The Manchester College partners with PureGym to get students straight into employment

Thanks to a new partnership with PureGym, who operate over 340 locations nationwide, eligible second year students on the Level 3 Personal Training and Sport Science course at The Manchester College who successfully complete a work placement will be guaranteed a job interview at the end of their studies.

Starting in February 2025, the first cohort of students from the College will complete a 35-hour work placement with PureGym, which will take place over nine weeks and offer students an excellent opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world situations.

The structured placements will follow a detailed training programme, taking students through various stages, from conducting gym inductions to running group classes and developing their own personal training brand. The placements are also designed to compliment the Personal Training and Sport Science students’ studies and enhance what they’ve already learnt at Level 3, especially in areas such as customer interaction and exercise programming.

This new initiative supports the College’s commitment to making sure students are work-ready when they finish their courses.

Sport Tutor at the College Chris Blackburn said: “The placements will start during the Spring term so that they conclude at the same time our students finish their study programmes with us.

In addition to being guaranteed an interview with PureGym upon successful completion of their course and work placement, our students will also find out more about setting up their own personal training businesses, which complements a module on our Level 3 course that requires students to produce a viable business plan.

Stuart Nickson, who is Head of Department for Sport, Public Services and Criminology at The Manchester College, added: “By the time they start their placements, our students will have already delivered personal training sessions in the state-of-the-art sports facilities at our Openshaw Campus, so they’ll arrive at PureGym with a good level of experience.

Stuart explained: “This initiative is all about helping our students transition smoothly into the fitness industry and making them ideally prepared to be interviewed for roles such as Personal Trainer or Fitness Coach. They’ll also be exposed to the importance of constant personal development and upskilling, which are critical to success in this competitive sector.”

Martin Love, Internal Recruitment Manager at PureGym, added: “At PureGym we focus on working with newly qualified Personal Trainers who have a desire to be in, and have a long career within, the Fitness industry. From the moment we began speaking we knew our vision and The Manchester College’s vision were very similar.

“The aim is to support the College and its students in gaining as much real-life experience as possible in the realm of the commercial gym world and what a newly qualified Personal Trainer would have to experience in making this a reality.

“The work experience programme is designed to give the students a taste of the role as a Personal Trainer/Fitness Coach and what skills outside of their qualification they would have to develop in order to excel in the position.”

Find out more about courses at The Manchester College and apply today.