Nutrition Coaching Foundations
Coach healthy-eating change inside a non-clinical scope, with marked case work and a hard stop at disease, medication and the title dietitian.
Taught and assessed by
Kate MerrickProfile pending contract
- Live teaching
- 20h
- Self-study
- 40h
- Duration
- 10 weeks
- Weekly load
- ~6h
What you will be able to do
- Run a nutrition-coaching intake that screens for presentations that need a dietitian or GP
- Coach eating-pattern change without treating diagnosed disease
- Appraise a supplement claim before repeating it to a client
- Write a referral to a dietitian that a clinician can use
- State, in the contract, that you are not a dietitian or Registered Nutritionist
- Build a twelve-week coaching plan that would survive a scope review
Who this is for
- Coaches whose clients already ask about food
- PTs adding eating-pattern support without claiming dietetics
- Wellness practitioners who will submit case work that can fail
- Career changers who wanted coaching-scope nutrition, not an AfN degree
Who this is not for
- Anyone who needed an HCPC dietetic degree — see Dietetics Career Preparation, which is still not that degree
- Anyone who needed an AfN-accredited register pathway
- Anyone planning to advise on medication, eating disorders or clinical diets
- Anyone who wanted a diploma that lets them use the title dietitian
What you need before you start
- No prior nutrition degree required
- Two case studies, which may use practice clients we help you find
What you will actually learn
10 modules · 10 weeks · 20h live
Titles, registers and the criminal offenceDietitian is protected. Nutritionist is not. Registered Nutritionist is the voluntary check.
Covered in this module
- HCPC and dietetics
- AfN and the UKVRN
- What this certificate will say
- Advertising standards
Screening that is not a diagnosisThe presentations that stop the work: eating disorders, unexplained weight loss, disease.
Covered in this module
- Red flags
- Referral notes
- When a GP is the next step
- Your limits in writing
Eating patterns, not protocolsProtein, fibre, regularity and the boring wins, without a detox.
Covered in this module
- What the evidence actually supports
- Culture and budget
- All-or-nothing clients
- Practice cases
Supplements and claimsHow to refuse a product story without humiliating the client who believed it.
Covered in this module
- Where to check claims
- Conflicts of interest
- What you will not sell
- Case study one
Weight, without the warCoaching behaviour in a market that sells punishment.
Covered in this module
- What you will not promise
- Body image and referral
- Workplace wellness traps
- Language
Working alongside a dietitianThe relationship that makes coaching safe rather than competitive.
Covered in this module
- What to send
- What not to undo
- Diabetes and renal diets are not yours
- Shared clients
Menopause, sleep and sport — stay in laneAdjacent niches that touch food, and the specialists they already have.
Covered in this module
- When to hand over
- Sports nutrition myths
- Midlife without HRT advice
- Case study two
The offerNaming the service so an insurer and a client hear the same thing.
Covered in this module
- Packages
- Directory listings
- Insurance questions
- Pricing
UK GDPR and recordsHealth-adjacent notes are still personal data.
Covered in this module
- What to write down
- Retention
- Subject access
- Tools
Assessment clinicLive review of case studies against the rubric.
Covered in this module
- Common fails
- Resubmission
- Supervision
- First paying client
Dates and timetable
Nutrition Coaching Foundations runs as a live cohort over 10 weeks. Pick the start date that fits — every cohort gets the same tutor, curriculum and assessment.
| Starts | Live sessions | Cap | Status and action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ends | Wednesdays 19:00–21:00 UK, 10 weeks (no session 23 or 30 December) | 20 | Choose this date → |
| Ends | Wednesdays 19:00–21:00 UK, 10 weeks | 20 | Choose this date → |
How you are assessed
Two written case studies of 1,500 words, marked by Kate Merrick against a published rubric covering screening, healthy-eating coaching and referral. Written feedback with one free resubmission. Work that treats diabetes, disordered eating or medication as a coaching task does not pass.
Our accreditation applications are in progress. We do not display an accreditation mark before it is granted — see the current status.
After you pass
- Non-clinical contract language
- Practitioner directory listing on passing
What is nutrition coaching?
Nutrition coaching is structured support for eating-pattern change in people without a clinical nutrition need: regularity, food environment, and habits they have chosen. It is not dietetics, not a treatment for disease, and not a route onto the HCPC or AfN registers. A nutrition coach refers when the presentation belongs with a dietitian or a GP.
Can this programme make you a nutritionist or a dietitian?
It can make you a coach who works with food inside a written scope. It cannot make you a dietitian — that title is protected and requires an HCPC-approved degree. It cannot make you a Registered Nutritionist — that requires an AfN-accredited degree pathway. Using those titles after a short course is the market's most common lie.
Sources
- Protected titles and the HCPC register — Health and Care Professions Council
- About the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists — Association for Nutrition
What can an unregistered nutrition coach legally do?
They can provide general healthy-eating education and lifestyle support to people without diagnosed conditions requiring dietetic care. They must not treat disease, advise on medication interactions, or present as qualified to manage a clinical condition. Those boundaries are where real harm occurs when training skips referral.
How is this different from a self-paced nutrition diploma?
Case work is marked by a tutor who will fail clinical overreach. The certificate states that you are not a dietitian or Registered Nutritionist. A self-paced diploma can teach macros. It cannot tell a client, or an insurer, whether you knew when to stop.
Common questions
Why not just call this a nutrition diploma?
Because that title is how this market implies a register. We teach coaching-scope nutrition and say so on the certificate.
Can I work in the NHS as a dietitian after this?
No. Dietetic posts require HCPC registration and an approved degree.
I already coach menopause or sleep — is this redundant?
Only if your current training already assessed nutrition referral. Most coaches want this as the food-specific case work their other programmes only touch.
Can I pay in instalments?
Yes. Interest-free plans total exactly £399.
Related reading
Nutrition Qualifications in the UK
The difference between a nutritionist, a nutritional therapist and a dietitian, which titles are protected, and what training each requires.
SubjectNutrition coaching training in the UK
How to judge UK nutrition-coaching training, why it is not dietetics, and when a short diploma is implying a register it cannot deliver.
CareerHow to become a nutrition coach in the UK
What a nutrition coach may legally do, why dietitian is protected, and a realistic non-clinical route that does not impersonate a register.
SubjectDietitian vs nutritionist in the UK
The legal difference between a dietitian and a nutritionist in the UK, which titles are protected, and why short diplomas cannot reach either register.
ProgrammeDietetics Career Preparation
A 12-week live dietetics-preparation programme with marked pathway work, taught by a dietitian who will not let you use a protected title.
ProgrammeMenopause Wellness Coaching
A 10-week live programme training coaches to support women through menopause, taught by an NHS menopause specialist GP with assessed case work.