Fitness Trainer Competition
The AoC Sport Fitness Trainer Competition is a health and fitness skills competition for students in further education. It is the only active leisure skills competition for students working towards careers in the sport and leisure industry.
There is currently only one competition under the Fitness Trainer title:
- Fitness Trainer (Personal Trainer)
We have previously run the Gym Instructor and Fitness Assistant competitions under the Fitness Trainer title, however due to funding changes these competitions are temporally postponed. We have a long-term ambition to reintroduce these elements.
The competition has been written to align with the relevant National Occupational Standard descriptors and to complement qualifications that exist. Industry, educator, and employer research and feedback has helped shape and design the competition.
| Stage | Details | Timescales |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Institution-based competition | Individual institutions can run their own competition within the curriculum or as an additional enrichment and stretching exercise to identify their most competent personal trainers. | December 2023 - January 2024 |
| 2. Qualification Stage | Institutions enter their strongest students. Competitors must take part in a Passive Stage, which will be an online test. Testing competitor’s knowledge and understanding of personal training alongside completing a four minute video on their aims as a personal trainer and examples of them leading a personal training session. | 15th January - 15th February 2024 |
| 3. National Final | The top scoring competitors from the qualification stage will be invited to compete in the National Final. The national final will be an in person multi day event. Finalists will be tested in a variety of industry related tasks, which will test them beyond education and assessment. | 19th - 21st April at the University of Nottingham |
Entry requirements
- Competitors can only enter a category which relates directly to their programme of study:
- Personal Training entries must be enrolled with an Awarding Organisation for the Level 3 Fitness Qualification in Personal Training or equivalent
- The course must be mapped to the CIMSPA personal training educational standards
- A full list of accepted qualifications can be found here
How to get involved
- Register for the competition here.
- Any non-members interested in the competition, should email Fitnesstrainer.comp@aoc.co.uk and register interest.
Entry fees
- AoC Sport member college's will be provided free entry into the competition.
- Other institutions who meet the entry requirements, will be required to become AoC Sport Affiliate Members and pay a small fee for entry.
Judging
Throughout all stages of the competition, competitors are graded on a set criteria. All competitors will be given the criteria ahead of each stage of competition, so they know exactly what judges are looking for.
Our judging team is made up of industry experts with a wide range of experience in the fitness and education sector. Ahead of each competition cycle we run a judges training to ensure quality and fairness in judging.
All judging is done in a minimum of pairs. After each stage of judging, judges complete a standardisation process to ensure grading is fair and to the correct standard.
Our judging team come from wide range of backgrounds and organisations, and we are always looking for more experts to join us. There will be opportunities to judge remotely and/ or live at our events. If you are interested in being part of our judging team, please get in touch with Fitnesstrainer.comp@aoc.co.uk.
Resources
Resources are available on the Fitness Trainer Resource Hub. Within the hub there are resources for the Personal Trainer, Gym Instructor and Fitness Assistant Competitions.
The Resource Hub has various documents which will help competitors prepare for competition and see exactly what to expect, including resources to run internal college competitions. Please contact Fitnesstrainer.Comp@aoc.co.uk to request access.
If you are interested in taking part in the Fitness Trainer Competition or have any questions please get in touch with Fitnesstrainer.comp@aoc.co.uk