New Fitness Qualification System approved in France
With the recent approval of the French Ministry of Sport a new Professional Qualification Certificate (CQP) for Fitness Instructor has been developed that will open new opportunities for the training and qualification of fitness professionals. The design of the CQP is based on EuropeActive standards and has been proposed by a consortium including France Active, Planet Fitness and the sport employers’ organisation COSMOS. The CQP can be considered to be a sector-led initiative that should become an alternative to the current brevet d’état system.
EuropeActive is promoting the adoption of its standards and qualifications with a number of European countries and this decision in France is acknowledged as an step forward for the profession because fitness is a regulated profession in France. This new CQP diploma has been created and decided by the French fitness sector with the technical support of EuropeActive, which was led by Julian Berriman, Director of the Professional Standards Committee. He said that “The CQP is designed to meet the needs and demands of the French fitness market that should help to create many new fitness trainer jobs.” Julian also commented that this work would not have been possible without the close cooperation of a number of key stakeholders and in particular Guillaume Schroll from France Active.