News & Updates

Active IQ has named Safety Training Awards as its preferred supplier for two of the mandated qualifications included in the Leisure Team Member apprenticeship.

Active IQ is one of the UK’s leading awarding organisations for the physical activity sector and, like Safety Training Awards, is a CIMSPA awarding organisation partner.

The new partnership will see Active IQ specifying Safety Training Awards’ teaching swimming and pool lifeguarding qualifications for the Leisure Team Member apprenticeship, which requires the apprentice to qualify as a swimming teacher and lifeguard, as well as a gym instructor.

Claire Brisbourne, Director of Safety Training Awards, said: As two CIMSPA awarding organisation partners it makes sense to combine our qualification portfolio and form a partnership to support the delivery of the Leisure Team Member apprenticeship.

As part of the partnership agreement, Safety Training Awards will also support Active IQ in its role as a registered end-point assessment organisation (EPAO). Active IQ’s end-point assessments (EPAs) for the Leisure Team Member apprenticeship includes two Safety Training Awards qualifications: the STA Level 2 Certificate in Teaching Swimming and STA Level 2 Award in Pool Lifeguarding. The inclusion of these qualifications supports the delivery of the Leisure Team Member apprenticeship and enables Active IQ to provide a comprehensive solution for employer providers wishing to provide this standard.

Our partnership with Safety Training Awards will bring cohesion and continuity to employers, providers and their apprentices, says Steve Conopo, Head of Assessment Services at Active IQ. Using one training provider to deliver all the mandated qualifications will both streamline and simplify the process for trainers and apprentices. This in turn will bring clarity to the learning and assessment processes and enable us to see clearly how apprentices are progressing to the point they reach the gateway stage to trigger their end-point assessment. In Safety Training Awards, we have an excellent partner which shares and upholds the same high standards.

The Leisure Team Member apprenticeship, which is quality assured by CIMSPA, is delivered via Active IQ’s network of national approved centres.

Claire adds: There have been numerous positive developments within vocational education over the last two years, which has led to awarding organisations having a greater ability to design apprenticeships with the support of employers.

CIMSPA is driving this development in the leisure sector and Active IQ, through its involvement in the Professional Development Framework and close links with ukactive, has played a lead role in the Leisure Team Member apprenticeship. It’s an important programme for the future of leisure, and we are excited that we can add our aquatics and lifesaving qualifications experience to this by becoming Active IQ’s preferred supplier partner, confirms Claire.