Pre-requisite Requirements for L4 REPs Status

Pre-requisite Requirements for L4 REPs Status

All exercise professionals at all levels (Level 2 – Level 4) are strongly advised to take up registration with the Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs) to comply with the fitness sector’s best practice recommendations for evidence of professional membership and for ensuring appropriate insurance coverage.

NB: Physiotherapists working within the NHS are not required to hold REPs status, however, if they intend to deliver exercise and fitness (as opposed to rehabilitation) as part of their private practice outside of the NHS, they would be required to be on the REPs as part Skills Active standards. There is no requirement for health professionals working within the NHS to register on REPs.

At LLT we are committed to the dissemination of quality research and it’s subsequent application into practice. Because several of our training courses/qualifications are aligned with health and social care, they are not all exclusive to the fitness sector. To this end REPs membership is not a mandatory pre-requisite, nor it be a requirement for many of our students.

Holding appropriate qualifications helps to ensure higher standards of practice (essential for effective and safe working with patient populations and older and frailer olde people) and contributes to a clear understanding of the roles, responsibilities and parameters of practice and medico-legal requirements for exercise professionals and exercise leaders.

The implementation possibilities of our qualifications are wide ranging and dependent on profession and the setting of delivery. Although we provide clear guidance on implementation issues of all of our qualifications in our training continuum, you are advised to ensure you have adequate insurance appropriate for you and the populations you intend to work with. Information about pre-requisites and who are training courses are for can be found on the individual course pages. In addition to this you are advised to contact your insurance provider prior to applying onto one of our courses.

Requirements for registration at Level 4 are as follows:

1. Registration status of full Level 3 Exercise Referral Instructor on REPs*.

2. 150 hours of relevant professional practice at Level 3 (in designing, delivering, monitoring, adapting and tailoring exercise programmes for individuals) gained within the previous 2 years and with at least 6 months experience since qualification (this should be reflected in the CV and reference letter).

3. Completion of the online Professional Practice Unit. This can be found in the members’ area of the REPs website and is free to complete**.

NB.* The only exception to the requirement for Level 3 Exercise Referral is where a member was registered at Level 4 prior to September 2011/where a Level 4 award was achieved prior to September 2011 AND the instructor holds another Level 3 fitness qualification.

** Those who have undertaken a new exercise referral qualification (i.e. one that is listed on the qualifications and credit framework (QCF) that has replaced the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) will not be required to complete this online Professional Practice Unit since it has been embedded into the new exercise referral National Occupational Standards and will form part of new exercise referral qualifications.

Discretionary Circumstances

Discretionary Circumstances may be considered if a written agreement can be reached (with the fitness/ technical instructors supervising health professional (s)) about compliance with the REPs pathway prior to commencement of the course.

Eg. In the case of a candidate who has had considerable experience with patients ( 2 years or more) within a supervised clinical and/or exercise referral setting where in service training and performance evaluation was undertaken by a senior health professional or specialist instructor ( i.e. prior to the new REPs recommendations etc) and who is currently completing the L3 Exercise referral qualification, discretionary circumstances relating to eligibility to begin the L4 course may be possible, provided that an undertaking to complete both qualifications simultaneously is agreed in writing prior to the commencement of the course. This will be communicated to REPs by LLT on behalf of the candidate.