Health and Fitness Education

Health and Fitness Education, which trades as HFE, is a UK training provider for people who want to work in the fitness industry or move into health and wellbeing coaching. It sells regulated qualifications and CPD courses across personal training, Pilates, yoga, exercise to music, sports massage, exercise for special populations, nutrition, and health and wellbeing. The site says it has been launching careers since 2007, describes itself as the UK's leading health and fitness industry training provider, and says it has helped launch over 60,000 fitness careers in almost 20 years. A learner can take a single course, a pre-built package for a particular role, or a custom package combining several courses.

Ways to study

Depending on the course, HFE teaches in three formats. Online courses are completed remotely and at the learner's own pace. Live virtual classes are interactive online sessions delivered by tutors in real time. In-person courses run at training venues across the UK, which the site says include premium clubs and leisure operators such as David Lloyd, Hilton, Bannatyne, The Village and Nuffield Health. Among its most popular venues it names London, Manchester, Cardiff, Glasgow, Birmingham, Nottingham, York and Bristol.

Learning runs through the Learner Engagement System (LES), HFE's online portal for workbooks, case studies, mock exams, video lectures and progress tracking, alongside printed manuals that are also available digitally through the HFE app. For attended and virtual courses, an "enrol now, train later" option lets a learner start the materials and online assessments straight away and pick attendance dates later, within 12 months of enrolling.

The course range

The course menu is broad. Personal training runs from a Level 2 Certificate in Gym Instructing and a Level 3 Certificate in Personal Training, both also sold online, to a Level 4 Diploma in Coaching Body Transformations. Pilates includes a Level 3 Diploma in Teaching Mat Pilates, a Level 4 Certificate in Instructing Pilates Matwork and a Level 3 Reformer course. Yoga covers Level 3 teacher training plus courses for older adults and pre and postnatal clients. Exercise to music includes aqua, indoor cycling, step and studio strength instructor courses. Exercise specialist courses cover GP exercise referral, disability and impairments, older adults, pre and postnatal clients, the menopause, low back pain, and obesity and diabetes. Nutrition courses range from Level 3 nutrition for physical activity to a Level 4 Sport and Exercise Nutrition Coach. A GLP-1 and weight loss medications course and a Level 2 mental health awareness course sit in the health and wellbeing section.

Online Pilates in detail

The online Level 3 Diploma in Mat Pilates is a good example of how an HFE course works. The site calls it the same course as the face-to-face version, with the teaching livestreamed by tutors; a learner needs an internet connection, a device, a Pilates mat and space at home. On enrollment the learner receives 3 training manuals, a study guide, over 50 hours of online lectures and demonstrations of Joseph Pilates' original 34 mat-based exercises, mock theory exams and lesson planning templates, plus four days of live online Pilates content. Bookings are offered on weekday and weekend Live-Virtual dates, and learners have up to six months to complete.

The syllabus covers anatomy and physiology, posture, the principles and fundamentals of Pilates, planning sessions and delivering them. Assessment is split into theory (25%), taken online in an open-book format with instant results; practical (25%), for which the learner films themselves teaching a group of around 6 friends or family members in any studio or open space; and coursework (50%), including a case study and a lesson plan. There are no formal entry requirements beyond regular experience of attending classes. The qualification is Ofqual regulated and awarded by YMCA Awards, and the site says it allows graduates to join CIMSPA as a Pilates professional.

The price is published. Paying in full costs £945, a 5% prompt payment discount, while the interest-free Buy Now, Pay Later plan and the Purchase Order route (invoice settled within 30 days) both cost £995. A £100 deposit secures a place, followed by six months of monthly payments.

Health and wellbeing coaching packages

For qualified fitness professionals, HFE sells two Level 4 health and wellbeing coaching packages. The Practitioner Health and Wellbeing Coach package covers client-centered coaching, behavior change models, motivational interviewing and solution-focused coaching, habit theory and the wider determinants of health, and leads to two qualifications, "Level 4 Health Behaviour Change Practitioner" and "Level 4 Health and Wellbeing Coach Practitioner". It costs £988 paid in full (after a £52 discount), or £1040 over 6 months (1 x £135 and 5 x £131) or 12 months (1 x £75 and 11 x £65), each with a minimum deposit of £250. Entry requires an Ofqual-regulated Level 3 fitness qualification such as personal training, exercise referral, Pilates or yoga.

The Master Health and Wellbeing Coach package adds the Level 3 Certificate in Supporting Clients with Long-Term Health Conditions, formerly exercise referral, for coaching clients with conditions such as obesity, diabetes and COPD. It costs £1358.50 paid in full (after a £71.50 discount), or £1430 over 6 months (1 x £200 and 5 x £196) or 12 months (1 x £102 and 11 x £98), again with a £250 minimum deposit. Both packages carry 10 CIMSPA CPD points, are endorsed by YMCA Awards and CIMSPA, and according to the site are accredited by the "Personalised Care Institute" and mapped to the NHS standards for health coaching. Graduates can work in settings the site lists as community services, corporate wellbeing, exercise referral schemes, the NHS, social prescribing and private practice.

Accreditation and quality

Accreditation varies by course, and the site asks learners to check each course page. Awarding organizations named include YMCA Awards, Active IQ and Transcend Awards; some courses are regulated qualifications and others CPD, and many are endorsed by CIMSPA. HFE says it holds CIMSPA's highest quality assurance rating, Enhancing, and is certified to ISO 9001 and recognized by UKAS. Its review widget shows 2550 reviews averaging 4.9 out of 5.

Support and careers

Each learner is assigned a dedicated Learner Support Tutor, available Monday to Friday by phone or email for questions, revision tips and career guidance, and support pages add video calls and webinars. The site says its teaching team includes doctors, dietitians and physiotherapists. After qualifying, graduates get CV Connect, HFE's recruitment service that sends a graduate's CV to employers in the fitness, leisure and wellbeing sector, plus discounts from partners including CIMSPA and Insure4Sport. On pay, the health and wellbeing page states that exercise referral instructors typically start on £26,000-28,000 a year and that NHS health coaches can earn up to £40,000.

Who it suits

HFE suits someone in the UK building a fitness career from the first gym instructor qualification upward, and a working instructor adding Pilates, yoga, nutrition or a specialist population. The online Pilates diploma and the online personal training courses also let learners further away train without attending a venue. The coaching packages fit qualified trainers moving toward NHS, social prescribing or corporate wellbeing work. The caveat is that the coaching packages require an existing Level 3 qualification, so a complete beginner starts with a foundation course first.