Diploma in Equine Training & Coaching

Of course! We want to make sure that you feel as supported as possible throughout the course. Our course includes a forum page in which you can post any questions/queries and the tutors will give you advice, including allowing you to talk things through with fellow students.

There will also be weekly discussion group sessions on Zoom that will give you the opportunity to ask any questions ‘face-to-face’ and have live discussions with the tutors and your fellow classmates, having had the opportunity to read and digest content discussed within the session, in the weeks prior.

If you have any particular needs that might impact your learning on the course, please let us know during enrolment so that we can discuss how best to support you through the course. Access arrangements can be set up for students where necessary. This may include reasonable adjustments to assignments and deadlines.

All entry requirements can be found on the course’s main page on our website. For the Diploma, you will be expected to have some experience training and/or handling horses, for a minimum of one year and/or a UK level 3 equivalent education (or international equivalent).

An example of a level 3 qualification could be an A-level in Psychology or it could also be a level 3 diploma in equine management from a land-based college. A level 3 qualification in a relevant subject will be ideal as, having previously studied to level 3, you are therefore likely to get the most out of the level 4 equivalent course. If you are coming from the equine industry without relevant qualifications, we are happy to welcome you.

As part of The NAC’s Recognising Prior Learning policy, we are happy to accept students with no prior formal education who have experience in training and handling horses. If you are interested, please don’t hesitate to apply and we will contact you to discuss further.

The total study hours on the course is 525. Study hours include everything from watching live lectures, studying the course content, participation in discussion groups, reading recommended text books and resources, and the hours spent preparing and writing your assessments.

Each module varies in length with some being longer than others, so an exact number of how many hours a week study is required will vary across the course, and everyone has different factors that will influence the amount of hours they need to dedicate such as prior learning and varying daily routines, but it averages out at approximately 12.5 hours a week.

Both module 2 and module 4 require you to carry out practical training with horses and to coach owners in reinforcement-based training approaches. Module 2 requires you to train three horses each, in a separate task (you will have the opportunity to choose from a set list of behaviours) and module 4 will require you to submit three separate ten minute coaching videos of you teaching owners or handlers, this can either be with their own horses or a horse that you have access to. The tasks will not include strenuous exercise, they are purely to assess your training and coaching skills against the course criteria.

The NAC aims to provide an outstanding level of service wherever possible to our learners and in line with that we have an appeals policy. Students must submit sufficient evidence that an appeal is justified.

Your assignments and course work are marked internally, and they are externally verified, as well as being moderated by the ABTC; in addition students will have access to the marking framework for each assignment when it is given so you will have an idea of the level of work you need to achieve to reach each grade.

Students are permitted one re-submit per assignment. If an assignment is not passed first-time around, students will be able to re-submit the assignment towards the end of the course.

The course is ten months long, during which time all work and assignments will be completed. In order to further support the growth of our students, we provide access to the learning platform for up to twelve months after the start date of the course (i.e. a further 2 months after the course has finished) to allow students to go back over course content, read assignment feedback, notes, etc.

In terms of assignments, there are deadlines but as a training provider we aim to be as flexible and understanding as possible, where possible. There may be opportunities for The NAC to provide assignment deadline extensions to students where applicable.

There will be weekly discussion group sessions, before which you will be asked to have read up to at least a certain point in the module so that you can engage in the discussion and everyone can move through the course as a cohort. Similarly, there will be some lectures that relate to assignment topics. Certain topics may require further study and support throughout this horse training course and therefore we include live lectures and recorded lectures throughout the course content to enhance your studies.

You can submit your module assignments early if you wish, but we recommend waiting until the cohort is at that point in the course and all the content up to that point has been covered, to give you the best chance of achieving good grades.