Frequently Asked Questions

About the tutors

Are the tutors professional personal trainers?
Yes, all tutors are professional personal trainers.

Course costs

Does the cost for the course include everything I need? Or are there any extra fees?
There are no other costs or fees.

Can I spread the cost of the courses over a period of time?
Yes. You can make five monthly payments. It costs 20% more. You can find the cost of paying by instalments by clicking here.

You can also get an online-only edition of the course, which is £100 cheaper. With this, too you can pay by instalments.

How could I get my money back if I don't like the course?
Just return the course in good condition within 60 days of receiving it, and we'll send you a full refund.

Course duration

How long does it usually take to complete the course?
Many students complete the course in five months. But you can do it as quickly or slowly as you want. That's one advantage of distance learning.

Do I need to finish the course within a certain time?
You can take as long as you want. Unlike other organisations, we don't set any time limits.

What does the course cost?
You can find the cost of the course by clicking here.

I live in the USA, UK, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Borneo etc. Is the course suitable for me?
Yes. We have students in 28 countries.

How can I contact my tutor or the Institute?
There have two types of people you can contact - your tutor and a course advisor.
The tutor marks your work, and helps you with any problems. You can fax, e-mail or post assignments to your tutor, whenever you want.
You'll also have a named Course Advisor. So If you get stuck, or have an urgent query, you can phone a them at the Institute at any time during work hours. If you leave a message out of work hours we'll ring you back the next day. You can contact course advisors as often as you want, and about anything to do with personal training.

How do I make contact?

Can I contact other students?
Yes, we have a student database. You can add your contact details and get in touch with other students. You can swap ideas, or solve problems together.

What about accreditation?

Is the course accredited? And by whom?

Our course is fully accredited by the national awarding body NCFE, and on completing it you get a national award equivalent to Level 4 of the National Qualification Framework (NQF).

NCFE is recognised as an awarding body by the qualification regulators for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The regulators are the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) in England, the Department for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills (DCELLS) in Wales and the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) in Northern Ireland.

To read more about NCFE please go to www.ncfe.org.uk

We are registered with NCFE under our corporate trading name of 'Home Study Courses Limited'.

Will the course give me credits towards a degree or some other study?
No. But it will help you set up and run your own business. And we encourage all students to continue their studies after completing the course.

Do you have REPS accreditation?

We haven't sought accreditation from REPS because their training requirements are based on a classroom model with supervision, and has pre-entry requirements.

Our training is through distance learning, with no pre-entry requirements; and is accredited by NCFE as equivalent to level 4 in the national qualifications framework.

Will your course let me work in a gym?

Some gyms ask for REPS qualification, which we don't offer, and some don't.

A more interesting and lucrative career is as a private trainer, working with your own private clients. You may then get extra work in a gym at a later stage as people learn about you.

Some of our enquirers hope to get private clients by working in a gym. However many gyms ban you from using their members as your private clients. There is a clear conflict of interest, and it may lead to problems if you are seen to be 'stealing' clients.

Once you've completed our course, you can start your own business as a Personal Trainer and begin to earn immediately.

When can I do the course?

Can I start the course at any time?
Yes.

Where can I study the course?

Is the course all from home, or do I have to go to a test centre?
It's all from home.

How can I be sure that you're legitimate, and that you won't disappear with my money?

Here are some answers we hope will reassure you.

• We've been in operation since 1995; so we're very established.

• We publish our physical address at the bottom of each page - and you are welcome to visit us.

• We're audited by NCFE twice a year (you can phone them to verify they do that).
  

• You can read the Reviews of our students on the web site.
  

• You can ask us for the contact details of former students who will talk to you about their experiences.
  

• We publish an Ethical Statement here: www.inst.org/ethics.htm
  

• We're registered at Companies House: registration number 352 4886
  

• Our VAT number is 729 1528 23
  

• Our bank is NatWest, 7 High Street, Wells, Somerset (we have money in the bank and no loans or overdraft).
  

• We're registered with the UK government's Register of Learning Providers (www.ukrlp.co.uk); Number 10009490.
  

And finally, we love what we do; and we wouldn't do anything to jeopardise it.