Column: CIMSPA

To regulate or not to regulate

Head of Regulation and Standards CIMSPA

© CIMSPA

CIMSPA partners are increasingly asking for our thoughts on regulating their training. That is, whether training should be developed and approved into a qualification via an awarding organisation, resulting in a formally regulated qualification with certification and quality assurance provided by the awarding organisation overseen by a regulator.

Generally, my answer is yes. We can prove that regulation has increased standards, provided standardisation and improved the quality of the experience for learners in most instances.

But, there are exceptions. It’s worth considering the history of regulation in our sector. In sport, the United Kingdom Coaching Certificate (UKCC) endorsement scheme ran from 2004 to 2019 for sport’s governing bodies, providing training for sports coaches.

As part of the endorsement criteria, training had to be formally regulated and certificated by a regulated awarding organisation or university. This blanket approach to regulation saw the numbers of qualifications increase significantly.

A review of the scheme in 2018 drew no conclusions on whether regulation had increased the quality of coaches’ training. It did find, however, that the cost of becoming a coach had increased and some coaches and some sports were finding the cost to be a barrier to attracting coaches to become qualified.

Later, research by UK Coaching in 2020 showed that 54% of coaches did not hold a coaching qualification.

At CIMSPA we now have responsibility for endorsement across the whole sector, including UKCC endorsement. We’ve taken a pragmatic approach to the endorsement

“AT CIMSPA WE NOW HAVE RESPONSIBILITY FOR ENDORSEMENT ACROSS THE WHOLE SECTOR, INCLUDING UKCC ENDORSEMENT”

of training and the role of regulation. Some things are quite clear. For example, to enter CIMSPA practitioner membership, training must be endorsed by us and awarded by a regulated awarding organisation, university or via an apprenticeship.

It’s important we have the right and proportionate approach to regulation. If we don’t, we are creating barriers for people and are spending money that could have greater impact elsewhere. Conversely, deregulating areas where there is a high risk of harm would be catastrophic.

Learning from good (and bad) practice in other sectors, we’ve developed a new policy and guidance on minimum standards for deployment. This gives us a clear evidence-based rationale to make decisions on whether we should provide a regulated or non-regulated approach to entering the industry, if we should check competence, and if so, how often.

In the coming months we’ll be bringing this new policy to life to provide clearer guidance on when formally regulated qualifications are needed and who should provide training and assessment. We’ll also look at how we monitor compliance (if necessary).

We’re talking to people about this every day. We’re well informed and can support you to make the right decisions for your organisation and your people. If you’d like to discuss it further, please do get in touch. Further details: info@cimspa.co.uk

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