and we invite guest speakers to talk about an area of coaching practice.
On top of the teaching days, you will need to spend some time practicing your coaching skills and reading. Students usually report that they spend around eight to ten hours each week on these extra activities.
Students come from a range of different backgrounds. Around a third have already worked as careers advisers and have a career guidance qualification. Another third have had some related experience, perhaps in recruitment, HR or youth work. The last third are drawn from all different backgrounds – we have people whose previous careers have been in law, banking, physiotherapy, IT, and the Armed Forces.
What our students all have in common is an interest in people, a love of learning and a commitment to supporting others to find job fulfilment.
Teaching staff
The team of staff teaching on this programme are all part-time lecturers and part-time practitioners. We have all had extensive experience of teaching coaching and have all published books in our field.
- Julia Yates: programme leader
- Christian van Nieuwerburgh: module leader
- William Pennington: module leader
Future work
As the course is only now in its second year, we don’t have any destinations statistics to offer, but there are a few different routes that we expect you could follow:
University Career or Employability Services
We have strong links through staff and current students with university employers and the relevant professional body, the Association for Graduate Careers Advisory Services. The Careers Group, London (the UK’s biggest employer of career consultants) has worked closely with us to devise an HE pathway through the programme.
Schools or FE Colleges
Completion of the programme gives you eligibility to apply to be on the national Register for Career Practitioners. With this endorsement, you will be able to apply for a wide range of roles in schools and colleges.
Specialist charities
Many charities, such as those who work with the homeless or with ex-offenders, employ career practitioners to support their clients into work.
Self-employment
The big growth area within career coaching at the moment is for self-employed practitioners. Many of our students will go on to work as private practitioners working with individual clients or on a consultancy basis for organisations.
Study options
The programme is available part time or full time, but most students find that the part-time option allows them to make the most of their learning experience.
We offer a career coaching award at Certificate, Diploma or Masters level.
The one-year, part-time PG Certificate will equip you with the basic skills and confidence to be a career coach.
The Diploma (two years part time) will allow you to choose additional modules that will help your career progress in a direction of your choosing; for example, you could opt for our module on Coaching in Education or Coaching in Organisations. The two-year diploma will also allow you to register for the National Register for Career Practitioners.
The Masters (two or three years part time) will allow you to pursue a piece of research in a particular area of your choosing and will give you the academic and practical credibility that a course at this level will bestow.
Most students apply initially for the Masters programme and can then choose to exit at whichever point suits them best. Some students choose to complete the Diploma in two years and then defer for a year before completing their Masters.
APL
If you have already completed the Diploma in Career Guidance we can offer you automatic APL for one of the Diploma modules.
We will consider any other previous course on a case-by-case basis, but it is likely that only Masters-level University qualifications will be meet the criteria.
Support
All UEL students have access to a range of support services. Students will be provided with handbooks, modular booklets as well as semester timetable to ensure all programme requirements are transparent. The Career Coaching programme provides timetabled meetings for group tutorials. In addition, each student is allocated a personal tutor. There is a formal progress report midway through the programme. The programme team make positive efforts to ensure students take full opportunity of the offer to provide feedback on drafts of written work and academic tutorials. Students on the MA will be allocated a research supervisor.
All students have access to computers, printers and recording facilities. During induction you will be offered session to introduce library facilities as well as online resources.
Admission
Applicants for the Postgraduate Diploma in Career Coaching programme should normally possess a degree from a recognised University or equivalent. Applicants without formal qualifications who possess substantial experience in an appropriate field and can demonstrate confidence about taking academic and practical study may be admitted onto the postgraduate programme. Applicants can choose to enrol for the award of postgraduate certificate. Applicants for MA would normally have completed the p/g Dip Career Coaching or an equivalent postgraduate qualification.
All applicants are required to attend a selection interview at the University and to provide satisfactory references.
In the case of applicants whose first language is not English, then IELTS (or equivalent) at 6.5 is required. International qualifications will be checked for appropriate matriculation to UK Higher Education postgraduate programmes.
Key facts
You can start many programmes in either September or February and applications are simple to make. Click below to:
Apply online Career Coaching (Post-Graduate Certificate/ Diploma/ MA)
View full specification Career Coaching (Post-Graduate Certificate/ Diploma/ MA)
Tuition Fees - 2013/14
Home/EU Fees
- Module fee: £1,100
- Full time fee: £6,600 per yr
International Fees
- Module fee: £1,770
- Full time fee: £10,620 per yr
Fees based on 30 credit modules (unless otherwise indicated) For further information regarding postgraduate fees please refer to www.uel.ac.uk/fees/
