Certifications
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Questions, answered properly.
Everything people ask us before enrolling — including the money questions most schools bury. If something isn’t here, ask us and we’ll add it.
Getting started
Do I need teaching experience?
No. Most of our students have never taught anything. What you do need is a regular personal Pilates practice — you should be comfortable in the work in your own body before you start guiding someone else through it.
Am I too old to start?
We have students beginning in their twenties and students beginning in their fifties. Pilates is one of the few movement professions where being older is an advantage: you understand bodies that don’t do what they’re told, because you have one.
Do I need to be very flexible or very fit?
No. You’re training to teach, not to perform. Understanding how a movement works and being able to explain it to a body that can’t do it yet matters far more than your own range.
How do I know which certification to choose?
Start from where you want to work rather than from the price list. If the studios near you run mat classes, Mat is enough to start. If they’re reformer studios, you need Reformer. If you want the widest options, Mat + Reformer is what most studios advertise for. Book a call and we’ll tell you honestly — including if the cheaper one is right.
Can I start before I finish deciding?
You can, and every hour carries forward. Students often begin with Mat, start teaching and earning, then add Reformer or continue to Comprehensive once they know the direction they want.
The certifications
Certification
Hours
Credential
What’s the difference between Mat and Reformer?
Mat qualifies you to teach the repertoire performed on a mat with small props — the classes most gyms and community studios run. Reformer qualifies you to teach on the machine, which is what boutique reformer studios are built around. Different skills, different hiring markets, which is why most students eventually want both.
Why is Reformer 300 hours when Mat is 100?
Because the machine carries risk a mat doesn’t. Springs load a body under tension, the carriage moves, and a wrong setting can injure someone. The extra hours exist so that judgement is built before you’re alone in a room with it.
Which certifications lead to an NPCP credential?
Mat and Mat + Reformer make you eligible to sit the NPCP Mat examination for the PMC credential. Comprehensive makes you eligible to sit the NCPT examination. Reformer on its own awards a Go Pilates Academy certificate rather than an NPCP credential — we’d rather say that plainly than let you find out later.
Does graduating give me the NCPT automatically?
No, and no school can grant it. The NCPT is awarded by NPCP when you pass their examination. What our Comprehensive certification does is meet the requirements that make you eligible to sit it, prepare you for it, and verify your training when you apply.
Why is Mat + Reformer the same NPCP credential as Mat alone?
Because the NPCP Mat examination is a mat credential. What the extra 300 hours buy you is the reformer competency itself — the thing boutique studios hire for, and the thing Mat alone doesn’t qualify you to teach.
How you study
What’s the difference between online and in person?
The curriculum, the mentors, the assessment and the certificate are identical. Online means your instruction is delivered live over video and your practical work is guided by your mentor on camera. In person means studio days in Los Angeles or New York, capped at twelve students, with hands-on corrections in the room. Neither is the lesser option.
Can I do this while working full-time?
Yes, and most of our students do. Your instruction hours are scheduled around your week and the rest is yours to arrange. What it asks for is consistency rather than a cleared calendar.
Do I need my own equipment?
For the mat work, no — your training kit covers it and it ships to you. For reformer and apparatus self-practice you need access to equipment: your own, a studio membership, a rental, or the in-person studio days. Tell us your situation on your call and we’ll be straight about whether it works before you enrol.
Is the student kit an extra cost?
No. Mat, ring, resistance bands, ball, grip socks and your printed workbook are included in your tuition and shipped to your door.
How long does it take?
That depends on the certification and how many hours a week you can give it. Some students move quickly; students fitting it around a job and children take longer, and both are fine. We map a realistic timeline with you before you enrol rather than after.
What if I miss a session?
Live sessions are recorded, so you can catch up. For in-person studio days, talk to us — with cohorts capped at twelve we can usually arrange a way to make up what you missed rather than push you to the next cohort.
Tuition
Certification
Online
In person
Mat
$1,935
$2,700
Reformer
$2,100
$3,870
Mat + Reformer
$3,915
$5,400
Comprehensive
$5,139
$6,300
Are payment plans available?
Yes, on every certification and both formats. We’ll walk through the options on your call so you can plan properly rather than guess.
What’s included in the price?
All instruction hours, functional anatomy taught live and recorded for life, your 1-on-1 mentoring, group Practice Labs, your training kit shipped to you, both examinations, retakes without penalty, lifetime access to all material, and membership of the Go Pilates Club. Many schools bill anatomy separately at $250–$980; here it’s part of the curriculum.
Are there costs beyond tuition?
For in-person study, your travel and accommodation. For reformer and apparatus self-practice, equipment access if you don’t have your own. And if you go on to sit an NPCP examination, NPCP charges their own exam fee — that’s paid to them, not to us.
Is there a discount?
Members of the Go Pilates Club receive 20% on our certifications. The Club is free to join and open to any Pilates instructor, including people who trained elsewhere.
Money back
Refunds and cancellation, in plain language.
Most schools make you dig for this. Here it is, on the page, before you pay anything.
Online certifications — cancellation window
You have seven days from enrolment to cancel and receive a refund, less a non-refundable enrolment fee of $250 or 5% of tuition, whichever applies to your certification. Your student kit is not dispatched until day eight, so cancelling inside the window costs you nothing in shipped goods.
In-person intensives — cancellation credit
In-person places are held for you and the cohort is capped at twelve, so the closer to the dates you cancel, the less we can re-fill the place. The tiers:
- 60 days or more before the intensive — 100% credit
- 30 to 59 days before — 50% credit
- Under 30 days before — no credit
What if I get ill, or something happens in my family?
Illness and bereavement are handled separately from the tiers above. In those circumstances we move you to a later cohort rather than apply a cancellation penalty. Tell us as early as you can and we’ll sort it out.
Can I transfer to a different certification?
Yes. Every hour you’ve completed carries forward, and we’ll apply what you’ve paid toward the new certification. Ask us and we’ll work out the difference.
This is a summary written to be readable. The binding terms are in our Terms & Conditions, and those govern in any discrepancy.
After you certify
Will studios actually hire me?
Studios hire on the strength of your training and how you teach. That’s why our programme is built around mentored teaching practice rather than watching videos — you should be able to walk into an audition and hold a room, not just describe exercises.
Do I keep access to the material?
Yes, for life — including material we add after you graduate. Instructors come back to the anatomy recordings years later, which is exactly why we made them permanent.
What support is there after graduation?
You join the Go Pilates Club: premium content, member workshops, 20% on further training, and a private community of instructors across more than 30 countries where openings and advice get shared.
What if I don’t pass an examination?
Retakes are included without penalty, with support to prepare. Our assessment exists to confirm you’re ready to teach safely, not to catch you out. NPCP examinations are administered by NPCP under their own retake policy, which we’ll walk you through.
Didn’t find it?
Ask us directly. A real person reads every message and replies, usually within one working day — and if it’s a question other people are asking, we’ll add it to this page.
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