Teacher to Personal Trainer: How to Make the Career Change

Moving from teacher to personal trainer is a realistic career change. You need a Level 3 personal trainer qualification, a plan for your income, and a course that fits around term time. Most teachers can qualify in evenings while still in the classroom. This guide shows how one teacher did it, and how you can plan your own move.

Why do teachers make good personal trainers?

Teachers already have the hardest skill in coaching: getting a person to understand something new. You explain, you watch, you adjust, and you try again. A personal trainer does the same thing with one person or a small group. The subject changes. The skill stays the same.

AJ taught sport at the same school for seven years before he became a coach. He told us what he loves most about the job now:

"I love the light bulb moment. That spark when you say something to a client. It's that 'I get it' moment when you deliver a cue."

Every teacher knows that moment. It is the reason most of you went into teaching.

You also bring other skills that new coaches often lack:

• Planning. You can build a scheme of work. A training plan uses the same thinking.
• Reading a room. You notice who is struggling before they say so.
• Patience. You have explained the same idea five different ways before lunch.
• Feedback. You know how to correct someone and keep their confidence.

What made AJ leave teaching?

AJ left because he could see the next 30 years, and he did not want them. He was 33, married, with two children. (If you are older, read becoming a personal trainer at 40.) During the pandemic he reached a crossroads.

"I'd been at the same school for seven years. I was staring down the barrel of potentially doing 20, 30, 40 years at the same school in the same job. That just wasn't for me."

He also wanted more control over his days. Self-employment meant he could plan work around his children.

When he left, he set himself one big target. He wanted to stand on the pitch at an international match and sing the anthem as a member of staff. He got there in 11 months.

What are the biggest worries, and are they fair?

AJ had three worries: money, self-doubt, and working hours. All three are fair, and all three can be planned for.

Money. Teaching pays a steady salary every month. Coaching income builds over time.

"I was leaving a pretty well-paid, salaried job, guaranteed every month. As a teacher you're almost always going to be in demand. That was a big concern."

Self-doubt. He asked himself two questions. Would he be good enough? Would people want to work with him?

Hours. He pictured the old model of a personal trainer. Up at 6am, home at 10pm, with empty hours in the middle of the day.

The answer to all three was the same. He needed to learn how to run coaching as a business. He had no idea how to set himself up, and he said so plainly: "I didn't know what tax was."

Which qualification do you need?

You need a Level 3 personal trainer qualification to work as a personal trainer in the UK. A Level 2 gym instructor qualification comes first. Some courses combine both. Check that the course is CIMSPA accredited, because gyms and insurers look for it.

Our guide to what qualifications personal trainers need covers this in full.

AJ's story carries a warning here. He first qualified at 19 with a cheap online course. When he came to leave teaching, he did not trust it.

"I could just skip everything and then pot luck answer the questions at the end. That was terrible. What a waste of money."

So he qualified a second time, with the PFCA.

"If you buy cheap, you buy twice. I made that mistake. Don't make the same mistake as me and end up paying for two."

He told us he earned the cost of the second course back many times over.

Can you study while you are still teaching?

Yes. The PFCA Level 3 personal trainer course runs over 11 weeks. There is one live session on Zoom each Monday evening, from 6.30pm to 9.30pm. Every session is recorded. Most students add four to five hours of study across the week.

That shape suits a teaching timetable. Your days stay free for school. Your marking weeks and parents' evenings can be worked around, because the recordings are there.

AJ had his own doubt about learning online.

"I haven't got the best concentration span. I've got two kids at home. But it was so engaging. Even me, with the attention span of a two-year-old, I was always engaged."

He still has his notepad from those calls. He told us he looks back at it four years on.

For more detail, read can I do a personal trainer course while working full time.

How to move from teacher to personal trainer, step by step

1. Decide what you want the job to look like. Gym floor, your own clients, sport, or a mix. AJ wanted elite sport and built towards it.
2. Check your notice period. Teaching contracts have fixed resignation dates. Find yours before you plan anything else.
3. Qualify while you still teach. Keep your salary while you study. Evening study removes the money pressure.
4. Start coaching before you leave. AJ's first client was his mum. Friends, family and colleagues are a fair place to begin.
5. Learn the business side. Pricing, tax, and how to run a first meeting with a client. This is the part most courses skip.
6. Pick your leaving date with numbers. Know what you need to earn each month, and how many clients that means.

What will you learn that you do not already know?

You will learn how to coach one adult at a time. That is different from teaching a class of thirty. AJ said the course showed him how to run a proper first meeting with a client, and how to map their route from where they are to where they want to be.

It also changed how he saw the people in front of him.

"It showed me what it is to care. It taught me that to take the time and attention to get to know someone on that level is only going to benefit you and your coaching."

He found that clients who feel known tend to stay.

Common questions

Do I need a sports or PE background? No. You need to be over 16 with a good level of English. Teachers of every subject have made this move.

Will my teaching qualification count towards the course? It will not replace any part of the Level 3 qualification. Your classroom skills will make the coaching parts feel familiar.

Can I keep teaching part time and coach as well? Yes. Many career changers coach a few hours a week first. Read how one graduate works as a part-time personal trainer. Our guide on how many hours personal trainers work shows what a week can look like.

How long before I can leave teaching? It depends on your savings and how fast you build clients. Plan for months, and use that time to coach alongside school.

What does AJ say to teachers who are unsure? "The PFCA has helped to change my life for the better. I wouldn't be where I am now without it."

Your next step

If the classroom no longer fits, look closely at what the change involves before you decide. You can watch AJ's full story on YouTube.

Then see how the Level 3 personal trainer course works. You can read the weekly timetable and ask us anything you are unsure about.