News & Insights
Find answers to common questions and get the information you need quickly and easily.
EMD UK offers three membership options: Community Membership, Pro Membership, and Pro Enhanced Membership.
Community Membership gives you access to a range of helpful resources, including: health and safety guidance, safeguarding advice, beginner-friendly class content ideas, templates for PAR-Q forms and risk assessments, EMD UK’s Reach Up Core resources (designed to inspire more women to participate in group exercise), and EMD UK Scopes of Practice for all group exercise disciplines, outlining key skills, requirements and experience.
It also signs you up for the EMD UK monthly newsletter, which is packed with resources, new blogs and articles, news updates, partner discounts and more.
EMD UK Pro membership is a professional recognition program designed for group exercise instructors, offering a range of benefits and resources to enhance your career.
The membership is available to all group exercise instructors, including aerobics instructors, indoor cycling instructors, yoga and Pilates teachers, aqua instructors, step aerobics instructors, pre- and post-natal instructors, instructors focusing on older adults and outdoor fitness instructors.
If you would like to receive professional recognition as part of your Pro Membership, you will need to submit a certificate to prove that you are qualified, in line with a Level 2 qualification (or Level 3 PT, Yoga or Pilates).
We accept any of the certificates listed below, provided they are from an accredited training provider. Please note, this list is not exhaustive, and there are many other certificates, including international qualifications, that may be equivalent or recognised. If you are unsure whether your certificate qualifies, please contact us for confirmation.
You can apply by filling out the registration form on our website. Once your application is processed, you will receive a confirmation email with further instructions.
We do not offer a trial period. However, you can cancel your membership within 14 days, after which it is non-refundable.
Once you have uploaded one of the required certificates and it meets the minimum standards, please allow up to two working days for it to appear on your dashboard. To view your EMD membership certificate confirming your professional recognition, you may need to refresh your profile or log out and back in. At that point, you will be able to download, save, or print your certificate. If we require additional information or have any questions regarding your certification, we will contact you via email.
Pro members have access to an extensive library of wellness resources, professional development materials, and ongoing support.
Yes, you can easily renew your Pro Membership online through your member profile.
If your membership lapses, you will lose access to member benefits and resources until you renew. You will receive an email two weeks before your membership lapses to remind you to renew.
Pro Membership includes everything in the free membership, plus a certificate of recognition, discounted PPL, access to the instructor wellness hub, additional class content, member-exclusive content, priority booking for events, and a closed Facebook group.
EMD UK Pro Membership costs £30 per year.
Pro Enhanced Membership has three tiers with the following costs:
Head to Compare Membership Tiers and click on the level of membership you would like to join. The form will guide you through the process of joining your chosen level.
Group exercise instructors at any stage of their career can benefit from EMD UK membership.
Simply head to our Contact Us page and submit your enquiry through our form.
Pro Enhanced Membership includes £15 million public and product liability, £10k professional liability, £2.5k personal property cover, accident cover, online class cover, studio and outdoor class cover.
Yes, all our membership with insurance packages include insurance cover for teaching online classes, this includes one-way or two-way video streaming, including pre-recorded. There is no upper limit for the number of participants you can have in your online class.
Our Pro Enhanced membership does not set a maximum class size with regards to insurance cover. However, instructors are responsible for maintaining a duty of care at all times and must follow any class size limits defined within their training or qualifications.
Unless your class is a parent and toddler class, you will not be covered. Also, you will need to hold the appropriate qualifications for working with children under 5, and would need to have a current DBS, infant first aid and safeguarding children training.
Our Pro Enhanced membership covers participants aged 16 and over. To teach anyone under 16, you must hold a relevant qualification in children’s fitness for the specific type of class you deliver.
Yes, all our EMD UK Pro Enhanced membership options include insurance cover for teaching classes outside.
No, all instructors must reside in the UK.
Yes, all our membership packages cover instructors to teach abroad if on a non-permanent basis, as well as teaching participants who do not reside in the UK. If you have any questions about the duration of your teaching abroad and whether it affects your cover, contact us and we will clarify with the insurers.
We offer a range of membership packages to support you. So, if you already have insurance cover elsewhere, that’s fine. You can sign up as a Community member or a Pro member instead.
Applicants must hold EMD UK Pro Membership. If you are not currently a Pro Member, EMD UK Pro Membership will be provided at no cost as part of the sign-up process. Applicants must agree to the membership as part of their application.
