ILM Level 3 Unit 303 Reflecting on Coaching Skills within an Organisational Context (M/617/2845) Assessment Brief 2026

ILM Level 3 Award and Certificate in Effective Coaching (8585)

Unit 303 Reflecting on Coaching Skills within an Organisational Context Assessment Brief

Learning Outcome (LO 1)

The learner will:

1 Be able to review the effectiveness of their coaching practice

Assessment Criteria

The learner can:

1.1 Examine the effectiveness of their own coaching practice based on evidence, including records, supervision, and feedback

1.2 Identify own strengths and areas for improvement of their own knowledge, skills, and behaviour, including communication and interpersonal skills

Depth

1.1 Coaching records, journal, diaries, competency frameworks (e.g., Industry standards AC, EMCC, ICF, etc.).

Supervision/feedback.

1.2 SWOT analysis, models and processes of reflective practice and self-assessment.

Key coaching knowledge, skills, behaviours, and ethics in practice.

Assessment Guidance

The learner must:

1.1 Based on the evidence provided (e.g., coaching records, coachee and other feedback, supervisor feedback, etc.), examine the effectiveness of coaching practice. This evidence could be a written summary, professional discussion or presentation.

1.2 Provide a statement or record that clearly identifies their areas of strength and areas for improvement within their coaching practice, including their knowledge, skills and behaviour, including communication and interpersonal skills.

Learning Outcome (LO 2)

The learner will:

2 Be able to plan for their own development in coaching

Assessment Criteria

The learner can:

2.1 Review own coaching ability to identify future development opportunities, including the use of questioning, listening and communication strategies

2.2 Produce a relevant development plan covering a minimum of 6 months, including timescales and measures of success

Depth

2.1 Development opportunities suitable for coaching (e.g., training, peer coaching, supervision, professional conferences, webinars, etc.) .

Benefits of joining professional associations.

2.2 Ways to present a development plan for coaches.

Benefits of discussing a development plan with a supervisor.

Methods of monitoring progress and reviewing a development plan.

Assessment Guidance

The learner must:

2.1 Provide evidence showing that from a review of their own coaching they have identified relevant and suitable opportunities for future development. These opportunities should include specific development of questioning, listening and communication strategies.

2.2 Produce a personal development plan for a minimum of 6 months. This should include clear timescales and show how they will measure success for each development goal.  Their plan should link to evidence of and reflections on their coaching practice including discussions with their supervisor.

Assessment Requirements

This unit will be internally assessed through an ILM set reflective journal which is marked by the centre and subject to internal and external quality assurance.

To pass this unit the evidence that the learner presents for assessment must demonstrate that they have met the required standard specified in the learning outcomes and assessment criteria. The unit will be assessed as pass/referral.

Learners will agree with their assessor appropriate evidence which reflects their role and responsibility. Learners can use one piece of evidence to prove their skills across different assessment criteria and/or across different units. It is not necessary for learners to have each assessment criterion assessed with a separate piece of evidence.

This unit requires learners to reflect on and evaluate their coaching skills and allows evidence to be gathered from either 301 or 302 as a basis for learner reflection and their future development as a coach.

Evidence for this unit is likely to come from naturally occurring activities within an organisational setting and may include (but is not restricted to):

• Products from the learner’s work.
• Direct observation of the learner’s performance by their assessor.
• Outcomes from oral or written questioning.
• Personal statements and/or reflective accounts.
• Professional discussion record.
• Authentic statements/witness testimony.
• Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Plan.

Learners must carry the tasks out individually. Learners may carry out research and collect the information they want to use under unsupervised conditions.

Note: Please ensure confidentiality of the coaching is maintained and care taken to remove anything which may identify an individual. They may be referred to as ‘Client 1’, for example, for assessment purposes.

Assessment Guidance

This appendix provides further information on how to assess all internally-assessed units.

Quality assurance

Centres should be aware that any assessment decision made within the centre is subject to quality assurance by ILM. It is important that Centres have a procedure for explaining this clearly to learners – possibly during the induction process, or in learner handbooks, etc. Learners should be told that assessment decisions are informal, until confirmed by both internal and external quality assurance processes. This should form part of the routine feedback to learners on assessment decisions.

Documentation should be in place to allow Internal and External Quality Assurers to trace exactly how the assessment decision was reached. It is important that the assessor is able to record how the learner’s evidence demonstrates their competence so that the assessor judgement and decision is clear.

Setting for assessment

Learners are expected to demonstrate competence to the standards required over a period of time. Therefore, to ensure validity, evidence should be naturally occurring and collected through performance in the workplace.

It is acknowledged that not all settings for assessment are the same and therefore assessment conditions may not be identical. However, to safeguard the integrity of the qualification and ensure a robust and consistent approach to assessment, the Assessor must ensure the assessment conditions reflect, as far as possible, those in which the learner is expected to operate. It could be the case the learner may feel more pressure simply because he or she is being assessed and Centres must be aware of this.

Judging sufficiency

Judging the sufficiency of a learner’s piece of work is often a key aspect in assessment. The test of whether the evidence is of sufficient quantity and quality is very much informed by the qualification level and, in particular, by the verb used in the relevant assessment criterion. The higher levels expect a fuller learner response with greater breadth and depth.

Sufficiency indicators are provided in the results sheets. In addition, assessors, tutors and learners must examine the verb used in the assessment criterion. At Level 3, lower level of demand assessment verbs such as ‘identify’, ‘describe’ and ‘explain’ are commonly used in criteria. Definitions of key assessment verbs can be found in the ILM Assessment terminology document.

Evidence presented by the learner can be claimed against more than one assessment criterion as long as it meets the criterion requirements. Documentation should be in place to allow Internal and External Quality Assurers to trace exactly how the assessment decision was reached.

Grounds for referral

Although there can be grounds for being unable to review a portfolio of evidence, learners cannot be referred purely because of poor literacy, presentation or missing a deadline. The reason must relate to the requirements of the assessment as articulated by the assessment criteria.

Authenticity

It is a regulatory requirement that every learner must formally declare the authenticity of their work for each submission for assessment. Declarations must be in an auditable form. ILM External Quality Assurers cannot ratify any assessments where the learner has not specifically confirmed it is their own work.

Communication of assessment decisions

Centres should be aware that any assessment decision made within the Centre is subject to ratification by ILM. It is important that Centres have a procedure for explaining this clearly to learners – possibly during the induction process, or in learner handbooks. Learners should be told that assessment decisions are informal, until confirmed by internal and external quality assurance and the awarding organisation. This should form part of the routine feedback to learners on assessment decisions.

Language of assessment

Assessment of all units for the qualifications will be available in English. All learner work must be in English.

Access to assessment

Both external and internal assessments need to be administered fairly to all learners.

Access arrangements allow learners to show what they know and can do without changing the demands of the assessment. For example, through the use of readers, scribes and Braille question papers. Access arrangements are agreed before an assessment. They allow learners with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries to access the assessment.

Special considerations

A Special Consideration is a post-assessment adjustment reflecting an unforeseen circumstance which could affect a learner’s performance during or near the time of an assessment.

Further information on how to apply for access arrangements, reasonable adjustments or special considerations can be found in the centre document library.

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