Apply your training course against the published criteria. Once accredited, your courses appear on the directory, your lead teacher is named, your graduates qualify for Professional Membership the day they graduate, and your trainees can activate £25 cover during training. Held by the same officers, since 2006.
From first Discovery Call with Louise to live directory listing — the four-stage onboarding path, the eight pillars of what ATPs receive, the named officers who hold the relationship. Read the partnership architecture below.
Read the partnership Live · Criteria The published architectureSeven tiers, four standards, two modes — the architecture your course will be measured against. Public, written, applied identically. Read the criteria before the application; the bar is known before you file documents.
See the criteria Live · Standards The wider accreditation pillarThe case for standards, the route for individual teachers being verified, the named officers who hold the line. The wider context inside which course accreditation sits.
See the overview Live · Outcomes For ATPs investing in graduatesThe published scoring system that measures graduate outcomes — post-course support, network access, course assessment, follower growth, special offers. Earn the score; trainees compare courses against it.
See the score Live · Tier 2 For ATPs adding niche tiersYin · prenatal · trauma-informed · restorative · children's · sports · meditation · Thai & Ayurvedic massage. 40+ focused hours. The criteria for adding a Specialty Topic course to your portfolio alongside your Foundation tier.
See specialty detail Live · Directory Where your courses appearThe searchable directory of accredited courses — what trainees see when they're choosing where to train. Each listing carries lead teacher, region, format, tier. This is the placement your accreditation earns.
See the directory Live · Code The ethical floorThe published code of ethical and professional behaviour every YogaPros member agrees to operate by. The floor underneath the criteria — what every accredited trainer commits to in writing as part of the standing partnership.
Read the codeYou've built a course you're proud of. Your graduates teach. Your cohorts return. The question that brought you here is not whether your training is real — you already know. The question is whether the partnership you sign on for adds compounding value year after year, or whether it's a directory listing that costs more than it earns. The answer is the architecture below: who you talk to, what you receive, how the relationship runs through the calendar, what the named officers do when something needs to be ruled on. We've held this same partnership shape with training providers in 100+ countries since 2006.
Listings are transactional. Partnerships compound.
The accreditation badge is what's visible from the outside. The eight pillars below are what ATPs actually receive — the structural value that compounds across cohorts, years, course tiers, and graduate networks.
Onboarding is structured. Each stage runs in one direction. The architecture is built so prospective ATPs know exactly what comes next, and so the partnership starts on a foundation of mutual clarity rather than ambiguity.
30-minute conversation. Scope your course, your trainee market, your tier intentions. Louise walks through how the criteria apply to your specific course and how the partnership runs across the calendar. No documents required at this stage.
Map your existing course against the published criteria — contact hours by tier, lead teacher credentials, trainee entry standard, assessment methodology. Louise reviews drafts before formal submission so the application arrives in shape.
Claire's team reads every page against the published criteria. Named officers, in writing. Borderline cases go to the Standards Council. Manual review: 1–3 working days. If something falls short, we tell you what specifically and what would close the gap — citing the criterion.
Course appears on the directory. Lead teacher named. Graduates qualify for Professional Membership at point of graduation. Trainee insurance pipeline activates. Standing webinars + partnership calls run through the calendar from here.
From first Discovery Call to live directory listing typically runs 2–4 weeks, depending on how mapping-ready your course documentation already is. Once the standing partnership is live, the relationship runs through the calendar — Louise on partnership questions, Claire's team on criteria-related ones, Standards Council when something needs ruling on. The named officers pick up the phone; the relationship is held by people, not tickets.
The application is structured. The questions trainers ask before applying are not. The cases below are the ones we hear most often — small training schools, multi-tier providers, internationally based ATPs, lead-teacher transitions. Click each card for the partnership response.
High-touch teaching. Strong graduate outcomes. You wonder whether ATP membership makes sense at this scale, or whether it's structured for larger schools running monthly intakes.
Tap to see the answer →Three accredited tiers. One ATP profile. You're trying to keep your graduates inside your training pipeline rather than losing them to other providers for CPD and specialty work.
