Level 3 Technical Specialist in Teaching Yoga (Certificate)
Total Credits: 32 – Guided Learning Hours: 175 – Total Qualification Time: 320 hours
This Level 3 qualification has been approved by Ofqual and IfATE for meeting the new occupational standards for a yoga teacher. The qualification is now on Ofqual’s register, the Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF). It is in 4 units, knowledge units followed by applied knowledge or skills units (practical skills learned with the tutor that you apply to actual class teaching with students). The qualification will be available for courses starting in August 2025 or beyond.
BWYQ has applied for grant funding so that e-learning resources can be created in full by summer 2025 – see a 2-minute sample below produced by our volunteers with free trial software . In this way trainee teachers will be able to access consistent information across centres and test their knowledge before completing worksheets for centre assessors’ Summative Assessment. Applying the knowledge and building yoga teaching skills will be covered by your centre tutor. Trainees will set up yoga classes in their own communities and one of these sessions will be observed and assessed by your training centre.
OCCUPATIONAL STANDARDS:
This qualification has been approved by the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) as meeting the knowledge, skills and behaviours of the Occupational Standards for a general Yoga Teacher, as established by Employers in the fitness and wellbeing industry who have been working with IfATE and the Department for Education (DfE) as part of the reforms to vocational and technical qualifications.
PUBLIC FUNDING:
The qualification has been approved by the DfE for public funding offers to learners who are eligible for Level 3 Legal Entitlement funding and Advance Learner Loans starting in academic year 2025-26.
PROGRESSION:
You can use your Certificate as Recognised Prior Learning and progress to units D-E of the BWYQ Level 4 Diploma in Teaching Yoga if you would like to upgrade to a 500 hour qualification. These two units delve deeper into philosophy, pranayama, meditation, mantra and advanced asana. Alternatively, you may want to specialise in teaching a specific group such as antenatal or postnatal women or independently active older adults; you could enrol on one of the other Level 3 Technical Specialist Qualifications available from BWYQ. You could also study for the BWYQ Level 4 Award in Understanding the Principles of Adapting Yoga for Older Adults with long-term conditions or the Level 4 Certificate in Teaching Gentle Years Yoga, a chair-based programme for more frail older adults.
Knowledge, Skills and Behaviors to meet the Occupational Standards
KNOWLEDGE:
Yoga teacher training needs to cover knowledge of human movement as biomechanics, the basics of anatomy and physiology such as the cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal, nervous and endocrine systems and how exercise affects these systems. Knowing how diet, stress, fatigue, etc. can affect one’s lifestyle is important as well as understanding the safety precautions for common medical conditions like hypertension, obesity, cardiopulmonary disease and diabetes. The training should include knowledge of professional roles and legal responsibilities, risk assessment, safeguarding and, of course, the history, philosophy and fundamental theories of yoga, including hatha yoga, raja yoga, meditation, mantra, the pranic system, pranayama, mudra, bandha and kriyas.
SKILLS:
When the knowledge from above is applied in preparing for and delivering group yoga sessions, the skills of student teachers are developed and assessed to determine if they can teach yoga safely, adapting the practices to accommodate the needs of the individuals and progressing individuals when they are ready for more advanced practices.
BEHAVIOURS:
The behaviours gained are underpinned by the ethics of yoga which effectively contribute to the moral, ethical and professional standards required for a yoga teacher.
