Awarding organisations must focus on graduates and avoid misplaced competitive focus

Jenny Patrickson

Managing director,

Active IQ

I feel it necessary, for the sake of transparency, to comment on your news piece ‘YMCA becomes first awarding organisation to secure CIMSPA accreditations’ as this headline and its associated story are potentially misleading.

While these three YMCA qualifications are ‘endorsed’ by CIMSPA, there has been a significant amount of collaborative work among all awarding organisations since 2015 to create a set of refreshed qualifications that are truly fit for purpose for exercise professionals.

Active IQ specifically engaged extensively with a diverse range of sector employers back in 2015 to gather and incorporate their feedback into the development of our refreshed Level 3 PT and Level 2 Gym Instructing qualifications.

Our new L3 PT qualification launched in 2016 – ahead of the game – but we wanted to avoid further delays in providing employers, learners, training providers and the sector with the updated qualifications that were required.

Learners and training providers have been working with our refreshed L3 PT qualification since 2017 and our Level 3 Diploma in PT qualification was endorsed by CIMSPA in March 2018, along with our L2 Certificate in Gym Instructing and combined L3 Diploma in Gym Instructing & Personal Training.

Active IQ welcomes more qualifications that meet CIMSPA professional standards, but the spotlight should be on graduates of these qualifications to establish effective outcomes, rather than a misplaced competitive focus. Collaboration, after all, is the way forward for us all.

“There’s been a significant amount of collaborative work among all awarding organisations since 2015 to create a set of refreshed qualifications that are truly fit for purpose for exercise professionals”

The needs of candidates should come first