“Raising the Bar” – what we’ve learned from a year’s consultation with employers and fitness professionals

Elaine Briggs

Director of Training, Education and Innovation, Future Fit Training

Issues affecting employers

Funded by Sport England, the Raising the Bar group aims to explore issues affecting employers in the sport and physical activity sector. The group also aims to identify what can be done to overcome these challenges, how CIMSPA can support overcoming these challenges and identifying the current state of employees.

The project began in 2014, with Elaine explaining how it started by talking to employer partners about how they saw people who had qualifications but were not ready to work in the sector. This led to a wider collection of feedback gathered through an annual report and stakeholder groups that asked the workforce about internal training, the level of training, and how fit for purpose it is.

This work continued until 2018, when there was an insight session into standards of training. The research found that the main concerns were methods of training, skills, standards of assessment and employment pathways. Elaine explained by the end of 2018 the Raising the Bar group had ended up just reporting on people’s dissatisfaction.

Raising the Bar gained employer thoughts which summarised three key challenges:

  • Professionalising the industry through chartered status.
  • Addressing inadequate assessment of qualifications.
  • Continuing professional development.


Raising the Bar will take this insight and knowledge, begin to check, challenge and share best practice to move forward with the project.

CIMSPA’s role in Raising the Bar

Chartered status allows individuals in the sector to aim for a professional status rather than a qualification level. Currently, CIMSPA is working to resolve the issues of the CIMSPA logo being used on CPD certificates that have not been endorsed by our Training Provider Partners.

CIMSPA also encouraged employers and members to regularly check their endorsement status of awarding bodies, training partner providers and members, to ensure they are still accredited by the professional body. For example, some members may not have completed the minimum 10 CPD points annually required to maintain their membership.

Elaine poses the question: “Should we make it mandatory to write in contracts and legislation that the employer needs to gain 10 CPD points?”

Chartered status allows individuals in the sector to aim for a professional status rather than a qualification level. Currently, CIMSPA is working to resolve the issues of the CIMSPA logo being used on CPD certificates that have not been endorsed by our Training Provider Partners.

CIMSPA also encouraged employers and members to regularly check their endorsement status of awarding bodies, training partner providers and members, to ensure they are still accredited by the professional body. For example, some members may not have completed the minimum 10 CPD points annually required to maintain their membership.

Elaine poses the question: “Should we make it mandatory to write in contracts and legislation that the employer needs to gain 10 CPD points?”

Assessments – simulation

The current assessments are not robust enough, people are turning up with the qualification but haven’t got the skills that are required to take the job. The group looked into the training people had and some qualifications were obtained in a short period of time which is not adequate, others had a gym qualification but had never stepped foot in a gym.

Assessments – outcomes

Simulation can be used in certain situations. Elaine gives the example of a leisure assistant on the pool side without adequate lifeguarding training. She explained this scenario is okay until something goes wrong. Similarly, employers were finding people applying for jobs such as a gym instructors but were assessed in a simulation with little to no practical interaction with a real client. CIMSPA has brought together employers and mapped out the chartered route. Up until September 2019 training providers could train on the old standards.

Technology working group

Three main things are used in an assessment simulation, the use of peers and technology. The board will continue to meet and question if different sectors use different ways of working and technology for assessment, however Raising the Bar is not currently at this stage.

What does the future look like?

There are 5 strands of the PDC, employers will mainly feed into a PDB, everyone has to apply to be in this group. Raising the Bar are in discussions with Sport England to see how we can move raising the bar board forward in the future.

What do you want to happen in 2020?

In a poll completed by the audience, the following thoughts and feelings were revealed. There were roughly 20 people in the room.

Do you think we have gone for enough in the developments I have summarised in order to make a difference?

Yes – 67% No – 33%

Do employers think membership should be included as part of Quest?

Yes – 75% No – 25%

New standards have been out for two years, have you seen a change in the skills gap?

Yes – 18% No – 82%

What skills gap do you believe exists?

  • Marketing.
  • Delivery/experience of knowledge gained.
  • Data analysis.
  • Nutrition and the confidence to give advice with nutrition.
  • Specialist populations.
  • Physical assessment.
  • Data use.
  • Communication.
  • Behaviour change.
  • Pre post-natal.
  • Working with medical conditions.
  • Underrepresented groups.
  • Business skills.
  • Communication skills.


In the last year there appears to have been a shift toward health and wellbeing rather than traditional exercise and fitness by a number of employers. Would you agree that this is the direction the industry should be talking?

Yes – 100% No – 0%

If yes, what additional skills would your workforce require to meet the needs of their broader health and wellbeing offering?

  • Sleep.
  • General lifestyle outside of the gym environment.
  • Long term health conditions and working with multiple conditions.
  • Motivational interviewing.
  • More understanding of ‘injuries’.
  • Mental health.
  • Assessment skills.
  • Technology.
  • Nutrition.


Thinking about everything we have discussed in this section, what would you like to see this group addressing over the next twelve months?

  • Look at how we can effectively review the impact.
  • Attracting good non-CIMSPA training providers into CIMSPA partnership.
  • Movement qualifications being delivered 100% online is appropriate.
  • Removing pressure for assessors to have 100% pass rates.
  • How do we make the fitness workforce and qualifications more accessible and inclusive