Advice for English therapists only – further advice will follow for the other countries as it is released.

As per the latest Government Guidelines, the formal and legally required restrictions will be removed from 19th July 2021 and the onus will be upon personal responsibility for ongoing protection.

Whilst the continuing pandemic has led to many assessments being cancelled, on the 25 February 2021, the Government announced the policy on awarding vocational and technical qualifications in England in 2021 which included confirmation that:

From Monday 23 November, customers will be able to schedule eProctored assessments, allowing remote invigilation for the first time.

Remote invigilation via eProctoring allows learners to complete their YMCA Awards externally assessed exams at home without a member of centre staff overseeing the assessment. Instead, the learner uses their webcam and smartphone to record what they do during the exam so that we can verify they have met assessment conditions.

Yesterday (Thursday 13 August) many learners across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will have received results for their A Levels, BTECs, Technical Certificates and other vocational qualifications.

At YMCA Awards we do not issue results for our qualifications on a specific date each year but we have now printed and dispatched all certificates claimed and quality assured whilst the team have been working from home. This is to ensure that, wherever possible, learners can receive their YMCA Awards certificate with their results for other qualifications.

On Friday 28th February 2020, 21 – year-old Lee Wainwright from Chester was the first ever apprentice in the country to pass the all-new ‘YMCA Awards Level 3 Personal Trainer End-Point Assessment’ (EPA) at Cheshire College South and West.

The new Level 3 PT EPA replaces the former PT NVQ, which was deemed “not fit for purpose” during the Government Apprenticeship Review of 2017. 

The new ‘Level 2 Certificate in the Foundations of Strength and Conditioning (Trainer)’ has been launched by YMCA Awards.

Previously, strength and conditioning (S&C) training qualifications were only accessed by an exclusive group of elite athletic, football and professional sports club coaches. Due to growing demands for more S&C accessibility within the fitness industry, YMCA Awards have developed and launched a more inclusive qualification, enabling more training providers and learners than ever before to access the prestigious world of S&C.

We are delighted to announce that Paula Wells, former Operations Director of fitness education provider - Premier Global NASM, joined YMCA Awards on 22^nd October as our new Director.

Regarded as the international gold standard in the active leisure sector, YMCA Awards qualifications are delivered by more than 300 education providers around the globe.

YMCA Awards has launched the new YMCA Level 2 Certificate in Teaching Group Exercise to Music (Freestyle) - the first qualification in our new Group Exercise suite, mapped to the CIMSPA Core Group Exercise Instructor professional standard.

This year, we’re celebrating twenty years of awarding qualifications. We were the first awarding organisation in the fitness and active leisure sector and we’re not going anywhere.