Sports coach apprenticeship, level 4, school coach pathway · Register title: Sports coach (ST0770)
Grow a coach who raises standards through PE and school sport
The Growth and Skills Levy covers the training and assessment, and we handle the enrolment and the paperwork. Your apprentice designs and delivers coaching that fits your curriculum, includes every pupil, and is measured against your school's standards. They might be the sports coach already on your staff, or a PE assistant ready to lead.
Apprenticeships from level 2 to level 5
What they'll be able to do
Three milestones, ending ready for assessment
Set out their coaching philosophy, and coach within safeguarding, legislation and ethical practice.
Work with colleagues, families and partners, and design curriculum-aligned schemes of work from learner profiles.
Deliver inclusive sessions grounded in skill acquisition theory, evaluate impact against your school's standards, and be ready for end point assessment.
Their learning journey
Six themes, built around your work
Coaching philosophy and professional practice
The role, values and behaviours of a school sports coach.
Systems, legislation and ethics
Safeguarding, boundaries and duty of care.
Teams and support networks
Working with staff, families and external partners.
Curriculum design, profiling and planning
Progressive sessions and schemes of work aligned to the curriculum.
Inclusive delivery, wellbeing and skill acquisition
Adapting for every pupil and applying how skills are learned.
Impact, evaluation and school standards
Data, evidence and preparing for assessment.
Project, observation and professional discussion
A work-based project of 4,500 words with a 75-minute presentation and questions, a two-hour coaching observation with debrief, and a 90-minute professional discussion underpinned by their portfolio. Graded fail, pass or distinction. New starters from 14 January 2027 follow a revised plan, graded pass or distinction.
Every programme works the same way. They learn it, use it in your organisation, then look back at what they did and why.
Know it
Coaching philosophy, skill acquisition, inclusion, and how PE links to school standards.
Show it
Sessions planned and delivered to every pupil, and impact evaluated with evidence.
Live it
Professionalism, safeguarding, and a coaching culture that includes everyone.
Who you could put forward
Someone already with you, or someone new
The sports coach already on your staff
Good with pupils, ready to link coaching to the curriculum and to evidence.
A PE assistant ready to lead
Someone who could run your school sport offer.
A coach employed across a trust or partnership
Working across several schools and needing one consistent approach.
Someone changing career into school sport
An adult coach moving from clubs into education.
You're trusting us with someone from your team. Here's how we look after them.
One trainer-coach from start to finish, who gets to know your setting, the children and your team.
A one-to-one review every month, and a three-way review with you at the end of every theme. Nobody is guessing where they are or what's next.
Learning built around the school day: a blend of on-site visits from their coach and live online sessions, coaching huddles and workshops. No day or block release.
What your organisation gets
PE that links to standards and includes every pupil
PE that links to standards
Coaching planned around your curriculum and evaluated against your school's priorities.
Every pupil included
Sessions adapted so every child takes part and progresses.
Impact you can evidence
Coaching measured against your school's priorities, not assumed.
Training and assessment are funded from the Growth and Skills Levy you already pay, up to the funding band for this standard. If you don't pay the levy, there's nothing to pay for apprentices under 25, and a 5% contribution for those aged 25 and over.
We check eligibility before you commit to anything. We complete the enrolment, the funding agreement, and the records the rules require, in the format auditors expect.
You get one named account manager, from your first conversation to your last review. If something isn't working, you go to them, and we take it seriously.
The honest answers
Questions people actually ask
At least 396 hours of off-the-job training across the programme. We convert that into hours per week around their role and agree it in writing before anyone starts.
The school coach pathway only. It's built for coaches working in schools and trusts, so everything they learn is applied to PE and school sport.
No. It suits anyone coaching pupils in school, whatever their background.
Training and assessment are funded from the Growth and Skills Levy, up to £9,000. If you don't pay the levy, there's nothing to pay for apprentices under 25, and a 5% contribution for those aged 25 and over. We'll confirm exactly what applies before you commit.
From 1 October 2026, you may receive up to £2,000 for an apprentice aged 16 to 24, an extra £1,000 if they're 16 to 18, and an extra £3,000 if they've received Universal Credit for more than six months. We'll check what applies to you before you commit.
If they move to a new employer, they can carry on their apprenticeship there. Your funding commitment from the Growth and Skills Levy ends when they leave.
Let's begin
Tell us who you'd like to back.
We'll reply within one working day. You'll know whether this programme fits them, what it costs you, and how quickly they could start. No commitment. And if we're not the right fit, we'll tell you.
Together, let's go