This is the criteria the school you trained with or a school applying to be a PTA member needs to comply with in order be eligeble for membership.
Course Director and Tutors
- The Course Director must be a fully Comprehensive Pilates Teacher with at least 5 years post-certification experience and studio-owning experience.
- The full history of training and experience of the Course Director and all tutors must be published on the school’s website, including their links to the founder of the Pilates method.
Member Benefits for Learners
- Schools must offer learners access to PTA student membership for insurance and experienced teacher support.
- Schools must promote eligibility for PTA full membership on completion of the course.
Learner Support and Teaching
- Learners must be mentored, coached and observed in person by a comprehensive Pilates teacher, ideally from the same school.
- Learners must have a network of support from tutors, peers and qualified teachers.
- Learners must be given a clear definition of their scope of practice.
- Terms such as “rehabilitation” and “therapy” must be avoided unless the teacher is formally registered as a health professional.
Entry Requirements
- Learners should be competent in the method before being sold training.
- Where they are not yet competent, the school should offer a pathway to gain competence before they enter training.
Assessment and Quality Assurance
- Assessment and internal quality assurance processes must be clear and documented.
- The course tutor should not also be the assessor.
Transparency and Policies
- All prices must be published publicly, including additional costs for lessons and assessments, without requiring an email subscription.
- The school must have clear policies on:
- Assessment process
- Appeals
- Complaints and concerns
- Equality
- Child protection and welfare
Qualifications Offered
- Training must lead to a qualification to practise as a Comprehensive Pilates teacher, Pilates-based teacher and/or Pilates-based mat teacher.
- The school may offer a regulated Pilates-based mat qualification.
- The school must be aware of the fitness industry professional standards for Pilates-based mat teaching in its own country.
Conduct and Standing
- The school must have no history of complaints with any regulatory or membership organisation in the leisure sector (e.g. Skills Active, CIMSPA, REPS, EU Active).
- The school must abide by the PTA Code of Conduct for members.
- The school must meet the criteria agreed by industry peers.
Curriculum and Apparatus
- Comprehensive certification must teach the exercises as a related system on all major apparatus:
- Reformer
- Cadillac
- Ladder barrel
- Highchair
- Wunda chair
- Small barrel
- Spine corrector
- Minor apparatus may be offered within comprehensive certification or as CPD. If not offered, learners must be told where they can learn them:
- Armchair
- Magic circle
- Hand weights
- Beanbag
- Ped-o-pul
- Toe corrector
- Foot corrector
- Airplane board
- Breathaciser
- Neck stretcher
- Guillotine
Note for applicants: Teachers who were not PTA student members, or who trained with a non-PTA member school, can still apply to join the PTA, provided their school meets the standards above.
These criteria were developed by a broad range of Pilates schools and organisations at the PTA conference in Lancaster in 2018 and supported by current professional and ethical expectations in other related fields.