Become a member

Recreation assistant

Recreation assistants play an essential role in the sector workforce. As a highly skilled and qualified expert, being certified by CIMSPA – the sector’s professional development body – is a clear way of showing what you can do. If you are a practising recreation assistant, CIMSPA professional status can support you to gain professional recognition and progress in your career. 

Occupation scope and impact

Recreation assistants support, enhance and deliver the day-to-day operations of a leisure facility, typically in wet environments such as swimming pools, water slides and saunas and/or dry environments such as activity areas and sports pitches. 

  • You work as part of a team and undertake a range of leisure operational duties such as opening and closing of the leisure facility and maintain the cleanliness and safety of the environment. 
  • You ensure programmed activities and services are arranged, including preparing, assembling, dismantling and storing equipment such as trampolines, badminton nets and event seating. 
  • You supervise activity and ancillary areas, ensuring the safety of customers and enhancing services by building product knowledge and sales acumen. 
  • You provide high levels of customer care and assist with any customer feedback. 
From
£3.24*
per month (inc VAT)
based on an an annual fee of
£38.94*
(inc VAT)

*discounts apply if your organisation is a CIMSPA employer partner

Apply now
  • Verifiable professional status accreditation
  • Exclusive benefits and offers
  • Access free endorsed CPD

Becoming a certified recreation assistant in the UK

Having a CIMSPA professional status indicates to employers, clients and your peers that you are a qualified recreation assistant with recognised leisure qualifications. 

Gain professional recognition for your knowledge, skills and experience by sharing your status with employers, clients and your peers.  

Learn more about professional status 

Professional status for recreation assistants

Recreation Assistant Practitioner

You are currently working as a recreation assistant and have a high-quality and up-to-date recreation assistant qualification. You are dedicated to your professional development and providing the best possible experience to participants. 

Professional Status

Title

You will gain the professional status title of Recreation Assistant Practitioner. You will be able to use this to ensure that clients and employers understand exactly what you are capable of, linked directly to the sector’s professional standards:

  • Try using your title in your website or social media bio to show clients that you’re a trained expert. Many other professions such as healthcare practitioners and financial advisors use these to demonstrate their credibility.
  • When applying for jobs, your professional status title is an important addition to your CV. Employers will be able to see your skill level and are assured that your qualifications are quality assured – all from a quick glance.

Postnominals

You will gain the postnominals of MCIMSPA.

Many established professions, such as accountancy and medicine, use postnominal letters to show that an individual is accredited by a professional body.

You will be able to use yours after your name on social media, your website and business communications to demonstrate that you are a recognised professional.

Find out more about professional status

Accreditation credentials

Your accreditation credentials – which take the form of a digital badge – will offer a verifiable visual representation of your professional status which you can use on your website and social media to showcase your expertise. When you click on them, anyone will be able to see further information about your status and that it is verified and up to date.

You will need to complete the Recreation Assistant occupational professional standard by evidencing all of its competency statements such as:

  • Awarding Organisations Qualification Certificate
  • Supporting CPD

Find out how to evidence

£3.24*
per month (inc VAT) based on an annual fee of
£38.94*
(inc VAT)
*discounts apply if your organisation is a CIMSPA employer partner

Apply for your professional status

Step 1 – prepare your evidence, apply and pay 

Provide evidence of your qualifications and CPD documentation in PDF, JPEG or PNG format. 

Debit card, credit card or direct debit payment options are available. 

Step 2 – We will process your application 

You will receive email updates as we review your application. 

We will let you know if we require any further information from you. 

You will receive an email confirming that your professional status has been approved. 

Apply now

What does CIMSPA professional status confirm?

Holding professional status issued by your sector’s professional development body is more than just a membership. It delivers: 

  • Employer verification

Employers use professional status to create job descriptions and plan staff training. Use yours to show that you have the right skills and knowledge for the job at a glance – when you add your status and a link to your accreditation credential to your CV, employers can quickly verify your expertise and commitment to your continuing professional development.  

  • Client trust

Give your potential clients a clear signal that you are the right choice. Professional status confirms that you are qualified and adhere to our Member Code of Conduct. By encouraging clients to check your professional status, you are showing that you are a recreation assistant that they can trust. 

  • Career progression

Being a certified lifeguard doesn’t stop there. With your annual CPD requirement, you’ll naturally keep your knowledge up to date as you grow, too. 

