Applications are open · Cohorts limited to 8–12 students
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About the Academy

Fitness education should prepare you for real people.

Edinburgh Personal Training Academy was created to develop thoughtful, capable coaches—not simply help students pass a qualification.

Explore the courseContact the Academy
James McKeen teaching at Edinburgh Personal Training Academy
Lead tutorJames McKeen · 22+ years in fitness

Why EPTA exists

Raising the standard of personal training education.

Edinburgh Personal Training Academy is a practical Level 3 personal training school based at Fitness Street in Edinburgh.

Many short courses focus on completing paperwork and passing assessments. EPTA puts the gym floor at the centre of the learning experience, combining online theory with 40 hours of coached studio practice across 10 weeks.

Students learn how to talk with a client, screen movement, plan intelligently, demonstrate clearly and adapt in real time. Cohorts are limited to 8–12 people so tutors can see how each student is developing.

The teaching team

Guidance from James and Ewa.

The Academy combines long-term industry experience with close, practical support throughout each intake.

James McKeen, lead tutor at Edinburgh Personal Training Academy
James McKeen · Lead tutor

Experience translated into practical coaching.

James brings more than 22 years of fitness-industry experience to the course. His teaching connects movement science, assessment, effective intensity, client communication and the realities of building a sustainable PT career.

  • Practical gym-floor instruction
  • Movement and programme design
  • Business and career execution
Ewa · Teaching team

Individual support throughout the learning process.

Ewa teaches alongside James and helps create the focused, supportive environment that small cohorts make possible.

Her role reflects the Academy's wider ethos: students should be known, observed and coached as individuals—not processed through a classroom-only system.

  • Small-cohort support
  • Practical feedback
  • Standards-led learning

The Academy standard

Coaching is a skill you practise.

The assessment framework keeps the focus on what a capable personal trainer must be able to do with a real client.

01

Talk

Understand the person, their goals, history and readiness before prescribing exercise.

02

Plan

Turn screening findings into a focused session and a progression that makes sense.

03

Demonstrate

Set up and explain movement with precision, purpose and professional presence.

04

Adapt

Respond to the person in front of you and adjust the exercise, session or plan.

Learn in a place where your coaching is seen, tested and developed.

Apply for the next intake