My strong advice to anyone considering undertaking a PT course at YMCA Fit is DON’T. To lead with a positive, the teaching on the courses is first rate. I cannot thank Trish, Teresa, and Mark enough for their tireless and excellent teaching. They really try their best to help you and present the information in engaging and informative ways. They were brilliant, supportive, and engaging and did everything in their power to help the students. The training facilities at the Central London YMCA gym are also great. So why do I not recommend the PT courses at YMCA Fit? Why did I ultimately ask for a refund due to breach of contract and go elsewhere? This is why: 1) I started the intensive face-to-face at the beginning of March, just in time for the pandemic. Great! At the height of it, and just before lockdown, YMCA told us that if anyone in our class was to contract the virus and need to self-isolate, then they would have to pay £350 to transfer onto another course at a later date. So, they were effectively fining us if we were to contract a virus that that the WHO had given global pandemic status. 2) YMCA Fit have a 100% attendance rate, so if you miss one day, you are kicked off the course and lose your £2.5K. They were not budging on this, which meant that those of us are vulnerable to the virus (e.g. asthmatics), or who live with vulnerable people (e.g. elderly parents), were forced to make a decision between their health (or the health of their loved ones), and the £2.5K they had paid. 3) When lockdown finally happened, YMCA Fit tried surreptitiously to move us onto a vastly inferior, and significantly cheaper, online version of the course without our consent or knowledge. When I clocked what they were doing and challenged them, I asked if we would be offered a refund of the difference in price should we agree to move over to the online course: they refused. 4) YMCA Fit also initially refused to guarantee that we would be prioritised with a space on the face-to-face classes when they were able to resume them. 5) The online learning materials offered by YMCA Fit are absolutely awful. I think they were made at the dawn of the internet and have not been updated since. I am now doing a ‘blended learning’ course elsewhere, and the online materials are great, so I know YMCA could do significantly better here if it bothered to invest the money. 6) The printed materials are littered with mistakes and typos, and the design is appalling. Again, why not invest some of the enormous revenue they make from these courses into making the material worth what the students pay? It is possible to do significantly better on the materials front, as the training provider I am currently with is demonstrating. Overall, I am left with the impression that YMCA Fit is more concerned with revenue generation than it is with providing students with a quality experience. The good experiences I did have were due to the (freelance) teachers and the premises, not YMCA Fit. You can tell a lot about an organisation by how it handles mistakes, and in this instance, YMCA Fit has demonstrated it is a low quality organisation which does not value its customers.

Have been trying to reach them for weeks by both phone and email in regards to a resolution due to the current Covid situation and my course being cancelled. No answers no resolution, however they were very quick at answering when they wanted to sell me the course and take the payment.

All you have to do is look at ratings about bad service and see the rude responses from Erica, the services manager on here and Trustpilot. Just wow. Was going to enrol but decided to go for a different training group due to the bad attitude of many of the employees.

Please avoid YMCA training. They are just a money grabby company. All my work was submitted by the deadline, I waited for my result thinking I had achieved my certification now. They took their time to mark it and then reported that a part needed resubmission. I was ready to redo it, even though I noticed the feedback was inaccurate as they wrote I didn’t mention something right under where I had written it. I couldn’t believe it, but still I’m fine to resubmit. They then tell me that I the deadline date has passed. So somehow you have to allow time for them to mark and send back your work by your deadline date. Absolutely crazy, how can I possibly account for however long it will take them to mark my work in order for me to resubmit before the deadline. In school and university a deadline date is the date by which you submit your work. They have created this new way of submitting work so that you have no chance of completing your course unless you pay for it again. Even though I completed every aspect of the course with one bit they said redo, in order for me to redo I must buy the whole course again. I cannot believe they are allowed to continue as an education or fitness place. They are literally scammers. Please avoid, it’s been the worse experience!

A company that only cares about profit. Once you enrol into the course everything seems fine, until you reach the end and they keep referring you several times at exams so that they can make profit from students to retake each exam. This company is a total scam, avoid it.

