Following on from completing my Level 3 Personal Trainer Qualification, I will be pursuing becoming a UKSCA Accredited Strength and Conditioning Coach (ASCC) over the next few months. This blog post will cover what is required to pass the assessments for this accreditation and the approach I will be using to prepare.
What is the UKSCA Accreditation
In order to become a UKSCA Accredited Strength and Conditioning Coach (ASCC), you are required to demonstrate meeting all criteria outlined in the UKSCA’s Competency Document. There are four assessments, each designed to test applied knowledge and practical coaching skills. The four assessment areas are:
- The Case Study
- The Multiple-Choice Exam (MCQ)
- The Weight Lifting Practical
- The Plyometrics, Agility & Speed Practical
Each of the four areas has a UKSCA workshop that you can attend to help prepare you. Although workshop participation is not compulsory, it is advised given the difficulty of passing the assessments. The first-time pass rate for the Case Study and MCQ is in the region of 50%, the pass rate for the practical exams is even lower at 25%.
Completing these assessment areas requires you to place two separate bookings through the UKSCA website :
- Book and attend a UKSCA assessment day to undergo three assessments:
- Multiple choice examination
- Weight lifting practical assessment
- Plyometric/ballistic & speed/agility practical coaching assessment
2. Book and attend a Case Study assessment via a remote Zoom call
1. The Case Study
The Case Study assessment requires you to design, deliver, and document a three-month training block tailored to a real-life athlete. This comprehensive plan encompasses various elements, including conducting a needs analysis of the sport and athlete, outlining session examples and content, structuring periodization strategies, implementing testing protocols, and establishing monitoring procedures. Once you have completed this detailed planning process and documented results over the three months, you present your Case Study to an assessor. This presentation, typically lasting 10 minutes followed by up to 10 minutes of questioning, serves as a crucial evaluation of your ability to devise and a comprehensive strength and conditioning program aligned with the athlete’s specific requirements and objectives.
2. The Multiple-Choice Exam (MCQ)
60 minutes to respond to 50 questions covering a range of topics including anatomy, physiology, energy systems, the training environment, biomechanics, human movement, testing, monitoring, and planning. Details of the exact topics that will be covered in the exam can be found in the UKSCA Competency Document. To achieve a passing grade, you need 65%, answering at least 33 questions correctly,
3. The Weight Lifting Practical
A 20-minute assessment where you’ll present one-on-one to a UKSCA Assessor. They’ll evaluate your ability to communicate coaching points and demonstrate lifts effectively.
The assessment is split into two, approximately 10 minute sections:
- 1st lift, the compulsory lift – “Full back squat, high bar position”
- 2nd lift, one of the following, randomly chosen – “Clean & Jerk” or “Snatch”
You’ll need to verbally detail the technical points of each lift phase and provide competent physical demonstrations consistent with your explanations. Afterward, you’ll perform three silent demos of each lift to show movement fluency. Throughout the assessment, the assessor may ask questions for clarification and to ensure all points are addressed.
4. The Plyometrics, Agility & Speed Practical
During this practical exam, you are required to plan and conduct a coaching session for another candidate, who will act as your athlete during the assessment. The 20-minute exam is divided into four segments: Planning (2 minutes), Warm Up (4-5 minutes), Plyometric / Ballistics (4-5 minutes), Speed & Agility (4-5 minutes), followed by a question and answer session. There are six different scenarios, randomly assigned to you on the day. The scenarios you could be assigned can be found in the UKSCA Assessment Day Guidelines document. An example scenario requires you to deliver alternate leg bounds and hurdle hops for the plyometric component, followed by a side shuffle to acceleration for the speed aspect. Your performance is evaluated based on your coaching abilities and understanding of the technical models.
My Approach to these Assessments
Given that the vast majority of S&C jobs in the UK ask for UKSCA Accreditation as an ‘Essential’ criteria, successful completion of these assessments is imperative. Not only does the accreditation demonstrate competence to potential employers or clients, it offers a great opportunity to develop as an S&C practitioner. I’m looking to use the months preparing for and completing the assessment to develop my capabilities in multiple areas such as program design, understanding of anatomy and physiology alongside improvements in my own technique in the Olympic Lifts. My approach to each of the assessment areas is as follows:
For the Multiple Choice Exam, I am going to rely mostly on the NSCA Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning Textbook Fourth Edition. The NSCA CSCS, which is comparable to that of the UKSCA accreditation, examines the content of this textbook and as such makes it a great resource to study.
I’m going to pair the study of this textbook with some video lectures by Dr Jacob Goodin, where he breaks down the content into easily understand segments. The Youtube playlist of his videos is available at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYn4-aO5V4WPAmGnbcw-Ym7z4N5SCP5SH
Helpful resources I’ll be using for practicing some MCQs are NSCA CSCS Pocket Prep website and the NSCA CPT app. Both offer a large deck of sample questions that you can run through.
The most specific form of prep I’ll use once I’m feeling confident with the above content, is to complete the UKSCA sample papers that they offer for purchase on their website.
For the Weight Lifting Practical and Plyometrics, Agility & Speed Practical, the UKSCA workshops will be the main sources of preparation. These workshops cover key technical and coaching points as well as providing the knowledge to incorporate these training methods into programmes. Given their specific role in UKSCA accreditation prep, these workshops will prove valuable for understanding the criteria assessors will be looking for. Alongside these workshops, I intend on exploring becoming a British Weightlifting Coach to further develop my understanding of the Olympic Lifts as well as re-visiting some athletics courses from ALTIS to refresh my knowledge on speed training. Finally, my own training over the next few months will focus on these areas to ensure I am physically competent to teach and demonstrate any lifts, jumps or sprints.
For the Case Study, I intend on running through the entire process of performing a needs analysis, programme design and the completing the sessions over three months myself. This will provide valuable experience before applying this to another athlete.
To complement the above prep, I am keen to seek mentorship from a currently accredited S&C coach to learn from and follow any specific guide they have regarding the process. I’m also eager to develop my coaching ability through further work experience as personal trainer, gym instructor or sports coach. All the above will hopefully make for some successful preparation and eventual successful outcome!
Summary
- UKSCA Accreditation is the ‘gold standard’ for S&C coaches in the UK
- It consists of four assessment areas: The Case Study, The Multiple-Choice Exam (MCQ), The Weight Lifting Practical and The Plyometrics, Agility & Speed Practical
- Passing the assessments requires rigorous preparation but offers development in coaching ability and presents more job opportunities