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.

Last week, YMCA Awards hosted the second in our series of Vanguard Group receptions in the Houses of Parliament and officially launched our brand new, CIMPSA endorsed, Level 2 Certificate in Gym Instructing, Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training and Level 3 Comined Diploma in Gym Instructing and Persona

YMCA Awards has become the first awarding organisation to achieve endorsement from the Chartered Institute of the Management of Sport and Physical Activity (CIMSPA) having embraced the organisation’s new professional standards in three new gym instructor and personal training qualifications.

YMCA Awards is one of the leading qualification providers in the fitness sector, having had years of delivering quality educational products that are used across the globe. Our success is based not only on the partnerships and relationships we form, but most of all, on our ability to listen and bring about real change.

As many people using, working in and interested in fitness know, the sector is going through a period of substantial change. What some might miss though is how and why.

YMCA Awards and many of our partners have had enormous successes lobbying policy-makers, but what if we could combine our efforts and provide a platform whereby the industry’s highest performing providers and sector experts could speak as one?

It was this question that prompted us to launch the YMCA Awards Vanguard Group, a new, bespoke and exclusive service for YMCA Awards highest performing clients, with the aim of influencing policy-makers and driving meaningful change within the sector.

Even small changes can make a big difference when it comes to enhancing the learner experience, and following key stakeholder feedback, we’ve made some significant improvements to the finer details of one of our top qualifications.