UKCC Quick Facts 

WHO?
*Karen King was appointed by the National Rounders Association in January as the UKCC Lead Officer to develop the Level 1 and Level 2 endorsed courses for Rounders. Karen developed UKCC endorsed courses at Levels 1 – 4 in her previous role and has worked in sport for numerous years in both development and coach education roles.
 *Alison Steel continues her role as Coaching Co-ordinator as well as the role of  NRA Office Manager and will play a key role in the implementation side of the UKCC .
* The new qualifications will be developed by the Lead Officer in conjunction with the National Source Group for Rounders and a UKCC Technical Working Group, alongside ongoing  support from scUK.

WHAT?. . .
What is the UKCC? 
* The UK Coaching Certificate (UKCC) is an endorsement of coach education programmes across sports within the UK set against agreed criteria. 
* The main differences between the current and the new courses are firstly, that the qualifications, will need to meet national standards to become endorsed and secondly, that the ‘UKCC endorsed’ qualifications will be awarded by 1st4sport Qualifications (this will practically lead to a number of differences within the course delivery, administration and quality assurance mechanisms). Therefore, whilst coaches will, in practice, undertake the ‘qualification’ of 1st4sport Level 1 Certificate in Coaching Rounders, the award will have received UKCC endorsement and hence meet national standards. 
* 31 sports have been quietly transforming their coaching structures since 2005, to meet national standards. Many of the Phase 1 and 2 sports have already gained endorsement for their new qualifications and their experiences will benefit the Phase 3 sports, including Rounders.
* Rounders have recently received national funding in order to develop new qualifications at UKCC Level 1 and Level 2, to up skill tutors, assessors and internal verifiers and to develop both coach and tutor resources to support the new courses. 
* In additional, a recent further funding bid for £20,000 to Sport England has been successful, enabling further development of the tutor and assessor workforce  and enhanced resources.

  What will happen to existing courses? 
* Once the UKCC endorsed qualifications are introduced, they will replace the current NRA Level 1 and NRA Level 2 awards. It is anticipated that current courses will be available until the end of December 2008, with the UKCC qualifications being rolled out from January 2009 onwards. 
* The current Coaching for Teachers and Young Leaders courses will remain unchanged and will sit at a level below the UKCC structure. 
* A UKCC endorsed Level 3 course may be developed in the future, dependent upon securing additional funding.

What will a ‘UKCC Level 1’ and ‘UKCC Level 2’ qualification allow me to do? 

*  A ‘UKCC’ Level 1 coach may work as an assistant coach to another more senior coach, i.e.  UKCC Level 2 or existing NRA Level 2. 
* The UKCC level 2 is the first level in the new structure at which a coach can work on their own i.e. unsupervised.

Tutors, Assessors and Internal Verifiers 
* All tutors, assessors and internal verifiers will also need to hold qualifications which meet national standards in order to deliver the UKCC endorsed courses. 
* Current tutors are being contacted to clarify their interest in continuing to be involved in tutoring and to outline the new criteria for tutors. All tutors will also undertake an assessing role and will therefore need to also undergo training as assessors (if they are not already qualified teachers).  
* All tutors and assessors will also need to be a NRA Level 2 Coach, have undertaken a UKCC Rounders specific orientation prior to delivery and hold a current CRB check. 
* A number of Internal Verifiers have been identified and will also receive further training before 2009. 
* If you are not currently a Tutor, but would like to find out more about the role and the training required  please contact karenkingtt@ntlworld.com

Further UKCC Information 
* Further information about the course content and length, costs of courses, implications for  current and new coaches will follow as decisions are confirmed. Please keep checking the ‘Coaching ‘ pages of the NRA website for further updates.
______________________________________________

Further general information about the UKCC can be found at www.ukcoachingcertificate.org and www.sportscoachuk.org
If you have any specific questions about the UKCC, please contact  karenkingtt@ntlworld.com