If you are not based or teaching in England, but do teach in Northern Ireland, Scotland or Wales, you can still access CPD funding through our Home Countries funding. Find out more here.
Applicants must upload evidence of a relevant fitness qualification at the point of application (for example, Level 2 or Level 3 Fitness qualifications, a 200-hour Yoga qualification, or equivalent); provide a short statement outlining either how CPD training will support and develop your skills, benefit your local community or support a disadvantaged or high-need area; and agree to follow-up conversations post-training to be eligible.
How the CPD training will support and develop your skills, and/or
How the training will benefit your local community or participant groups, and/or
Information about your delivery area or location, including whether you work in a disadvantaged or high-need area
We can recognise three types of CPD courses at EMD UK: Informal, Autonomous and Formal. If you’re not sure which type of course your CPD course is, please see the descriptions for each below.
Informal CPD
Includes learning that is more passive with no interaction with the tutor. E.g. watching video tutorials or lectures, listening to podcasts, reading case studies, industry updates and journals, and viewing videos.
Autonomous CPD
Includes autonomous, self-guided learning relating to your professional role. E.g. reflective practice, research, reading online and offline articles and reviews, research reviews of publications/industry publications, conference plus participation in networks, communities of practice and special interest groups.
Formal CPD
Includes training events, qualifications, and courses (in-person or online); workshops, conferences, and further education; communities of practice, research, and writing; and evidenced online learning. Also includes lecturing, shadowing, networking on professional projects, committee representation, and roles such as assessor, tutor, quality assurer, or mentor.
You can contact an EMD UK Safeguarding Officer on 01403 266000 or <a href="http://sa**********@***uk.org/”>sa**********@***uk.org. You can also contact your local authority or the police if you have urgent concerns.
If you’re working with children, a list of additional contacts can be found here: https://thecpsu.org.uk/help-advice/deal-with-a-concern/#who-can-support-you
While EMD UK provides the framework, the responsibility lies with you as the instructor. You must be able to have evidence that any activity you teach is backed by your specific qualifications, skills and experience. If you cannot prove you were trained in a specific area, it is outside of your scope.
No, a level 2 or higher qualification is the “licence to practice” and the mandatory foundation to receive professional recognition. CPD is designed to expand your scope or act as a “bolt on”, but does not replace the underpinning knowledge provided by a full qualification.
Generally no, Standard Level 2 is mapped to “apparently healthy adults”. Chair-based in a care home with those who may be considered frailer or with restricted mobility require a specific older adults or chair based CPD.
If you don’t already hold a full level 2 awarding organisation qualification (ETM or Group Training) then yes. While your experience is vital, the Scopes require underpinning knowledge in Anatomy, Physiology and Fitness elements. The Bridge (developed by Active IQ/YMCA) is specifically designed for instructors like yourself to formalise your standing without repeating the practical elements you already master.
The Supplier Partner package includes: Supplier Partner status digital badges, inclusion in the EMD UK marketplace (in front of over 16,000 members), membership discounts for your workforce, marketing opportunities and more.
The Supplier Partnership package costs just £499 per year. Charities and CICs can also access this for a 50% discount.
Continuing Professional Development of Group Exercise Fitness Professionals (GEFP’s) is of critical importance for the ongoing success and reputation of the fitness industry. CPD is integral in enabling instructors to keep knowledge, skills, and professional standards current and relevant to positively impact their personal and professional development.
Becoming a CPD Partner with EMD UK, and recognising your training as CPD training, provides you with quality assurance. It raises the profile of your training course and boosts credibility of your brand, as well as enhancing your marketability, attracting more learners. You will also gain access to support and resources and have access to the EMD UK CPD recognition badge and certificate to use for branding and marketing of your CPD.
In order to be eligible for recognition for your CPD, your workforce will need to possess at least one of these qualifications and be considered competent in the area of teaching they will be undertaking:
To enable your course to be recognised as an EMD UK recognised training course, your workforce will need to be qualified in education and training. This includes the following qualifications:
If your course does not contain assessment, you will not need your workforce to be qualified as assessors. However, if it does contain an assessment aspect, your workforce will need to have one of these qualifications.
Yes, to ensure your course meets the membership compliance checks for your learners, it will need to align to an EMD UK scope of practice. Follow the link for EMD UK scopes of practices.
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