Tap to see the answer →Residential intensive Foundation. International cohort every season. You want to know whether YogaPros accreditation works across jurisdictions and whether your graduates are recognised when they go home.
Tap to see the answer →An accredited course is a relationship between named people. You want to know how the transition runs without losing the accreditation, the directory listing, or the trainee pipeline mid-cohort.
Tap to see the answer →You believe practice teaching is essential — trainees who don't teach during the course often don't teach after. You want to know how YogaPros handles trainees teaching in your name before they're qualified.
Tap to see the answer →Your trainees come from different markets, and dual-accreditation widens reach. You want to know whether YogaPros works alongside other accreditation or whether the application requires switching.
Tap to see the answer →An ATP can run any combination of these five tiers. Each reaches a different segment of the trainee market. Each creates a different income stream. Click any tier to see what running it inside the YogaPros partnership looks like.
Pre-Foundation is the on-ramp for trainees who don't yet meet the Foundation entry standard. ATPs running Pre-Foundation alongside Foundation effectively widen their funnel — readiness courses convert to Foundation enrolments at a strong rate. 40 total hours, 28 contact hours, taught by a Senior Yoga Teacher. Pre-Foundation hours can be carried into the trainee's Foundation record where you choose to bridge the two. Common income pattern: 8-week Pre-Foundation in spring, Foundation cohort starting late summer.
Foundation is where most ATPs build their core business. 200 total hours, 180 contact hours, 70% taught by a Senior Yoga Teacher (8+ years, 4,000+ teaching hours). Trainees enter with 2+ years of regular self-practice, verified at intake. Graduates qualify for Professional Membership the day they graduate and enter the chartered journey at Newly Graduated. Online and Intensive mode rules apply where relevant. Foundation produces the graduate pipeline that feeds your Specialty Topic and Further Training tiers in subsequent years.
Foundation+ is how an ATP differentiates from courses that stop at certificate-handover day. 50 hours of structured pre-course preparation and post-graduation mentoring on top of the standard 180 contact hours, taking total course commitment to 230 hours. The post-graduation year is where most newly qualified teachers drop out of teaching; Foundation+ closes that gap. Trainees pay for the difference; ATPs running Foundation+ typically command higher fees because the post-course value is structurally embedded.
Specialty Topic is the natural second tier for an ATP whose Foundation graduates want to add depth without retraining. 40 total hours, 28 contact hours, Senior Yoga Teacher. Trainee entry: already-qualified teacher. Once accredited and completed, the graduate's Live CV displays "Specialty: [topic]" — searchable by studios. ATPs running Specialty Topic alongside Foundation typically see strong return rates from their own graduates; the relationship is established, the trust is built, the second tier is the natural next step.
Further Training is the bedrock tier for ATPs building lifetime relationships with their graduate community. 28+ contact hours, 70% taught by a Senior or Experienced Yoga Teacher (Experienced = 4yr / 2,000hr). Workshops, retreats, masterclass series, modular weekend programmes all run inside this tier. Over 98% of YogaPros teacher members continue developing through Further Training, year after year — the audience is large, repeat, and accessible to ATPs who run the tier alongside Foundation. The lifetime-revenue tier.
Every YogaPros member — Professional, ATP, Trainee — agrees to operate by the published Code of Practice. The Code addresses the teaching relationship, the business of running courses, behaviour toward fellow members, and the ethical floor of how a yoga teacher conducts themselves professionally. As an ATP you sign on to the code in writing; the code becomes part of how your trainees encounter the partnership. It's the floor underneath the technical criteria — the thing that tells trainees and prospective students what to expect when something goes wrong, not just when everything goes right.
Once accreditation is live, the standing partnership runs on a known rhythm. Monthly webinars on running training programmes — practical sessions on cohort management, graduate engagement, course design, and the changing accreditation landscape. Partnership calls with Louise when something specific needs working through — strategic decisions about adding tiers, lead-teacher transitions, market positioning. Direct line to Claire's team on assessment-related questions. Standards Council escalation for borderline cases. The relationship is held by named people. The named people pick up the phone.
