ICF Releases New Minimum Skills Requirements (MSR) Documents
On October 9, 2025 the International Coaching Federation (ICF) released 3 new Minimum Skills Requirements documents for the 3 levels of coaches –
- Associate Certified Coach (ACC),
- Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and
- Master Certified Coach (MCC).
What Are the ICF Minimum Skills Requirements (MSR) Documents?
The Minimum Skills Requirements documents offer a clear and practical overview of what it means to demonstrate competence at the particular credential level of coaching. For example the –
- Associate Certified Coach (ACC) minimum skills requirements resource highlights the essential skills and behaviours that assessors listen for in ACC performance evaluation recordings, while also highlighting common pitfalls that can undermine effective coaching,
- Professional Certified Coach (PCC) resource pinpoints the specific skills and behaviors that distinguish PCC-level practice, and
- Master Certified Coach (MCC) describe the advanced skills, refined presence, and nuanced behaviours that characterise MCC-level coaching, while also pointing out the subtle missteps that can hold a coach back from excellence.
In each of the MSR documents, the ICF refers to “Behaviours Consistent” and “Behaviours Inconsistent” with ICF Standards, for each credential level. These documents provide valuable guidance for coaches and coach educators who want to understand how the ICF currently defines the three credential skill levels. They are also an excellent resource for coaches who are preparing for their first or next ICF credential, especially when used alongside a mentor coach.
Where Can I Find the ICF Minimum Skills Requirements (MSR) Documents?
Glad you asked! You can find the documents on the following links –
- Associate Certified Coach (ACC) Minimum Skills Requirements document click here,
- Professional Certified Coach (PCC) Minimum Skills Requirements document click here, and
- Master Certified Coach (MCC) Minimum Skills Requirements document click here.
As the ICF transition with the documents, if you are applying for an –
- ACC – please click here to discover what criteria will be used.
- PCC – please click here to discover what criteria will be used.
- MCC – please click here to discover what criteria will be used.
If you have any questions about these updates, ICF support email is support@coachingfederation.org
Over to You…
I hope this post has helped you identify more about the ICF Minimum Skills Requirements for the ACC, PCC and MCC credential level. If you have any questions, please let me know. Also – if you are looking for an ICF Mentor Coach, please click here to find out more. I have also created an On-Boarding and Off-Boarding System for Coach’s here.