The fastest 10 hours to your ICF Mentor Coach Specialization

Yes. Every lesson is free for any registered community member: all 25 videos, their transcripts, and the 38 downloadable PDFs. No credit card.

The $397 certificate adds three quizzes, six written assignments reviewed by an MCC instructor with written feedback, and your certificate for 10 CCE hours from an ICF-approved program. Add it when you want the hours on record - for a Credit for Prior Learning application, a renewal, or your own continuing education log.

Depends on your application path.

Take Foundations, with the $397 certificate, if you are on the Credit for Prior Learning path - you hold an active PCC or MCC, or a renewed ACC, you have five mentor coaching clients who earned a credential in the past three years (or a letter from the accredited program you mentor in), and you need the 10 hours of mentor coaching education.

Buy our live cohort ($2,997) if you are taking the Standard Path - you need the full 41 hours with at least half of them live with an instructor, group practicum, and formative evaluation. Foundations content is included as just-in-time pre-work inside the cohort, so do not buy it separately.

See Mentor Coach Training - $2,997 →

Four things sit outside Foundations:

• ICF MCS application fee (paid directly to ICF: $50 / $125 USD through March 31, 2027)
• ICF's evaluation training (ACC BARS, PCC Markers, MCC BARS) - complete it through the ICF Learning Portal for each level you apply for
• Live synchronous hours, group practicum, and formative evaluation - those are in our Standard Path program, Mentor Coach Training (71 hours, $2,997)
• 1:1 mentor coaching sessions - Tandem's individual mentor coaching is purchased separately

Yes – invoices issued before you enroll, purchase orders, Government Purchase Cards and federal forms, and receipts for expense claims on every purchase. Eligible U.S. service members and military retirees receive 10% off this training; eligible spouses and dependents receive 5%, subject to the Military Training Discount terms in our Additional Terms. Send paperwork to info@tandemcoach.co; our registration details are on our Capability Statement.

The MCS is an individual specialization from the International Coaching Federation - announced in April 2026, with applications open since June 2026. It formally recognizes coaches who are qualified to provide mentor coaching to ICF credential candidates at a specific level (ACC, PCC, or MCC). The MCS is evaluated against the 2024 ICF Mentor Coaching Competencies and is separate from your own ACC, PCC, or MCC credential.

Two dates matter. From January 1, 2027, new mentor coaching hours toward an ACC, PCC, or MCC application or renewal count only when the mentor coach holds the specialization at the appropriate level. Hours completed before that date stay recognized. From April 1, 2027, ACC and PCC Portfolio candidates submit Session Observation Forms and a Competency Review Form completed by a specialized mentor coach instead of performance evaluation recordings.

Both paths lead to the same specialization. The Standard Path requires at least 41 hours of education aligned with the ICF Mentor Coaching Competencies, at least half of it live with an instructor; ICF's evaluation training for each level counts toward the 41. The Credit for Prior Learning path is for holders of an active PCC or MCC, or a renewed ACC. It requires at least 10 hours of mentor coaching education (live or self-paced), ICF's evaluation training for each level you seek, and five mentor coaching clients who earned a credential in the past three years - or a letter from the ICF-accredited program you mentor in, confirming at least five students in the past three years.

Yes - that's the design. Mentor Coaching Foundations gives you the 10 hours of mentor coaching education the path requires, aligned with the 2024 ICF Mentor Coaching Competencies, and the course is ICF CCE approved. The $397 certificate is your record of those hours. It is issued only after you pass every quiz and written assignment.

Yes. On the Credit for Prior Learning path, evaluation training (ACC BARS, PCC Markers, MCC BARS) is separate and additional - it does not count toward the 10 hours. Take it through the ICF Learning Portal, or as the equivalent inside a program that holds ICF's Advanced Accreditation in Mentor Coaching, for each level you apply for. Module 4's practice with the ACC statements is part of this course; it is not ICF's ACC BARS Training.

On the Credit for Prior Learning path, ICF accepts a letter from an ICF-accredited program in place of documenting five individual clients. If you mentor coach within an accredited program, the program can confirm that you mentored at least five of its students in the past three years. Graduates of Tandem Coaching Academy who meet that threshold can request the letter when they submit their specialization application.

When you complete it after your specialization is awarded, yes. To renew, ICF asks for 10 hours of continuing education aligned with the Mentor Coaching Competencies within the three years since your specialization was awarded or last renewed, so hours completed before the award - such as the 10 you apply with - don't count toward its renewal. Separately, your certificate's 10 CCE hours in Core Competencies can count toward your own ICF credential renewal.

There is no deadline in the course: work at your own pace, and the certificate comes with lifetime access. On ICF's side, there is no announced end date for the Credit for Prior Learning path. Two dates may still shape your timing: ICF's introductory application fee ends at the end of March 2027, and from January 1, 2027 the mentor coaching you give counts toward a client's credential only if you hold the specialization. Allow time for ICF to review your application.

The three quizzes have unlimited retakes - you need 80% to pass. If a written assignment doesn't meet a criterion yet, the instructor tells you which one and why, and you revise it once. The rubrics are calibrated to ICF expectations, not arbitrarily strict.

A PDF certificate with: your name as it appears on your ICF credential, the program title, completion date, a unique certificate ID, the 10 CCE hours (Core Competency, asynchronous, aligned with the 2024 Mentor Coaching Competencies), instructor signatures from Cherie Silas and Alex Kudinov, and confirmation of ICF CCE approval for 10 CCEUs. Keep it, with the course syllabus, for your specialization application and your credential renewal.

Yes. Cherie Silas and Alex Kudinov, both MCC, hold ICF’s Mentor Coach Specialization (MCS) at all three levels: MCS-ACC, MCS-PCC, and MCS-MCC. Every mentor coach on our team holds the MCS at the level they mentor. Their specializations cover mentor coaching and formative appraisal at all three ICF credential levels.

No. The Standard Path is delivered as one integrated program - our 71-hour Mentor Coach Training cohort, accredited under the ICF Advanced Accreditation in Mentor Coaching (AAMC). Foundations is included inside the cohort as just-in-time pre-work, so Standard Path candidates buy the cohort ($2,997), not Foundations plus a separate practicum. See the cohort dates.

Yes. ICF lists this 10-hour CCE-approved course as Mentor Coaching Foundations. View the official ICF Education Search Service record →