About YOUR Academy
YOUR Academy is a CIMSPA 3-Star Enhancing personal trainer education provider, delivering Ofqual-regulated qualifications with face-to-face gym workshops across 11 UK locations.
CIMSPA 3-Star Enhancing Status
Face-to-face workshops across 11 UK locations
Employment access to 420+ UK gyms
0% interest finance, from £250 deposit
How YOUR Academy Started
We founded YOUR Academy in 2022 to solve a problem our Academy Director, Kevin Baker, had seen throughout his 24-year career in the fitness industry. Too many newly qualified personal trainers were entering the workforce without the practical skills, business knowledge, or employer connections to build a sustainable career.
In 2017, Kevin launched PT Mentorships, a programme designed to bridge that gap. The model proved successful, and demand for the approach grew.
In 2022, the opportunity arose to scale it nationally. Kevin partnered with Aaron McCulloch, Managing Director of YOUR Personal Training, the UK's largest personal trainer management company, operating across 420+ gyms and health clubs. Together, we built YOUR Academy to combine accredited education with a direct route into the industry.
“Most providers stop at the qualification. We wanted to go further and take someone from day one of learning to day one of earning, with mentorship and a gym placement at the end of it."
Kevin Baker, Academy Director & Co-Founder
Today, we deliver CIMSPA-accredited qualifications with face-to-face workshops and regular mentor support. Our PT Career Accelerator goes further, with a guaranteed gym placement that no other UK training provider offers.
What Sets Us Apart From Other PT Course Providers
Most UK personal trainer courses deliver qualifications entirely online. Learners can pass assessments without setting foot in a gym, working with a real client, or receiving feedback from an experienced trainer. We take a different approach.
CIMSPA 3-Star Enhancing Status
We hold CIMSPA 3-Star Enhancing Status, the highest accreditation level available in UK fitness education, awarded only after rigorous independent inspection of teaching standards, learner support, and graduate outcomes. This is the benchmark UK gym operators and leisure trusts use when assessing training providers. When you train with us, you're backed by the employer recognition that matters most.
Mentors, Not Just Tutors
Every one of our tutors is an experienced, working fitness professional. Our mentors have spent years building client bases, running their own businesses, and coaching in commercial gym environments. They don't just teach the theory. They've lived it. You'll get hands-on guidance from people who understand what it takes to succeed as a personal trainer, not just how to pass an exam.
Face-to-Face Gym Workshops
While many providers deliver courses entirely online, we require all learners to attend practical workshop days at gyms across the UK. You'll practise coaching techniques, refine your exercise instruction, and complete practical assessments in the environment where you'll actually work. Every workshop is led by one of our experienced mentors, so you get direct feedback on your technique and coaching delivery
A Direct Route Into Employment
Our partnership with YOUR Personal Training gives you access to employment opportunities across 420+ gyms and health clubs nationwide. Our PT Career Accelerator goes further, with a guaranteed gym placement and business development coaching to help you build a client base from day one. No other UK PT course provider offers a direct pathway from qualification to employment like this.
We're the only UK personal trainer education provider that combines CIMSPA 3-Star Enhancing accreditation, mandatory in-gym practical training, and a guaranteed employment pathway.
124 Combined Years of Industry Experience
Our teaching team are working fitness professionals, not classroom-only instructors. Every tutor has built their own successful career in personal training, coaching, or fitness education before joining YOUR Academy. Between them, they bring 124 years of hands-on industry experience spanning commercial gyms, competitive sport, military fitness, and tutor development. You'll learn from people who coach clients, run businesses, and compete at the highest level.
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![Kevin Baker – Lead Tutor at YOUR Academy with 24 years of personal training and coaching experience.]()
Kevin Baker
Industry experience: 24 years
Kevin began his fitness career in 2001 and has since worked across personal training, tutor development, and business coaching. He launched PT Mentorships in 2017 and partnered with YOUR Personal Training in 2022 to create YOUR Academy, now a CIMSPA-approved education provider. Kevin leads on standards, coaching quality, and business skills—developing confident, industry-ready personal trainers prepared for lasting success.
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![Keith Smith – Training and Education Specialist at YOUR Academy with 33 years' fitness industry experience.]()
Keith Smith
Industry experience: 33 years
Keith is a training and education specialist with more than three decades of experience. A former YMCAfit tutor and assessor, he’s supports learners in building both technical and professional confidence. Keith specialises in gym-floor lead generation, teaching new PTs how to approach members, start conversations, book consultations, and convert them into loyal clients, creating confident, commercially capable fitness professionals.
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![Dan Richardson – Tutor at YOUR Academy, world champion powerlifter and exercise referral specialist.]()
Dan Richardson
Industry experience: 17 years
Dan has coached across gyms, studios, and clinical settings, working with clients from general populations to elite athletes. Holding specialist credentials in Exercise Referral and Cardiac Rehabilitation, he now tutors full-time at YOUR Academy. A former BNBF bodybuilding champion and world-champion powerlifter, Dan blends elite athletic experience with evidence-based teaching to develop skilled, knowledgeable trainers who inspire confidence in every session.
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![Connor Minty – Tutor at YOUR Academy and PT specialising in posture, movement and rehab.]()
Connor Minty
Industry experience: 12 years
Connor has spent his entire career promoting fitness and sport, including eight years as a Platinum Trainer at Virgin Active and David Lloyd Swansea. For the past four years he has worked independently at The Warehouse Gyms Swansea. Now tutoring with YOUR Academy and YOUR Personal Training, Connor shares best practice and inspires future personal trainers through real-world experience and applied expertise.
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![Faye Brown John – Tutor at YOUR Academy, DFAC Natural Bodybuilding World Champion with 25+ years' experience.]()
Faye Brownjohn
Industry Experience: 25 years
Faye qualified as a personal trainer at 21 and went on to teach multiple disciplines, including nutrition coaching, group training, and studio instruction. In 2018 she became DFAC Natural Bodybuilding World Champion, reflecting decades of dedication to strength and performance. Now a Tutor and Assessor with YOUR Academy, Faye draws on her coaching and industry experience to build confidence in future trainers.
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![Sean Cooper – Tutor at YOUR Academy, PT mentor at YOUR Personal Training and former military.]()
Sean Cooper
Industry Experience: 10 years
After a 28-year military career and competing in sport at the highest level, Sean transitioned into the fitness industry to continue helping others. He combined his leadership experience with new qualifications to build a successful business supported by YOUR Personal Training, where he recruits, coaches, and mentors new PTs. Sean now applies this expertise as a Tutor and Assessor with YOUR Academy, guiding learners to become confident, capable personal trainers.
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![Connor Feeney – Tutor at YOUR Academy and Master Personal Trainer at YOUR Personal Training.]()
Connor Feeney
Industry Experience: 3 years
Connor is a Personal Trainer who progressed quickly to Master Personal Trainer, growing his own client base and leading a team of PTs with YOUR Personal Training. He designs tailored, results-focused programmes built on assessment, technique, and nutrition. As a Tutor and Assessor with YOUR Academy, Connor teaches the same methods he uses to run a successful PT business to coach learners through their Level 2 Gym Instructor and Level 3 Personal Training Diploma.
Where Our Graduates Are Working
Our graduates work as personal trainers in gyms, leisure centres, and health clubs across the UK, with access to over 420 facilities nationwide. They build client bases in commercial gyms, leisure trusts, and university sport centres. Our graduates come from all backgrounds, including career changers, school leavers, and former military.
