Our matwork teacher training course starts with 13 tuition days and five ‘Contact Days’, followed by a period of teaching practice (supervised teaching), a multiple-choice anatomy exam, and some self-study work (including two short essays).
The tuition days are a mix of theory and practical – these take place through live online sessions with our tutors on Zoom. Each day will typically comprise four hours (10am-12pm and 1.30pm-3.30pm), though some will run slightly shorter.
After you have completed the online modules we ask you to come to five ‘Contact Days’ at our London Centre. You will be given a range of date options for these days on weekdays and weekends, so you can work to a schedule that is best for you. We will cover content that can’t be properly covered online, such as group teaching teaching techniques and the last Contact Day will have particular focus on 1:1 teaching. Contact Days typically run from 10am to 3.30pm.
We offer two course formats to help you best fit the tuition days into your work/life schedule:
Intensive, wherein the tuition element is taken in two blocks of six and seven days, separated by typically a three-week break
Extended, wherein the tuition element is taken in two-day blocks on Saturdays and Sundays spread over a period of two to three months. There is one three-day block including a Monday or Friday.
There is no difference at all in the content and delivery of each format. You end up in exactly the same place either way, so it’s purely a question of what format works best for you. If there is a particular course that you want to join but perhaps thee is one day when you know you can’t attend, we can usually give you a catch-up option by sitting in with another group.
The elements that follow – Contact Days; supervised teaching culminating in a teaching assessment; a multiple-choice anatomy examination; self-study work – are all totally flexible and can be fitted around your own schedule. Please see the page on ‘Course Outline’ for more details.
Course Duration: Most students take between 6 to 12 months to complete the course, some longer. We recognise that most of our students are often fitting their training around full-time work or family commitments and that sometimes “life gets in the way” of the best-laid plans. The key determining factor in terms of timing is a student’s availability during the supervised teaching period and the progress they make during that time ( see Course Outline). We do everything we can to help our students move through the course as quickly and smoothly as they are able and our Student Support Team is on always on hand to help and advise.
Course Outcomes: You will receive your Body Control Pilates Matwork Certification after successfully completing all elements of the course. This enables you to teach 1:1 sessions and group classes (up to 12 participants). You will also receive a certificate from PD:Approval, our external quality assurance company, confirming that you are accredited against the new UK standard laid down by The Society for the Pilates Method (SPM).
Well over 95% of our course graduates set up their own classes by, for example, renting a venue such as a community hall; working with other Body Control Pilates teachers; or teaching in local physiotherapy clinics or similar.
‘Level 3 Pilates’? A limited number of health and fitness clubs in the UK ask that you have a ‘Level 3 Pilates’ certificate if you want to teach classes in their club. Whilst the requirements of ‘Level 3 Pilates’ are lower than those of the SPM Matwork Standard that we work to, you will need to complete a short worksheet in order to gain this certification – please contact us for more details. Your ‘Level 3 Pilates’ certificate will be awarded by Active IQ after you have successfully completed your Body Control Pilates course. There will be a £125 charge for registration with, and certification by, Active IQ.
The Body Control Pilates Association
Upon certification, you will be invited to join the Body Control Pilates Association (BCPA), Europe’s largest dedicated professional Pilates organisation with just under 1,500 teaching members. Your first year of membership is free.
All members subscribe to a Code of Practice that governs professional ethics, teaching standards, class size (maximum twelve participants) and ongoing professional development. The BCPA provides a range of services for members and actively promotes their contact details. Teachers are only allowed to use the Body Control Pilates trademark in connection with their classes if they are a member of the BCPA and sign a licence agreement (there is no charge for this).
BCPA Members are automatically entitled to appear on the Register of Pilates Teachers, published by The Society for the Pilates Method (annual membership fee applies).
