Sport & Fitness

The sport and fitness industry is growing because of developing interest in personal fitness and health. The number of people in the UK using gyms stands at over 9.7 million: an all-time high. Some of this increase is down to new developments, such as ‘no frills’ gyms like PureGym and Xercise4Less- this means that there are job opportunities for qualified practitioners.

We offer various sport and fitness courses from level 4 Preparation to Sport and Fitness to HND together with the opportunity to complete additional qualifications such as coaching badges as well as CIMPSA registration as a gym instructor practitioner and/or personal trainer practitioner, level 2 (gym instructor) and level 3 (personal trainer). These all prepare you for a career in the industry.

We have excellent links with local employers and related organisations, which means students learn directly from specialists. Previous sport and fitness students have benefited from sessions with Xcite, Grandmasters Martial Arts, Universities and the Royal Marines.

Learning happens everywhere, not just in classrooms. We’ve taken our students on visits to the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines in Devon, Manchester United Football Club for a tour and nutrition session, Stirling University for a Sports development talk, tour and sport related session and Xcite for a health and safety tutorial. As well as our on-site fitness suite, our current sport and fitness students can use Xcite facilities for athletics on the track, sessions in the gym and fitness classes.

Many of our sport and fitness students complete a work placement to develop practical experience. Work placements let students gain meaningful work experience within industry before they embark on their career. It can even lead to permanent job offers. For example, some previous students who completed work placements with Xcite are now in permanent employment with the company on completing the course.

We have various sports clubs which you can join or contribute to during your time at college, including football, futsal, rugby, badminton and more.

We’ll also encourage you to start your own club if you are interested in a sport which we don’t offer.

Luke Mullen is studying HNC Fitness, Health & Exercise at West Lothian College, and talks about his experience on the course.

Careers in Sport & Fitness

There are many opportunities in this field. Around 4,390 people are working as fitness instructors in Scotland, with this amount set to increase over the next six years. This means that qualified individuals are in high demand.

Our courses will give you the knowledge, skills, experience and networks to find your place within the industry. All of last year’s sport and fitness students were in employment or further study six months after finishing their course.

Depending on the learning pathway you choose to study here at West Lothian College; you could obtain the qualifications to work in a variety of roles such as a fitness instructor, sports coach, sports scientist, sports analyst, lifestyle adviser, gym instructor, sport and fitness leader, leisure-club host, community centre activity leader and more. You can work in many different settings in the public and private sector; including opportunities for self-employment.

Previous students have found employment with Hibernian Football Club, Murieston United Football Club, West Lothian Leisure and Sky. Others have moved on to further study at The University of Dundee, The University of Stirling, The University of Aberdeen, Edinburgh Napier University and The University of the West of Scotland, in subjects such as Exercise and Health, Sport Studies, Sports Coaching and Coaching and Development.