Becoming a Health & Fitness Industry Tutor and/or Assessor
- Cara Standley
- Oct 9, 2024
- 4 min read
Fitness professionals, are you ready to progress?
For all the current Fitness Professionals out there: Personal Trainers, Group Exercise Instructors, Pilates Instructor, Yoga Instructors, Exercise Referral Specialists, Strength and Conditioning Coaches, Freestyle Studio Instructors, Water Based Exercise Instructors, Sports Massage Therapists...
What's next in your career?
There is no doubt we all enter into becoming a Fitness Professional because we love what we do, we may have a previous sporting background, or simply want to be the inspiration for others. This could be from grass roots to working with athletes, we all have a passion for what we do. But have you considered that with all your knowledge, experience and transferable skills you could become a Health & Fitness Tutor, Assessor, or Internal Quality Assurer and work with the many UK Training Providers (like us!)
But how do you go about this? What is involved? What could it lead to in terms of career progression?
Gain the correct Tutor/Assessor/Internal Quality Assurer (IQA) Qualifications
By gaining the correct Tutor and Assessor qualifications you will be recognised to Tutor/Assess any vocational education you already hold.
For example You gained a recognised Personal Trainer Qualification at the start of your career and later enhanced your skills by gaining a Studio Cycling and Pre and Post Natal qualification, plus you have a CV to show you have worked in these three areas. By gaining the correct Tutor/Assessor/IQA qualifications you are now employable to teach/assess these qualifications with an approved Training Provider.
However, you would not be able to teach a vocational qualification if you do not hold the technical competence, even if you have gained the Tutor/Assessor/IQA qualifications.
L3 Award in Education and Training
This is the minimum required (along with your existing vocational qualifications) required by a Training Provider to be an employed/freelance Tutor.
The qualification is a generic qualification and not industry specific however with our learners at Evolve Beyond Training we centre the learning process around the Health & Fitness Industry to ensure our learners have the best possible chance to be industry ready.
L3 Award in Assessing Vocationally Related Achievement
This is the minimum required (along with your existing vocational qualifications) required by a Training Provider to be an employed/freelance Assessor.
The qualification is a generic qualification and not industry specific however as with the Tutor Qualification we centre the learning process around the Health & Fitness Industry to ensure our learners have the best possible chance to be industry ready.
L4 Award in The Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practice
This is the minimum required (along with your existing vocational qualifications) required by a Training Provider to be an employed/freelance IQA.
And as previously the qualification is a generic qualification and not industry specific however we centre the learning process around the Health & Fitness Industry to ensure our learners have the best possible chance to be industry ready.
Once qualified...
It goes with out saying you need to know your 'stuff' when embarking on a career with a Training Provider however, we all know that you may have not used all the knowledge you originally gained (especially if you specialised) and therefore it would be wise to go back to self directed learning to really understand the qualification spec you will be delivering and assessing.
Once qualified we would personally advise getting some shadowing experience or working with a mentor at the beginning of your career (we offer, as part of the qualification, to have access to a mentor for 6 months after you qualify even if you do not go on to work with us - we know - gold dust!)
What does it cost?
It's safe to say the cost of the course is often linked to the mode of study. The cheaper the course, the more online it will be with minimal tutor interaction (if any). We would urge you to seriously consider the mode of learning when studying these qualifications because ultimately they lead you to being employed to demonstrate the skills and competencies to be able to interact with others!
Our prices are detailed here
What are the career possibilities?
Well we are going to be biased here as myself and our head Tutor/Assessor have ongoing careers spanning 15 years, working with many Training Providers in the UK and Internationally and ultimately owning 1 International Provider and 1 UK provider.
As a starting point there are many Training Providers in the UK (and abroad) who offer employed and freelance opportunities. Reflect back to where you studied, was your Tutor an inspirational role model or did you study your qualification online with minimal interaction? If it was the latter then there will not be many opportunities for you with that provider and it also opens a can of worms conversation (for another time) about appropriate delivery and learning methods for our industry!
The basic career progression for most starts with Assessor, then Tutor and moving on once experience has been gained to IQA, although there are no hard and fast rules to which comes first in terms of Tutor/Assessor.
What is is like to work teaching others in the health and Fitness Industry?
We can honestly say it is the most rewarding experience working with learners from
all back grounds, who we have met in the classroom and then watch them go on to teach, inspire and empower others to become fitness professionals.
And just like our learners we would be more than happy to chat with you about the qualifications, career options and overall life as a 'Train the Trainer' to help you make the net steps in your career. Arrange an informal chat with me here
Good Luck
Cara
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