The Irish FA are pleased to offer fully funded access to a range of Irish FA Coach Education courses, funded by our Official Banking Partner Chase. These are open to individuals across Northern Ireland, who may find paying for the course to be a barrier.
Not everyone has access to the same opportunities when it comes to developing skills that can help support career growth. The Irish FA and Chase want to help change that, by harnessing the power of football to help you develop transferable skills that can unlock your potential, on and off the pitch.
In 2024 Chase will be providing access to fully funded coaching qualifications across the following courses:
- 200 Irish FA National Coaching Certificates,
- Ten UEFA B Diplomas
- Five UEFA A Diplomas
To be eligible for a fully funded UEFA A or UEFA B course, you have must have already registered for this year's course intake. If you have already registered for this year, funding may be available. The Irish FA will contact you directly.
Eligibility Criteria
To qualify for the fully funded places, you must meet the following criteria, at the time of application:
- Be aged 16 and over.
- Be living in Northern Ireland.
- At least one of the following; come from a low-income household or a low socio-economic background e.g. you may have an annual household income under £22,800, receive universal credit, received free school meals as a child or your parents were in a low paid or low skilled job when you were 14.
We'll also ask you two questions (with a maximum 200 word limit). Your answers will be used to assess your suitability for a fully funded place and should demonstrate the impact the qualification would have on helping you achieve your football coaching ambitions :
- The first asks why you should be considered for funding so we can understand your motivation for taking this course,
- The second is about your football aspirations to understand how you will use this qualification to benefit football.
About the application process
National Coaching Certificate
- The first application window for the National Coaching Certificate course will open on the 11 March 2024 and will close on 30 April 2024.
- When the window closes an independent panel from across the Irish FA will assess the applications and will contact the successful candidates within two weeks of the closing date.
- Successful applicants will receive a single use redemption code to book onto a National Coaching Certificate course of their choice on the Irish FA Coach Education website.
- Codes must be used within a four-week window or will become void.
- Codes must also only be redeemed by the applicant.
UEFA A and UEFA B
- If you have already applied for the the UEFA A and UEFA B course starting in April 2024, the IFA will contact you directly, with information on how to apply.
- When the window closes an independent panel from across the Irish FA will assess the applications and will contact the successful candidates within two weeks of the closing date.