I done my level 2 and a advanced diploma in personal training level 3, hiit. Padwork and kettlebell Pro First aid, it was early this year there was no heating in the classroom it wS freezing, half the class turned up late every day , and there was no support from the ymca it's got to be said its the worst company and organisation I have ever come across! I recommend not to deal with this company organisation! It's been over 5 months since they had my neatriction case study handed in and they can't find it ! It has taken 5 months to mark the 12 week case study and buisness study cause of tutors always on holiday ! All they are interested in is money money money it's a scam the only phone call you get sounds like dave from the royal family! Not happy not impressed, and recommend to everyone to find another company to do your training........

Although the tutor was good the rest of the course was pretty poor. The company just wants your money

I am doing a blended online and face-to-face course to attain Level 3 status as a Personal Trainer. The course content is good but the website leaves much to be desired, in my experience. It is hard to separate training material from assessments and is not user-friendly. The video content is dull and amateurish. However, my course tutor, Trevor Clark, is very good. That said, my experience of the assessors for Level Two was unimpressive. Also: the trainers and staff seem quite unfit and as such, are hardly good role models. One of them appeared to be on a power-trip and I did not like that! But, that of course, could just be me and my negative perception! Also: their refund policy is harsh. I recommend only buying one course at a time otherwise you could lose all your money. Overall: sorry YMCA but in my view you have a long way to go before I would give you a five-star rating.

So I have to be comeplety honest, at the time of the course I was stressed and it was extra, lots of unnecessary paperwork, and I had to work really hard, but I needed to get through it. The tutor annie Vincent was amazing, and I have to say she taught me well!!! I have started teaching and I get an abundance of amazing touching feedback from my yoga classes on A daily basis and if I honest it was all Beacuse of they way I was taught, ymca standards are amazing, and I'm so grateful I did my yoga at ymca, yes the admin side are a Complete nightmare, but what you are there for is high quality!! And good training which sticks with you through your profession, so so grateful for my training

I have completed my Intensive Mat and Reformer course at ONEKX and all instructors were highly professional and amazing. I was lucky enough to have the instructor Charlotte Albion on both of my courses and she is nothing but amazing, professional and super knowledgable. I have also being doing 1:1's with her in preparation for my exams and she has helped me tremendously! Beyond happy!

My expectations were very high before starting the course and now I have to recommend YMCA to everyone who wants to start a career in Fitness. I really enjoyed my course; the tutor was excellent and the flexible schedule studying on weekends made it very easy for me. I feel prepared and well supported to start my career.

I did the Level 2 Gym Instructor and Level 3 Personal Trainer the face to face element was great and I really enjoyed the course. Our tutor for the course was very engaging and supportive.

Absolutely avoid this company at all costs. I don’t know anybody on my so called “course” that has anything good to say about them! I have contacted them regarding a refund. It took them 3 weeks and threat of legal action for ry to acknowledge and reply to me in which they stated they would have a resolution with in 30 days. That was 5 weeks ago! This company is literally terrible and the learning structure and “student support” (who also do not respond) are an absolutely shambles. It was the worst mistake I wish I hadn’t made going with YMCAfit I wish I had gone to a different provider. And costing £3,000 you expect more! I am now seeking LEGAL ACTION.

The course was adequate and the teachers were great. But everything else has been absolutely awful. It took me over 6 months to get my certificates after passing and I was regularly lied to by the staff who said that they had been sent out and would be with me "in about a week". I never received confirmation that I had passed the course until I contacted to request it myself. And when my certificates were finally sent out to me, they were sent to the wrong address. I would highly recommend that you not use this service if you are looking for organisation and professionalism.

I would highly recommend YMCAfit to anyone who wishes to become a qualified, confident & respected PT , instructor or whatever your activity. I did ‘exercise to music’. It was exactly the course I needed to give me the tools, Experience, help my confidence & boost my knowledge & become a success! Can’t thank them enough!

this charitable christian company is anything but!.take one of their courses and you have a day off they demand full payment even tho they boot you off the course and then mess up ur credit by getting debt collectors to chase you. STAY CLEAR

The course was really well taught, the venue was great and the tutor was very friendly as well as being experienced and knowledgeable.

