A coach in Business Bay has two browser tabs open and a calculator on her phone.
In one tab is a Level 1 programme. It's shorter, cheaper, and gets her to her first credential sooner. In the other is a Level 2 programme, about twice the price, twice the hours, and a route to the credential she keeps seeing in corporate tenders. She's been switching between them for a week.
What's making it hard isn't the money. It's that the websites she's reading frame the choice as a ladder, as if Level 2 is simply better. She doesn't feel like a Level 2 person yet. She's not sure she ever will.
She's asking the wrong question, and in our experience she's far from alone at this point. The useful question isn't "which level am I?" It's "what will my practice look like in three years?"
What is the difference between ICF Level 1 and Level 2?
Level 1 is at least 60 hours of ICF-accredited coach education, leading toward the ACC credential. Level 2 is at least 125 hours, leading toward PCC, and it also lets you apply for ACC first. Choosing between them is an education-budget decision about your next few years, not a statement about status.
All ICF figures here come from coachingfederation.org, checked on 3 October 2026.
If you'd rather work this out in a conversation than a spreadsheet, a free call with Sara, our veteran RS Method Master Coach, is the place to start. You can book it through our apply page. Or read on.
What does each level include?
| Level 1 | Level 2 | |
|---|---|---|
| Coach education | At least 60 hours | At least 125 hours, 62.5 of them synchronous (live) |
| Leads toward | ACC | PCC, or ACC first |
| Mentor coaching | Included in the programme on the Level 1 path | Included in the programme on the Level 2 path |
| Performance evaluation | Included in the programme on the Level 1 path | Included in the programme on the Level 2 path |
| Coaching hours you log yourself | 100 for ACC (75 paid, 8 clients) | 500 for PCC (450 paid, 25 clients), or 100 for ACC first |
| ICF application fee (members / non-members) | ACC: USD 175 / 325 | PCC: USD 375 / 525 |
If you've seen the older names ACSTH and ACTP, ICF now describes both as "retired education types".
Two changes are worth knowing. From 1 January 2027, new mentor coaching hours must be with a mentor coach who holds ICF's Mentor Coach Specialization (MCS). By 1 April 2027, ICF says accredited programmes "must transition away from the Performance Evaluation requirement and adopt the MCS mentor coaching requirement", and that Level 1 and Level 2 candidates "won't need to do anything differently". Either way, ICF awards the credential, never the training provider.
What happens if I start at Level 1 and want PCC later?
You can get there. It just costs more later.
A Level 1 graduate who wants PCC adds education to reach 125 hours, then usually applies on the Portfolio path. ICF's PCC page lists the Portfolio fee at USD 750 for members and 900 for non-members, with about 18 weeks' review, against USD 375 or 525 and about four weeks on the Level 2 path. From 1 April 2027, the Portfolio path also replaces the performance evaluation with mentor coaching from an MCS-holding mentor coach.
So the real comparison isn't Level 1 against Level 2. It's Level 1 now plus top-up education and a Portfolio application later, against Level 2 now. For some people the first is the right call: it gets them coaching and earning sooner, and they may never need PCC. For others it's paying twice.
Our ICF PCC in Dubai guide covers the PCC route and timeline, and ICF ACC requirements covers the first credential.
How do I decide which level is right for me?
Answer these five questions on paper, as plainly as you can.
- Where will my clients come from in three years? If you expect corporate or institutional clients, they often ask about PCC. If you'll mostly coach individuals, ACC may be all you need.
- How many hours can I realistically coach each week? PCC needs 450 paid hours. At eight a week that's well over a year. If your week only allows two or three sessions, PCC is a long way off whatever you study.
- Do I already have coaching hours behind me? If you're experienced and already logging, Level 2 avoids repeating education later.
- What will I do if I love this work? In our experience, people who do well in this work often want to go deeper. If that's likely to be you, the cheaper route now may be the dearer one overall.
- What does my budget allow without strain? Training you can't afford to finish is worse than a smaller step you complete.
If three or more answers point toward depth and corporate work, look closely at Level 2. If most point toward getting started and testing the work, Level 1 is a reasonable, respectable choice. And if your answers split evenly, start with the question you can't answer yet: where your clients will come from. Talk to three working coaches in Dubai about how they found theirs. Their answers will usually settle the level for you.
Can I do Level 1 or Level 2 from the UAE, online?
Largely, yes, with one thing to check. ICF expects a real share of accredited education to be synchronous, meaning live with a trainer, and for Level 2 that's 62.5 hours. Live can be online. What matters is that the hours are delivered in real time and that someone watches you coach and gives you feedback.
At RSCI, the coach-specific education runs online and at your own pace, and the live practitioner training happens in Dubai, so coaches across the GCC train with us without relocating.
Three mistakes to avoid when you compare programmes:
- Choosing on the label alone. Two Level 2 programmes can differ enormously in how much live practice you actually get. Ask for the number of observed coaching hours.
- Ignoring who holds the accreditation. Ask which organisation holds it and check it yourself on ICF's site.
- Forgetting the hours. No programme gives you the 100 or 500 coaching hours. Plan where your clients will come from before you pay.
Does the level change what kind of coach you become?
Less than people think.
More hours of education help. But in our experience, the coaches who grow fastest aren't simply the ones with the most training. They're the ones whose own material no longer gets in the way when a session goes deep. A Level 2 certificate won't stop you freezing when a client cries, if crying is the thing you were never allowed to do. That's why a training built on technique alone can produce coaches who know a great deal and still lose their footing in the moments that matter. We go into this in coaching presence.
Training gives you the map. Your own work decides whether you can walk the territory with someone else. It's also why the question of level comes second at RSCI. The first question is whether you've done your own work.
If you'd like to talk that through before you choose a level, a free conversation with Sara is where every route into RSCI starts, and you can book it here.
What should a programme give you at either level?
Before you choose, look for three things.
- The ICF pieces handled cleanly. Accredited education at the level you need, mentor coaching and evaluation built in, and the accreditation stated accurately.
- Your own inner work, done first. Inside the training and under supervision. We call it the Inner Work First Principle: the practitioner is transformed before the practitioner is trained.
- A method for what's underneath. So the hours you log deepen you instead of repeating the same ceiling.
At RSCI the two programmes map onto the two levels. RS Method Coach (AED 18,000) includes ICF Level 1 education. RS Method Complete (AED 35,000) includes ICF Level 2. The ICF-accredited education inside our programmes is designed, delivered and certified by the International Institute of Coaching & Mentoring (IICM), an ICF-accredited organisation. The ACC and PCC credentials are awarded only by the ICF. If you've already trained in the RS Method without ICF education, our ICF upgrade page explains the add-on routes.
The level opens a door. What happens after it depends on the practitioner who walks through. Erin Kurt, one practitioner who works with the method, put her own outcome this way: "My business literally tripled within 6 months." That's what happened in Erin's business, and yours will follow its own course.
You can compare both programmes side by side on our life coach training page.
And if you'd still like help choosing between the two tabs, the next step is a free conversation with Sara. Book it through our apply page.
Robert Simic, training the next generation.
P.S. Those two browser tabs will still be open tomorrow. One conversation with Sara can close one of them. Book your free call.