What options are there after a level 3 sports course?

[TabithaTwitchel]

I'm a bit confused and would appreciate any guidance

My DS is 17 and at college doing a level 3 sports course. He's the equivalent of year 12 and has another year and a half (ish) to go on this course.

He is toying with the idea of going into personal training or something else sports related. He loves sport.

The issue is ... he is not academic and it can be a struggle to get him to college. He does go but is not a highly motivated student on the whole ... he will leave an assignment to the last minute and he was the same with GCSE's - next to no revision and he was lucky to achieve grade 5s and 6s. He's on track with his sports course to pass but very unlikely to be with distinction

So he's not university minded. He wouldn't be able to cope with the 'self starter' type learning and I'm not sure he'd have the qualifications to get in.

He's also not ready to work full time - of course this may change over the next year, but some decisions need to be considered soon ish.

So what is there out there that I'm missing?

He has said to me that he wants to study to be a personal trainer whilst also still being in education and also earning a little bit of money - which sounds like an apprenticeship to me! But where you find these?

He does work part time in retail for 8 hours but again, somewhat reluctantly

Any ideas for me to consider at all? I didn't have this with my eldest who had a clear path of school and then uni and then into her career. So this is slightly new territory and I want him to be comfortable with his choices

[Bunnyannesummers]

As far as I’m aware there aren’t apprenticeships to be a personal trainer - it’s a college course you’d take up independently, like this: https://www.tmc.ac.uk/courses/gym-instructing-and-personal-training/

If he wants to be a PT he needs to be based in gyms, so should be looking for a part time job there, and he can eventually hopefully take on clients at that gym.

There are sports coaching apprenticeships as well, that might be more the thing? Or he could get some coaching/referring/life guarding quals and earn money that way alongside his course.

The Institute for Apprenticeships has a list of all the apprenticeships you can do, although doesn’t necessarily mean they’re available in your area

[itsgettingweird]

What sports is he interested in?

Could he get some work swim teaching or football coaching? Or train to be a coach in whatever interests him?

What about training to be a lifeguard and getting work in a leisure centre or gym so he's in the right environment to get training and qualifications?