Keeping the Y: Stability, Legacy and What Comes Next for Y Awards

Reflection: Getting the foundations right

When the changes happened, the first priority was clear: create a period of stability. Before any big new ideas, our centres, learners and partners needed to know that the service they relied on would carry on without disruption. An awarding organisation is built on trust, and that trust has to be protected before you can build on it.

We were also conscious of what we were looking after. This organisation has a long history and a proud legacy. It came about for a reason: to uphold the standards of the health and fitness sector, and to give centres a trusted kitemark so their learners leave knowing they’ve had an excellent experience. We never wanted to put that at risk. Our job was to protect it and carry it forward.

The biggest challenge, on a personal level, has been patience. It’s been frustrating at times to know we now have the capability to do so much more, while needing to get our systems and processes up to date first. The sector is moving quickly and there’s a lot happening. I’ve had conversations over these months about opportunities we knew we weren’t quite ready to take on. But being ready matters more than being first, and by 2027 we will be ready.

What have we learnt? First, that our customer service is genuinely strong. It held firm through a period of real change, and that’s a credit to the people who deliver it every day. Second, that now is the time to innovate. We need to get ahead and embrace technology as a tool that supports excellent learning methods and assessment approaches.

Used well, technology can help us reduce the risk of malpractice and maladministration. That matters because it builds trust in both directions. Training providers can rely on the robustness of what they deliver, and employers can rely on what the qualification says about the person in front of them. That level of proven quality is what helps the sector open up conversations on a national scale with organisations such as the NHS. If we can show, through high-quality assessment, that our learners meet the standard, we earn a place in those conversations.

Progress and achievements: what we’re proud of

We’ve achieved a lot in six months. We have stabilised the awarding organisation and safeguarded a legacy organisation that means a great deal to the sector. I don’t say that lightly.

I’m super proud of our menopause qualification launch. It’s the kind of product the sector needs: relevant, timely and focused on a real and growing area of health and wellbeing.

The success of our Reformer qualification has been another important milestone. It responded to clear demand from a rapidly growing part of the sector, and it has been positively received by centres looking for a trusted, quality-assured route into Reformer instruction. We were the first to bring a regulated Reformer qualification to market, a clear signal of our ambition to drive innovation in this new era for Y Awards.

Its growth shows what can be achieved when we listen closely to the market and develop qualifications that reflect emerging workforce needs. Building on this momentum, we plan to keep working with centres, employers and industry partners to expand our Reformer suite and our wider health and fitness portfolio. We want future qualifications to remain relevant, flexible and aligned with professional standards.

I’m just as proud that we maintained our service throughout the acquisition. Continuity isn’t glamorous, but for a centre with learners mid-programme it’s what matters most. We kept our promises.

We’ve also taken a significant step with our name. We are now simply Y Awards. By dropping the “MCA” and keeping the Y, we’re holding on to where we came from while making clear that we’re an organisation looking forward.

Alongside this, a full product review is underway. The aim is to make us a more agile, responsive awarding organisation, with a portfolio that works for our customers now and in the years ahead.

Our people and our partners

None of this happens without people. We remain committed to the legacy and to the people who got us here, because they are the people who will take us into the next phase. The team has shown real resilience through change, keeping standards high and customers supported while a great deal was happening in the background.

Our centres and partners have played a big part too. Over these months I’ve spent a lot of time talking to the sector, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. People see an opportunity for Y Awards to take real ownership and help drive change across the sector. That sentiment has shaped our direction. It’s told us that the sector wants a confident, active awarding organisation, and that’s what we intend to be.

Looking ahead: back at the front and centre

Over the next 12 months, our focus is clear.

We want Y Awards back at the front and centre of the health and fitness sector. That means products that are genuinely flexible for training providers, that meet workforce recommendations, and that align with the relevant professional standards.

We’ll be looking closely at our sectors and at where we want to grow. We’ll embrace technology and launch new systems that support all of our centres and partners, making it easier to work with us and strengthening the quality behind every qualification.

We’ll also be a much louder voice. We want to work in collaboration with operators, training providers, other awarding organisations, regulators and bodies such as CIMSPA, EMDUK and Sport England. We want to be seen and heard as a voice of authority in the sector, contributing to the conversations that shape its future.

The opportunity in health and fitness is huge. Consider GLP-1 medications, the growing number of people living with long-term health conditions, and the pressure on the NHS. The fitness and wellbeing workforce has a significant role to play in all of these, working in partnership with health services and communities. If we get this right, we can support the sector for many years to come.

So what can centres, learners and partners expect from us? The same commitment to standards and service that has always defined us, now paired with the ambition and ability to innovate. Having a new owner hasn’t changed who we are or why we exist. It has given us the means to do more of it, and do it better.

We’ve stabilised, we’ve protected our legacy, and now it’s time to bring Y Awards back to the forefront of innovation and of the sector. I can’t wait for what comes next.