Can you do Level 3 personal training without Level 2?

Yes, you can do Level 3 personal training without a Level 2, as long as the course you choose includes the Level 2 units. You still need the gym instructing knowledge. What differs is whether you study it as a separate course first or inside the Level 3. CIMSPA, the professional body for sport and physical activity, says a Level 3 in personal training comes after a Level 2 gym instructor certificate, and that many providers combine the two into a single course.

PT Hut's course is the combined kind. Our Level 3 Diploma Practitioner in Personal Training is awarded by Focus Awards, and five of its ten units are the Level 2 gym instructing units, worth 18 of its 51 credits. You need no previous fitness qualification to start, only to be 16 or over on the start date, and you finish qualified at both levels.

Why Level 3 usually comes after Level 2

Personal training is built on gym instructing. A gym instructor inducts new members, screens them, demonstrates equipment and keeps the gym floor safe. A personal trainer needs all of that, then coaches individual clients towards their own goals. CIMSPA describes personal trainers as working "on a one-to-one or small-group basis to coach clients towards their health and fitness goals", with programmes, nutrition and lifestyle support planned around the person.

Everything in that second description assumes the first. You cannot build a programme for one client until you can screen them, supervise their technique and keep them safe on the gym floor, and those are Level 2 skills. That is why a Level 3 course either expects you to hold the Level 2 or includes it.

The name of a course does not always tell you which route it takes. Some Level 3 courses expect you to hold the Level 2 already. Others include it. The way to tell is the unit list, and a provider should be happy to show you theirs before you pay.

What the Level 2 units cover in our diploma

Five of our ten units are at Level 2, and together they make up the gym instructing half of the qualification. Each one has an Ofqual unit reference, listed with the rest on the course page.

• Health and wellbeing for exercise (Y/617/8588, 4 credits). Why physical activity matters, and to whom.
• Client motivation and lifestyle management (R/617/8590, 2 credits). Keeping people coming back after the first fortnight.
• Professional practice and health and safety (Y/617/8591, 2 credits). Safeguarding, risk and how to conduct yourself on the gym floor.
• Consultations and assessments (D/617/8592, 4 credits). The first conversation with a new client, covering screening, their goals and a baseline to measure from.
• Instructing and supervising gym sessions (H/617/8593, 6 credits). Supervised gym instructing, which is the Level 2 practical.

The other five units are Level 3, worth 33 credits. They cover anatomy and physiology, nutrition, programme design, delivering personal training sessions, and the business side of running yourself as a trainer. The largest single unit in the diploma is the one where you deliver sessions, at 9 credits.

Why we teach the two levels together

In our experience, learning gym instructing and personal training in one course works better than treating the Level 2 as a hurdle to clear first, because a personal trainer uses the Level 2 skills in every session they run. Screening a client, watching their technique and keeping them safe are still your job once you qualify at Level 3, alongside everything the Level 3 adds.

In a real session the two levels happen at once. Watching a client's technique is Level 2 work, and deciding how much load they are ready for is Level 3 work. Clinton, who came into coaching from a background in engineering, has been doing both for more than 20 years in the industry, with more than 400 clients.

Daniel holds a BSc in Sport Therapy and Rehabilitation, has worked with more than 400 clients and has carried out more than 1,500 injury assessments. He teaches the anatomy, screening and programming units while doing that work the rest of the week. From working with clients, we know a first session with anyone starts with questions about their health, history and goals, well before any exercise. That conversation is taught in the Level 2 consultations unit, and the Level 3 programme design unit builds directly on what it finds out.

Who a combined diploma suits

It suits anyone starting from nothing. If you are changing career, it means one course, one enrolment and one price, rather than two courses one after the other.

If you already work in a gym without a qualification, the Level 2 units cover what you see on the gym floor every day, and the Level 3 units take you on to training your own clients. If you already coach friends or family informally, a regulated Level 3 is what insurers want to see before covering you, and it is the standard UK gyms and health clubs ask for when they hire personal trainers.

It also suits people who live a long way from our practical days. Each intake holds five places for learners who cannot travel, who complete the same practical assessment on film instead of in person. There are only five, so ask about one when you reserve.

How to check whether a course includes the Level 2

A few checks will tell you what you are buying before you pay for it.

• Read the unit list. Level 2 units in gym instructing, consultations and health and safety mean the Level 2 is included.
• Look at the level of each unit. Every unit on a regulated qualification has a level. On ours, five units are Level 2 and five are Level 3, which is how you can see both halves are there.
• Look the qualification up. Every regulated qualification is listed on Ofqual's register. Ours is the Focus Awards Level 3 Diploma Practitioner in Personal Training (RQF), qualification number 603/5233/4, and Focus Awards publish the full unit list for it.
• Ask what the price covers. A cheaper Level 3 that expects you to hold a Level 2 already has the cost of a second course sitting behind it.

If you already hold a Level 2

The diploma includes the Level 2 units, whatever qualifications you hold already. If you have a Level 2 in gym instructing, mention it in the "A bit about you and your journey" box when you reserve, and we will talk it through with you.

Where to start

The assessment page explains how the written work and the practical days are assessed, and the dates page has the next intakes and the fee. When you are ready, reserve your place, or use the same form to ask us anything first. No payment is taken on the website, and we will email you back.