I’m so grateful and proud of my YMCA fit qualification. I found the course very informative and the tutors super helpful. When I first started the course I was lacking in confidence and had low self esteem being a stay at home mum I wanted to do a job that allowed me to do what I love and be home with my kids. I felt the tutors helped me by being patient with me and challenging me at times to step out of my comfort zone. I did use the services provided and I paid for extra tutoring and support with my learning when I needed it. Yes it was expensive but anything worth having is going to cost you something! I was willing and determined to achieve my qualification it took me over a year but I got there in the end and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the nourishment and encouragement of the tutors. Since having gained my qualification I am now self-employed. I did my indoor cycling, pad work, suspension training and emergency first aid with YMCA and I will continue to gain further qualifications with them. I HIGHLY recommend YMCAFit. :-)

So far I have completed two online courses with Glenn and one face to face course with Emma. I have been very impressed with both tutors and all of the courses provided by YMCA so far. I am looking forward to my future courses!

I joined a June 2021 Stott Mat Pilates course lead by instructor trainers Robert Izatt and Charlotte Albion. Having researched many Pilates courses I was drawn to the flexible approach of this course structure; in that its broken into smaller courses you can take when you are able. This course exceeded expectations by miles. This was particularly down to the absolutely incredible teachers. It was fantastic to have 2 teachers so passionate, inspiring and clearly extremely well versed in their subject of expertise - Pilates. It was great to have the diversity of 2 different teachers that each brought their own individualistic teaching approach. Special mention to Charlotte Albion - I adored her. Her ability to convey information in succinct, direct and precise language made the heaps of information seem more easily able to sink in. I have subsequently built a relationship with Charlotte for extra learning help because I found her teaching style so effective. If you want to take it, the Merrithew courses offer a plethora of ways to Enagage in the curriculum whether through their online digital platform or the various links/ instructor trainers/ discounts for equipment you can explore through joining the course. YMCA KX was a great location, easy to access and spacious.Great and friendly staff working there. I really had an excellent experience and would highly recommend this course/ the instructors and Merrithew + YMCA as an establishment with a high standard and impressive ethos I look forwards to being a part of once completing my exam. I also made great connections with like minded people through the classes at YMCA which was an added benefit.

Poor experience and I would recommend avoiding this company. I am a fitpro who has taken many courses and this was a shockingly negative experience compared to what I've experienced with any other course provider. I would definitely reiterate that the company operates as a scam and money grabbing organisation. The actual educator was pretty good, but she did not adequately prepare us for the assignments required to complete the course and she had us just sit there for the final hour of the course to run out the clock, rather than using the time to give us the information needed to complete the assignments on the first go. Lots of surprise policies thrown at you along the way that require additional time and money.

Stay away from this company, especially during a pandemic. They will charge you 20% of the course if you are contracted with Covid before the course for transferring. WE ARE IN A PANDEMIC!!!!! At least offer the person doing it virtually. Based on how contagious the COVID is, make sure you stay away from booking with a company like this. Even, I due to appear a court for my friend and the court happy to move the date because of my Positive Covid result. However, YMCA wants to charge £300, just for transferring it. Ridiculous.

Done my PT level 2 and 3 course. Its. Even 7 weeks and I've not heard anything yet. It feels like they taken my money and run with no cares to if I get my qualifications or not. PTs at my local gym used other organisations are said they received their qualifications 2 weeks after completing. I wish I never used YMCA to do my course. Now it just so much and waiting and frustration

Absolutely awful company. Spoke to a guy called Stefan a few times who sounded tired and fed up every call. Wasn’t interested in speaking or giving out any sort of advice about the course I wanted to do. Was incredibly unhelpful, whenever I tried to get information out of him he would respond with almost one word answers. I was willing to give this company £2450 for a course and that’s the attitude they have?? I needed information about what I was giving my money to. Finally got my last called a few days ago before booking onto the course. Stefan called me, must have got fed up of speaking to me and hung up mid conversation - never called me back. Still haven’t heard from the company. I have gone elsewhere to do my gym courses. Disgusting behaviour and completely unprofessional, wouldn’t recommend this company to anyone based on this appalling attitude and behaviour!