Professional status is about being recognised for your impact, your expertise and your dedication to the role. When you have an easy way to demonstrate your knowledge and skills, this can open doors for your career. Apply now to gain the recreation assistant certification you deserve. 

Supporting your career

Take complete control of your career progression and stay at the forefront of our sector.  

To help you maximise your professional status and develop your knowledge and skills, we offer a range of exclusive benefits that complement your professional status:  

  • Get endorsed recreation assistant qualifications and CPD for less with discounts from a range of training providers.  
  • Enhance your career prospects – many of our Employer Partners commit to only employing CIMSPA-certified recreation assistants.  
  • Stay up to date with sector news and in-depth guidance with exclusive access to Move Professional, our quarterly online publication.  
  • Get regular bite-sized sector updates via email with our tailored monthly bulletin.  
  • Learn and develop through CIMSPA’s member-only webinars featuring cross-sector experts.  
  • Make connections through CIMSPA and partner events and conferences and at our professional development boards and consultations (by invitation).  
  • Be the first to hear about opportunities to be involved with CIMSPA consultations and insight, helping to influence sector policy and future research.  
  • Help shape the sector’s future by taking part in focus groups and committees.  

CPD requirement and how it works

To maintain your professional status, you are required to complete 10 points of continuing professional development (CPD). This can be anything from a wide range of training linked to your role, from formal recreation assistant qualifications to attending our exclusive member webinars. As a member, you will have access to a range of free and discounted opportunities via your bespoke CIMSPA Dashboard. You can also use our endorsed training directory to explore quality-assured learning opportunities on a wide range of topics. 

Find out more about what CPD counts 

We ask you to complete CPD every year to ensure that your professional knowledge remains up to date and relevant. This also helps you to deliver the best service to your clients and progress in your career as you learn.  

We’ve kept the requirement as flexible as possible so that you can choose learning that supports your personal career goals and development needs. 

CIMSPA Employer Partners

CIMSPA Employer Partners are part of our sector-wide network of organisations. From community sports clubs to major gym brands, they are all committed to supporting their employees to achieve professional excellence. Since the launch of professional status, our partners have been using the framework to shape their role descriptions, both for existing staff and when advertising vacancies. This means that when you apply for a job offered by a CIMSPA Employer Partner, having professional status connects you to their needs and makes you stand out from other candidates. For some employers, it’s even an essential requirement. Use our bespoke sector jobs board to view vacancies with our partners and take the next step in your career.

Membership join FAQs

Your account will be required to be linked your employer’s organisational account to issue your membership at the discounted price. If your account is not currently linked, we will require some information from you. Please email us on info@cimspa.co.uk 

If your CIMSPA recognised entry qualification is dated over 5 years from the date of your application, you will be required to evidence:

  • At least 1 CPD point of endorsed
  • Or 4 hours of non-endorsed CPD.

Awarding organisation certificates display some or all of the following:

  • Awarding organisation’s logo e.g. Active IQ, YMCA Awards, Innovate Awarding, Focus Awards, VTCT
  • Award title e.g. Active IQ Level 3 Diploma in Fitness Instructing and Personal Training
  • Qualification Accreditation Number (QAN) e.g. 600/4941/8
  • Date of issue
  • Certificate number
  • ’Ofqual’ logo

Please note: A Unit Credit certificate, letter of confirmation or certificate issued by a Training Provider are not accepted to ensure a standardised and robust application process.

Your membership will be approved within the affiliate membership category to bring you onboard as a CIMSPA member. We will email you with guidance to support you with your next steps towards becoming a practitioner or associate member.

If your qualifications have not been mapped to the industry professional standards, they may be submitted for the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process. For further information, please email info@cimspa.co.uk

If you have successfully met the professional standard following completion of your CIMSPA endorsed course for your chosen practitioner category, your professional qualification certificate issued by CIMSPA and awarded by your education provider will clearly confirm this and should be submitted with your application.

EREPS/REPS Ireland

We have an agreement with and can accept a Letter of Portability during your membership application from the following organisations, providing it is transferrable to your chosen CIMSPA membership category:

Other countries

If your qualification was completed in a country outside the above organisations’ jurisdiction, please email info@cimspa.co.uk with a copy of your letter of portability or qualification, confirming the country of issue, for further support.