Having been at the helm of Focus Training for almost 15 years, managing director Bob Ellis has witnessed much development and expansion in the fitness training sector. Here he outlines the best ways to keep standards high and deliver the calibre of professionals that will shape the future of health and fitness
How important is quality training for today’s health and fitness operators? It’s vital. Health and fitness operators need a well-trained, professional, competent workforce – because the better the training, through skills, knowledge and commitment, the better the membership retention through more individual coaching, bringing in further revenue.
Are you happy with the way fitness training has developed in the sector? There have been some really good developments in fitness training over the years, especially concerning the range of courses available, leading to greater career pathways. Attempts to regulate the industry initially placed a huge emphasis on quality as various industry bodies started to work together. This added strength and rigour to the regulated qualifications, ensuring that graduates were equipped to meet the demands of the industry and employers.
However, more recently there’s been a commercial drive within industry bodies to recruit greater numbers of training providers. This rush for growth has led to diminishing standards, through pressure of funding and growing bureaucracy. We need a powerful watchdog to ensure standards are met.
In addition, awarding organisations will be able to write their own qualifications in the near future. This could lead to further confusion and diminishing quality if employers and industry experts do not collaborate to establish qualification standards.
Although this could be a real problem for the industry, as training could be reduced to the lowest common denominator, it’s also a huge opportunity for the sector to address the needs of our customers – both employers and students.
Employers will be key because they are at the coalface and are first to feel the financial backlash if their client base is unhappy. Some employers are already becoming more prescriptive about the quality of the training they’re looking for on a CV. In other words, they’re looking beyond the qualification and at the nature of the training – how that training has been delivered – because it really does impact on the outcome.
At the other end of the chain, we must ensure that students understand the choices they have when enrolling on a course. They’re making a significant investment in their future career and need to understand what they’re getting for their money. Unless we get standardisation across the industry, which is unlikely, we must clarify their choices for them – otherwise the reputation of the industry will suffer.
Focus Training qualifications have been given strong endorsement by awarding organisations. What do you believe are the most important aspects of your approach? When we talk about standards and quality, we’re referring to a wide range of elements that come together to create a robust, consistent product people can trust.
The journey starts when a student enrols: effective and regular communication, high quality course materials, an understanding of how people learn, innovative learning methods, appropriate levels of tutor support and practical guidance delivered at suitable venues.
If you cut corners in any of these areas, it’s detrimental to the student experience and inevitably affects student retention, pass rates and the professionalism, skills and knowledge of the graduates.
I believe there are five key areas that potential fitness students should consider: the amount of learning and support; the provider’s track record; employer recognition; progression opportunities; and recognition by the health and fitness industry (see the briefing box on the right).
What have been some of your latest training innovations? Our newest product is our fitness professionals’ toolkit, which is a two-day workshop that gives anyone with a Level 2 qualification four new skills to take to their clients. This is a unique course to Focus Training, and it’s proving to be really popular.
The Diploma in Personal Training is the benchmark qualification for anyone wanting to be a successful PT. However, the growth in uptake of our specialist courses proves that PTs are increasingly looking to capitalise on niche markets. Areas such as diabetes, obesity, exercise referral and sports massage reflect the diversity of practitioners that are now in demand in the sector.
Meanwhile, at entry level, we’ve seen an increase in kids instructors, again reflecting market forces.
As a company we’re also working closely with corporate clients who, through our Staff Academy, employ Focus Training to come to them, using their venue to deliver both CPD and upskilling qualifications to staff, saving them time and money.
Considerations for prospective students 1. Check the amount of learning and support One of the easiest ways to assess quality is to look at the amount of time spent learning directly with a tutor. Having access to individual support from an experienced tutor – by telephone, email, or face-to-face – is critical to student success, both in passing the qualification and when they put their learning into practice in the workplace. Being a fitness professional involves competencies that need to be taught face-to-face.
2. The provider’s track record Find out how long the provider has been delivering training. Look for quality badges such as ISO9001 and if there are Ofsted reports. Focus Training has always used these quality benchmarks to drive everything we do. Since our ISO Quality Management System was implemented 10 years ago, inspections have revealed no major or minor non-conformities. That’s a tough record to maintain, but one we’re extremely proud of.
3. Employer recognition Find out if employers recognise not only the qualification, but also if they only employ people who have qualified with quality providers.
4. Progression Is there a progression route from the qualification? For example, can you use a Level 2 qualification to access a Level 3 qualification? Supporting a student throughout their career, from entry level through to becoming a specialist, is about the most rewarding thing we can do. We have a clear progression route, but that isn’t always the case in the industry.
5. The qualification’s currency Make sure other industry bodies and training providers can recognise your qualification; recognition by REPS only is insufficient. Our qualifications are industry recognised, but that isn’t always the case with other providers.
The very minimum is an awarding body certificate with an Ofqual logo. If this isn’t evident, it can ultimately result in a student having to retake modules, at extra cost, in order to progress to a higher level.
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Having been at the helm of Focus Training for almost 15 years, managing director Bob Ellis has witnessed much development and expansion in the fitness training sector. Here he outlines the best ways to keep standards high and deliver the calibre of professionals that will shape the future of health and fitness
How important is quality training for today’s health and fitness operators? It’s vital. Health and fitness operators need a well-trained, professional, competent workforce – because the better the training, through skills, knowledge and commitment, the better the membership retention through more individual coaching, bringing in further revenue.