Awful customer service. Had a terrible experience from YMCA fitness, I booked a yoga course and now I am unfit to complete the course, have emailed a medical sick note and YMCA fitness have ignored me and stealing my money. Will be reporting them

They have nice staff and tutors but everything else is very disappointing, your work doesn’t get marked, you don’t get access to any physical books, they don’t teach you for the nutrition part of the level 3 exam (you don’t receive any nutrition qualifications they just make you study nutrition to keep you busy), they don’t bother to mark your tests, (waiting 3 months after I finished) (I was told 2 weeks, they don’t respond to your emails, some days it’s impossible to get them in the phone, the site they use to teach always has bugs, I had to spend hours rewriting projects after I saved them because aptem decided to malfunction and not save, I did 3, 1 day courses, there’s nothing there that needs marking, so why don’t I have the certificates for 3 months? when you pay 2500£ for a course you’d atleast expect them to match their promises not even surpass them just to match them.

I am writing to express my deep concern and frustration regarding the lack of response from customer service team in relation to my inquiry about the results I have been eagerly waiting for over the past 5 weeks. These results are crucial for me as they are directly tied to my work requirements. The extended delay and the lack of communication have put me in a difficult situation, as I am unable to proceed with my work responsibilities without them. I have made numerous attempts to reach out to customer service team through emails and calls, but unfortunately, I have not received a single response. This level of unresponsiveness is not only unprofessional but also causes significant inconvenience and distress.

About to bring out a story in the mainstream press about the gross discrimination pain and suffering I faced from ymcafit. as a charity based organisation they are absolutely disgraceful they hide behind smiley faces, but behind the scenes they are very nasty and all they care about is getting your money. I'm going to be releasing some evidence and correspondence from the directors of ymcafit and you will see for yourselfs Monique Clements Director is now hiding from her responsibilities. by the end of the week I'm having to now issue legal proceedings the mainstream press are also gonna be taking this story on. But please guys think again they are an absolute terrible organisation, the way they conduct themselves they act like they care especially Monique Clements she knows how serious this matter is she apologised said she would get back to me with a resolution! then she never got back to me finely she did saying sorry there has been a delay we are seeking legal review she told me she would get back to me a week later she never got back at all. just disregarded me like a piece of rubbish how rude unprofessional and disgraceful the thing is I have everything in evidence I have recordings phone call recordings from members of staff contradicting their own policies lying over the phone then getting very rude and passive aggressive I have everything in evidence and I will be putting this out to the public from myself and the press the way I have been treated is absolutely disgraceful we are now going to be taking legal action but please do not give your money to this corrupt organisation. Also will be putting out the phone recordings from CEO Monique Clements this is a story you will not want to miss out on guy's .

While the tutoring is exemplary in this organisation, the back office is woeful. They have many pitfalls: - A lack of an ecommerce means that you have to book a course via phone. Anyone not comfortable with sharing their card details by phone isn't going to be happy with this. Me included. - Even though there is an offer of a free resit of exams. This has to be done within a certain deadline. This wasn't mentioned by YMCA fit. - I had applied via the advanced learner loan (ADL) and was required by YMCA fit to pay a deposit which would be paid back once I had qualified. It took them over a month to deposit the amount back into my account. - Any certificates no matter how long the course is, will take twelve weeks to produce and be mailed out. I have taken both the level 3 personal trainer practitioner and the first aid emergency couse. The latter is a one day course. - Back office staff often contradict each other for information. For example: I was told I would get my certificate for the first aid course within a couple of weeks. I called a couple of weeks later and was told it's twelve weeks from completion. Choose a different provider.

Fantastic tutoring, really tool class. But it’s poorly managed from back office, no follow ups, no idea when work is being marked, no idea where test results are, no idea when you get your certificates. All things considered it’s a waste of time, they’ve gone digital which is also poorly run and they use it to condense the course, flip more customers and this creates more chaos on the back end. Make sure you don’t pay up front, you’ll be left chasing them everyday for test results and marking of the extra course work they’ve pointlessly added. Like a business plan, why is that a marked considerate? Our plans post course is solely up to us, why do we have to prove to them we can write a business plan? Seems like just added work for no reason the course is condensed enough with way too much work for you just leave clueless to the results, next steps and 0 communication. I’m just so so relieved I didn’t pay up front, definitely not worth it based on back office organisation, if you don’t call them every single day chasing them you’ll be left in ghost town having done a 4 week course 5 day a week with NO CERTIFICATION, even if you pass!

