--- title: Personal Training Practitioner url: https://thestudyguild.com/programmes/personal-training-practitioner type: programme published: 2026-08-13 last_reviewed: 2026-08-13 reviewed_by: james-holt publisher: The Study Guild --- # Personal Training Practitioner A 12-week live personal-training programme with marked practicals, taught by a trainer who will not claim CIMSPA endorsement we do not hold. ## Programme facts - Price: £449 (payment plans available, never discounted) - Format: Live online + self-paced - Live contact hours: 24 - Expected self-study hours: 48 - Duration: 12 weeks - Level: All levels - Tutor: james-holt ## Learning outcomes - Coach a session on camera that can fail - Design a twelve-week programme for an apparently healthy adult - Screen and refer when exercise is the wrong tool - State that this pass is not CIMSPA-endorsed and not an Ofqual-regulated Level 3 - Stay out of clinical nutrition and disease treatment - Write an offer a gym or insurer could actually understand ## Curriculum 1. **What this certificate is not** — CIMSPA professional status and Ofqual Level 3 are different checks. We award neither. Topics: CIMSPA occupational standard; Endorsed qualifications; What this pass will say; Who should leave now 2. **Screening apparently healthy adults** — PAR-Q logic, red flags, and the presentations you will not train. Topics: When a GP owns the question; Pregnancy, pain, unexplained symptoms; Referral notes; Practice cases 3. **Coaching a lift, not performing one** — Observation, cueing and the recorded session that can fail. Topics: Safety; Progression; Ego on camera; Marked practical 4. **Programme design that survives a week** — Twelve weeks for one adult, with a reason for each choice. Topics: Frequency and recovery; What you will not promise; Adherence; Assessment piece 5. **Cardio, conditioning and the brochure** — Enough physiology to programme, not enough to play clinician. Topics: Intensity; When pain is a stop; Wearables without theatre; Practice 6. **Nutrition stays in lane** — Healthy-eating signposting, not dietetics. CIMSPA's own standard expects referral. Topics: What you may say; What you must not treat; The other Guild nutrition products; Marked copy 7. **Special populations you will refer** — Clinical conditions are not a PT upsell. Topics: Cardiac, metabolic, injury; When a specialist trainer still needs a clinician; Insurance; Cases 8. **The gym as an employer** — What hiring managers actually ask, and when our certificate is the wrong paper. Topics: CIMSPA-endorsed routes; Insurance questions; Floor assessments we cannot fake; Honesty in applications 9. **Private practice without a halo** — Clients, contracts and the first twelve weeks of paid work. Topics: Packages; Cancellation; Scope in writing; Pricing 10. **UK GDPR and client notes** — Health-adjacent records are still personal data. Topics: What to write down; Photos and form checks; Retention; Tools 11. **Business that is not a guruship** — Acquisition without medical miracles. Topics: Before-and-after claims; Social proof; When coaching is the better Guild product; Offer 12. **Assessment clinic** — Live review of recordings and programmes against the rubric. Topics: Common fails; Unsafe sessions; Resubmission; CIMSPA, not us ## Assessment A recorded coaching session, a twelve-week programme for an apparently healthy adult, and a written referral-and-scope note, marked by James Holt. Written feedback with one free resubmission. Work that claims CIMSPA endorsement, treats disease, or skips practical observation does not pass. ## Upcoming cohorts - 2027-01-16 to 2027-04-03 — Saturdays 10:00–12:00 UK, 12 weeks (open, cap 16) - 2027-05-08 to 2027-07-24 — Saturdays 10:00–12:00 UK, 12 weeks (open, cap 16) ## What is this personal-training programme? Live, assessed coaching of movement for apparently healthy adults, with recorded practicals that can fail. It is not CIMSPA-endorsed. It is not an Ofqual-regulated Level 3. Gyms and insurers that name those checks should buy those products. Observed coaching is still a better buy than an unwatched lifestyle diploma. ## Does this programme give you CIMSPA professional status? No. CIMSPA professional status is built around evidencing that body's occupational standard, often through endorsed qualifications we do not award. The Guild is not a CIMSPA-endorsed education partner. If your first employer will check that status, start from CIMSPA. If you needed someone to watch you coach, that is the product here. Sources: - [CIMSPA — Personal trainer practitioner](https://cimspa.co.uk/membership-products/personal-trainer-practitioner/) — CIMSPA - [CIMSPA Careers Hub — Personal trainer](https://careers.cimspa.co.uk/careers-occupations/personal-trainer/) — CIMSPA ## Can you legally train paying clients without CIMSPA membership? Yes. Personal trainer is not a protected title. Gyms, many insurers and informed clients still treat CIMSPA status or an equivalent occupational qualification as the practical minimum. Legal freedom is not the same as employability. This programme will not pretend otherwise on your behalf. ## How is this different from a cheap online PT diploma? Practicals are marked on camera by a trainer who will fail unsafe sessions and clinical overreach. The certificate names CIMSPA and Level 3 as checks we do not confer. A theory PDF can still teach a squat. It cannot tell a gym manager whether anyone watched you coach one. ## Common questions **Why not wait until you are CIMSPA-endorsed?** Because specialists can review an observed product now, and we would rather print the limit than borrow a professional body's mark. **Can I give meal plans for diabetes?** No. Refer. CIMSPA's own standard expects trainers to refer clinical nutrition. Our nutrition products say the same. **Will a gym hire me with only this certificate?** Ask the gym. Many still name CIMSPA-endorsed Level 3. We will not relabel ours to match a spec we cannot satisfy. **Can I pay in instalments?** Yes. Interest-free plans total exactly £449. --- Source: https://thestudyguild.com/programmes/personal-training-practitioner · The Study Guild