The highest accreditation criteria in the industry. Set by us because the law does not require them. Held by us because credibility is our only product. Audited line-by-line, by name, in writing.
Reads every accreditation file against the criteria above, line by line, week by week of the syllabus. Verifies the lead teacher's experience floor against the documented Senior or Experienced Yoga Teacher rules. If a course falls short, Claire's team writes back with what specifically falls short and what would close the gap — citing the criterion. The verification is documented; the route is auditable.
First point of contact for trainers preparing an application. Walks providers through the criteria above — what each clause requires, why it exists, what counts as evidence. Reads through draft documentation before formal submission so applications arrive in shape. Reachable directly during business hours; books one-to-one calls with prospective ATPs to clarify any criterion before a single document is filed.
Co-founded YogaPros in 2006 with Brian Cooper. 19 years writing, refining, and defending the criteria above. Final ruling on any borderline case the Standards Council escalates. Accountable for the criteria the whole structure sits on. If the criteria need to change to keep up with the profession, Bruce is the one who rules on the change — and the one who answers for it when the change matters.
For applications that sit on the edge of the criteria — non-traditional lead-teacher pathways, hybrid mode structures not yet codified, country-specific qualifications, year-totals just below a tier floor — the Standards Council rules collectively. Composed of senior assessors plus Claire and Bruce. Council decisions are documented and feed back into the criteria above at the next quarterly refinement.
From first Discovery Call to standing partnership rhythm, the onboarding architecture is structured. Below: a walk-through of what the first six months as a new ATP actually look like — the conversations, the documents, the first cohort under accreditation, the rhythm settling in.
Discovery Call with Louise. 30-minute conversation about your course, your trainee market, your tier intentions. Louise walks through how the criteria apply to your specific course. No documents required at this stage — this is mapping the territory before drawing the application.
You · LouiseMap your existing course materials against the published criteria — contact hours, lead teacher credentials, trainee entry standard, assessment method. Louise reviews drafts before formal submission. Application enters Claire's queue. Manual review: 1–3 working days. Borderline cases escalate to the Standards Council in writing.
You · Louise · ClaireAccreditation goes live. Course appears on the directory; lead teacher is named. Trainee insurance pipeline activates. ATP profile created with bio, course tiers, region. Code of Practice signed in writing. First standing webinar invitation arrives. Confirmation in writing of the relationship.
You · directory · trainee pipelineFirst cohort enrolled with the accredited badge. Trainees activate £25 cover during training. Standing webinars run monthly. Partnership calls with Louise as needed — typical strategic items: adding a Specialty Topic or Further Training tier, lead-teacher transitions, marketing to a new region. By month 6, the rhythm is settled.
You · cohort · ongoing relationshipSince joining YogaPros I have benefitted from a closer relationship and professional support with an organisation that shares my values. I couldn't be happier with the students they refer to our course — they are an ideal fit. I look forward to sharing the journey together for years to come.Michelle Nicklin · Sandstone Yoga · YogaPros Accredited Training Professional
The Discovery Call is the right place to ask questions about your specific course. Louise walks through how the criteria apply, what the partnership looks like at your scale, and what onboarding would look like across the next two months. No documents required at this stage — this is mapping the territory before drawing the application.
When Brian and I built the first version of this in 2006, we ran the application by phone. There was no directory. There was no online form. There was a conversation — a 30-minute call where I'd ask the trainer about their course, their lead teacher, their cohorts, and what they were trying to build. Then I'd write up the criteria in a letter, and they'd sign or they'd push back. The directory came later, the online forms came later, the membership scaled to 100+ countries — but the conversation never stopped being the foundation. ATPs don't sign up for a logo. They sign up for the standing relationship that makes the logo mean something. The Discovery Call is still the right place to start. It still does what it always did.
An accredited course is a relationship. The badge follows the relationship; not the other way around.
— Bruce, co-founder, YogaPros
