
Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training
About The Course
This qualification is ideal for anyone who is keen on working in the rapidly growing health and fitness industry. Whether your goals are to work in gym and health club settings, be self-employed with private clients, or aspire to be the next big fitness influencer, this qualification will get you closer to your goals in just a year.
You will study core modules that will develop your knowledge of how the body works and responds to different training methods, and learn how to programme exercises to help your clients meet their goals. You will also gain valuable industry experience working with a range of different clients both at college and with local employers.
You will learn in dedicated classrooms equipped with interactive technology, and have access to our high-quality sports facilities including a full-sized sports hall, fully equipped fitness centre and separate strength and conditioning facility. You will also benefit from a range of relevant trips, visits and guest lectures.
Why BCA?
At BCA we have:
- 100% pass rate across all sports programmes
- 95% of our students go on to full-time employment or further higher education
- Excellent links with local sports clubs including our Football Academy partnership with Maidenhead FC
Entry Requirements
Five GCSEs at Grade 4 or above including English, maths and preferably PE (or equivalent).
Minimum age: 17 at the start of the course.
All applicants must demonstrate a genuine interest in pursuing a career in this industry.
More information
This course is designed for learners to progress straight into paid employment within the health and fitness industry. The course is approved by CIMSPA and the Register of Exercise Professionals and successful completion provides individuals with a license to practice as a Personal Trainer or Gym Instructor.
Learners will also have the option to progress onto a Level 3 Extended Diploma in Sport if they wish to progress to University.
Students will complete a range of modules to develop the skills and knowledge required to be competent in this field. Below are some examples of modules that will be studied over the duration of the course:
- Anatomy and physiology for exercise
- Customer service
- Supporting client health and well-being
- Conducting consultations and gym inductions
- Planning and reviewing gym-based exercise programmes
- Instructing and supervising gym-based exercise programmes
- Programming and Delivering personal training sessions
- Client lifestyle management
- Nutrition
- Business for personal trainers
This is a fast-paced course that will help you develop subject-specific skills as well as interpersonal skills. You will need to have a relatively good level of fitness in order to meet the practical requirements of the course. The course makes full use of the excellent facilities:
- Modern classrooms, fully equipped with IT support
- 3 full-size football pitches & a full-sized rugby pitch
- A state of the art sports hall, incorporating 4 badminton courts, a full-sized basketball court, and cricket nets
- Indoor and outdoor climbing facilities
- High & low rope courses
- Archery range
- A fully-equipped fitness centre and a separate strength and conditioning facility
Uniform and PPE: All Sports students will be required to purchase the compulsory BCA kit, which is appropriate for their programme. You are only expected to purchase 1 kit bundle, so if you are part of an Academy, please order the specific academy kit, as detailed below. We try to keep all compulsory kit bundles to a minimum cost and then give the option for you to purchase additional items. Clean, practical kit must be brought in every day.
Please click on the link below to place your online kit order.
Non-Academy Sports Students
www.clubwebshop.com/a-z/clubs/bca/club-bundles
You will have to register and create an account before ordering.
Football Academy
www.mufcdirect.co.uk/collections/mufc-academy-bca
Netball Academy
www.hawkinsport.co.uk/schools/berkshire-college-agriculture
Rugby Academy
www.hawkinsport.co.uk/schools/berkshire-college-agriculture
Returning students are very welcome to order another complete bundle, however, you will already have some kit from last year, so you may decide just to order a few additional items. Please email Nicky Cornelius, Curriculum Assistant nacornelius@bca.ac.uk for the specific link to order individual items.
Stationery: All students will be required to bring appropriate stationery and a notebook to all lessons. We advise students to purchase a ring binder folder to keep class notes and resources in, for future reference. BCA does not supply pens, pencils, rulers, or notepads.
All students will be required to bring their own set of headphones for blended learning sessions. The headphones do not need to be expensive but must be PC compatible.
Learners will achieve a Level 3 Diploma in Gym Instructing and Personal Training.
Sports Studies students may have the opportunity to complete additional qualifications as part of their study programme. The training for these qualifications will form part of the course syllabus, however, the actual exam will be optional and will incur an additional cost. We will notify you of any details relating to these courses as and when necessary.
This course is fully internally assessed via a portfolio of evidence which will include:
- Written reports
- Presentations
- Tests
- Practical demonstrations
- Case Studies
- Role Play
- Work-based learning observations
You will be required to complete a minimum amount of industry experience hours across the course of the year. You will be in college 3 full days per week and it will be expected that all learners in this programme are completing one additional day per week in a relevant industry setting.
We actively encourage students to find their own industry placement near to home, but BCA will support you if required. All employers accepting industry placement students will be visited beforehand to ensure that they comply with health and safety regulations and also have the correct insurance cover in place.
NCFE