The FA · free preview
UEFA C Diploma
The first licence that lets you lead a team: principles of play, technique into skill, the four corners, planning a season and running a matchday.
£650 · 16–20 weeks · 6 face-to-face days plus club visits · UEFA minimum 60 hours
Free lesson · The coach and your philosophy
The UEFA C: what you are signing up for
The UEFA C Diploma is the first rung of the ladder accredited by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), and the first with a face-to-face practical assessment. In 2021–22 it replaced the old FA Level 2. It is built for grassroots coaches whose players train regularly and play organised fixtures, and it uses reality-based learning: you learn on course days, then try it with your own team in between.
- Entry: aged 16 or over; Introduction to Coaching Football (or the old Level 1) completed; in-date Introduction to First Aid in Football and Safeguarding Children certificates.
- You must be coaching now: a team that trains and plays in a season-long competition, because Coach Developers come and assess you there.
| The real course | |
|---|---|
| Length | About 16–20 weeks of spaced learning |
| Contact | Six face-to-face days in three two-day modules (understanding players and their game; learning through practice; learning through matchday) plus virtual one-to-one and peer reviews |
| Hours | UEFA minimum 60: 50 guided plus 10 work experience |
| Cost | £650 full price; £500 at a grassroots-affiliated club; £95 partly funded; some places fully funded |
| Validity | Three years, renewed through CPD |
Assessment is continuous: Coach Developers judge you on course days and at your club against criteria in five groups, from planning to written reflection. Attendance is effectively compulsory.
Source: Coaching certifications reference · 3. UEFA C Diploma
The syllabus: 9 modules, 36 lessons
- 1
The coach and your philosophy
- The UEFA C: what you are signing up for free preview
- What you are for: Plan, Do, Review
- Player-centred coaching, the four corners and the DNA
- Your intervention toolbox and your philosophy
- 2
Principles of play
Pitch practical Penetration: play the ball into the space behind the line for a runner.
- The grammar of football: ten principles
- Penetration: play into the space for the runner
- Possession, width, depth, mobility, improvisation
- Delay, depth, concentration, balance, control
- 3
Technique into skill
Pitch practical Receive on the back foot, open to the pitch, so your first touch takes you forward.
- Technique is not skill
- Receiving on the back foot and the half-turn
- The passing range and choosing the pass
- Turning, beating a man, finishing, defending
- 4
Game understanding: roles, units, formations, restarts
Pitch practical Hold the team shape: compact, between ball and goal, nobody drawn out.
- Roles by format: 7v7, 9v9, 11v11
- Units and holding the shape
- Formations as answers to three questions
- Restarts: the essentials
- 5
The physical corner
- Physical literacy and the ABCs
- Fitness through small-sided games
- Warm-up, FIFA 11+ and cool-down
- Hydration, fuelling and physical decisions
- 6
The psychological and social corners
- Building confidence on purpose
- Managing mistakes: the protocol
- Motivation, climate and belonging
- Working with parents
- 7
Session and season planning
- Planning cycles and objectives
- The session template
- STEPS+: adjusting a practice live
- Review, and designing a 6-week block
- 8
Match day management
- Selection and fair playing time
- The pre-match routine
- Watching and intervening during the game
- Half-time and full-time
- 9
Safeguarding, first aid and inclusion duties
- Safeguarding: recognise, respond, report
- Safe practice and whistle-blowing
- First aid duties
- Inclusion: adapting for disability and difference