Are you happy with the way fitness training has developed in the sector? There have been some really good developments in fitness training over the years, especially concerning the range of courses available, leading to greater career pathways. Attempts to regulate the industry initially placed a huge emphasis on quality as various industry bodies started to work together. This added strength and rigour to the regulated qualifications, ensuring that graduates were equipped to meet the demands of the industry and employers.
However, more recently there’s been a commercial drive within industry bodies to recruit greater numbers of training providers. This rush for growth has led to diminishing standards, through pressure of funding and growing bureaucracy. We need a powerful watchdog to ensure standards are met.
In addition, awarding organisations will be able to write their own qualifications in the near future. This could lead to further confusion and diminishing quality if employers and industry experts do not collaborate to establish qualification standards.
Although this could be a real problem for the industry, as training could be reduced to the lowest common denominator, it’s also a huge opportunity for the sector to address the needs of our customers – both employers and students.
Employers will be key because they are at the coalface and are first to feel the financial backlash if their client base is unhappy. Some employers are already becoming more prescriptive about the quality of the training they’re looking for on a CV. In other words, they’re looking beyond the qualification and at the nature of the training – how that training has been delivered – because it really does impact on the outcome.
At the other end of the chain, we must ensure that students understand the choices they have when enrolling on a course. They’re making a significant investment in their future career and need to understand what they’re getting for their money. Unless we get standardisation across the industry, which is unlikely, we must clarify their choices for them – otherwise the reputation of the industry will suffer.
Focus Training qualifications have been given strong endorsement by awarding organisations. What do you believe are the most important aspects of your approach? When we talk about standards and quality, we’re referring to a wide range of elements that come together to create a robust, consistent product people can trust.
The journey starts when a student enrols: effective and regular communication, high quality course materials, an understanding of how people learn, innovative learning methods, appropriate levels of tutor support and practical guidance delivered at suitable venues.
If you cut corners in any of these areas, it’s detrimental to the student experience and inevitably affects student retention, pass rates and the professionalism, skills and knowledge of the graduates.
I believe there are five key areas that potential fitness students should consider: the amount of learning and support; the provider’s track record; employer recognition; progression opportunities; and recognition by the health and fitness industry (see the briefing box on the right).
What have been some of your latest training innovations? Our newest product is our fitness professionals’ toolkit, which is a two-day workshop that gives anyone with a Level 2 qualification four new skills to take to their clients. This is a unique course to Focus Training, and it’s proving to be really popular.
The Diploma in Personal Training is the benchmark qualification for anyone wanting to be a successful PT. However, the growth in uptake of our specialist courses proves that PTs are increasingly looking to capitalise on niche markets. Areas such as diabetes, obesity, exercise referral and sports massage reflect the diversity of practitioners that are now in demand in the sector.
Meanwhile, at entry level, we’ve seen an increase in kids instructors, again reflecting market forces.
As a company we’re also working closely with corporate clients who, through our Staff Academy, employ Focus Training to come to them, using their venue to deliver both CPD and upskilling qualifications to staff, saving them time and money.
Considerations for prospective students 1. Check the amount of learning and support One of the easiest ways to assess quality is to look at the amount of time spent learning directly with a tutor. Having access to individual support from an experienced tutor – by telephone, email, or face-to-face – is critical to student success, both in passing the qualification and when they put their learning into practice in the workplace. Being a fitness professional involves competencies that need to be taught face-to-face.
2. The provider’s track record Find out how long the provider has been delivering training. Look for quality badges such as ISO9001 and if there are Ofsted reports. Focus Training has always used these quality benchmarks to drive everything we do. Since our ISO Quality Management System was implemented 10 years ago, inspections have revealed no major or minor non-conformities. That’s a tough record to maintain, but one we’re extremely proud of.
3. Employer recognition Find out if employers recognise not only the qualification, but also if they only employ people who have qualified with quality providers.
4. Progression Is there a progression route from the qualification? For example, can you use a Level 2 qualification to access a Level 3 qualification? Supporting a student throughout their career, from entry level through to becoming a specialist, is about the most rewarding thing we can do. We have a clear progression route, but that isn’t always the case in the industry.
5. The qualification’s currency Make sure other industry bodies and training providers can recognise your qualification; recognition by REPS only is insufficient. Our qualifications are industry recognised, but that isn’t always the case with other providers.
The very minimum is an awarding body certificate with an Ofqual logo. If this isn’t evident, it can ultimately result in a student having to retake modules, at extra cost, in order to progress to a higher level.
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The £33.9 million Leighton Leisure and Community Centre has opened in Leighton Buzzard, UK,
creating a next-generation public leisure, health and wellbeing hub for the local community.
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a £17m transformation designed to secure the long-term future of the public leisure asset and
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Marylebone on 16 July Built around X-Club’s four pillars of wellness – mind,
movement,
nutrition and therapy – the facility features two group exercise studi
CoverMe, the global leader in fitness workforce management, today launches CoverMe PT, an
on-demand personal training platform that connects the right personal trainer to the right
client in under 10 seconds. [more...]
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
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