I've had some extremely negative experiences with their customer service department over the last month or 2 and it's safe to say that The original values and morals that this company had are completely out of the window and they truly are running this purely as a business without any regard for humans, human nature or morality. I suffer with many mental health concerns and I made a payment for a course that within a month, decided I didn't want to do and they are refusing to give my money back to me despite having a mental breakdown and being 4 a few days outside of the 14 day money back. I have recently completed a yoga qualification with them and they already have my whole life history with regards to my mental health situation. At the time I decided to make the payment I had started new medication and I wasn't in a very good state of mind at all and despite all of that I was met with resistance and very unhelpful colleague who belittled me and read only from a script. I will never recommend ANYONE to use this establishment. My peers on the course would also validate the immensely unhelpful people who work in customer service for YMCA, they have little consideration or empathy as they treat you like robots. I chose this training provider because of the morals and values they want you to uphold. It's a shame to see a company with one high moral standards, become just another money grabbing establishment.

I have had a great experience taking my qualification until the moment I had to request my deposit back and my certificates. I finished my course in August and have only received my deposit back in December, not to talk about my certificate which I still don’t have even after several attempts. YMCA failed to provide evidence of sending it and keep requesting me to pay extra to receive. A constant chase since August… very disappointed!

The course it’s self was good however after passing the level 2 and level 3 exams it came down to the coursework, now this is where the problems began as I had sent in the work it got referred that’s fair enough but then after discussing with a classmate and resending the work it was referred again, so again I discussed with the same classmate who may I add passed first time. This time I literally re wrote the whole coursework and it had even more detail than the classmate…… but again got referred. So I stopped, I then got a job in a leisure centre and I needed to give my level 2 certificate which I already knew I had passed, however I was refused it. Because the level 3 coursework wasn’t finished, I even told them look you can keep the money I paid for both level 2 and 3 but just give me my level 2 and I will be on my way. But again I was refused, I then began to ask around and I have had 8 other people come with the same problem. So basically paying out nearly £2000 to get nothing in return. Absolute joke ATTEND COURSE AT YOUR OWN RISK And on a side note I got 100% for both theory and practical on my level 2 exams and easily passed level 3’s also, so I’m confused why all of a sudden everything I was doing was wrong, doesn’t make sense

The teacher Lesley it's fantastic. She helped me and gave me reassurance. I have a lot of language difficulties and therefore some word in English have really put me in a difficult situation. The course is very intense and you really need to follow exactly what is said in the moment. I believe the YAMCA in Kings Cross needs renovation and it's not really the best. There was alarms going on and off and in general the building looks old and tired. The room where the course was done was not good , hardly you could listen and understand due to echoing. In general the theory is very difficult and especially for foreigners. It's incredibly hard as the significance might be different of what we think. The teacher is just fabulous again, Lesley really is a fantastic teacher ans very knowledgeable.

The very BEST place to Begin my Yogini Journey I have currently completed a virtual course 'Diploma in Teaching Yoga' with Smita Raja and it has been a great experience. Smita has always demonstrated great knowledge and humbly shared her experiences and skills with us. Always made me feel welcome and made herself available to help wherever needed. YMCA student support and management team have also been extremely helpful and understanding, and at times where I felt overwhelmed they were also very supportive (Specially Erica and Smita🥰). I definitely recommend YMCA

I enrolled onto the Vinyasa Yoga course which covered 2 weekends (on-line). Kate Brushwood was my tutor, and I have to say what a lovely, down-to-earth lady Kate is! Kate was very clear with instruction, what the session was going to entail and we always finished on time. I loved the practical and understanding the breakdown of the sequences and through my own Yoga journey, I picked up hints and tips when it came to following the sequence Kate was teaching, she also showed us ways to modify Sun Salutations for our clientele. Kate also encouraged us with our ideas and gave us positive, constructive feedback. If you are thinking about doing a Vinyasa Yoga course, I do recommend this one!