The Affiliate Training and Assessment Programme
Train to be an Affiliate Teacher
The Affiliate Training and Assessment Programme is The Royal Ballet School’s programme for private and recreational dance training. Dance teachers train directly with The Royal Ballet School and are then accredited to deliver the programme to students in their own dance schools as Affiliate Teachers. They conduct their own assessments, which are then moderated by The Royal Ballet School.
The innovative programme gives young dance students a high-quality, holistic learning experience. It is an alternative to other recreational training models based on learning a syllabus for examination.
Affiliate Teachers support students to learn ‘how’ to learn and to enjoy and value the process. They have the autonomy to guide and assess their own students’ journeys. This gives continuous professional development and greater creative and career satisfaction.
Alongside classical ballet vocabulary and performance skills, students learn repertoire, choreography and appreciation.
Experience the programme at a workshop
For young dancers, their parents/carers and recreational or private dance teachers. Discover the future of ballet education at one of our Insight workshops, happening around the UK in 2024/25.
Experience a typical Affiliate class led by our expert staff and a presentation of the Affiliate Programme ethos and methodology.
Programme information
The programme has six training levels. Each level has an associated recommended age band, covering ages five and upwards.
Programme content is based on The Royal Ballet School’s Model for Optimal Dance Training. Each level contains both movement and contextual studies.
Movement studies include foundation movement skills, generic movement skills, qualitative movement skills and ballet technique and vocabulary. Contextual studies include the study of repertoire, choreography, creative tasks, and art form appreciation.
Students are assessed by their teacher against criteria set by The Royal Ballet School. Teachers create and teach assessment material appropriate to each level once students have completed the minimum training hours.
Affiliate Teachers conduct assessments when they choose and video record them. They then submit them via a secure platform to The Royal Ballet School for moderation.
The School gives teachers ongoing guidance with monitoring and moderation of their students’ assessment results.
Annual affiliation fee
Your annual Affiliate fee is £550 and due in April each year. It consists of:
- £250 affiliation fee to maintain Affiliate status
- £300 for ongoing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for the year.
Your fee covers:
Covering topics including:
- Relevant pedagogy
- Guidance on programme content and delivery
- Assessment support
- Business advice.
- Hundreds of ballet vocabulary training videos
- Body awareness and conditioning videos from The Royal Ballet School’s healthcare team
- Creative practice examples and session notes on choreographic exploration and development
- Supporting documents including the Affiliate Programme System of Training (SOT), assessment manuals, lesson plan templates and suggested reading list
- Marketing toolkit including designed assets and guidance on marketing your business developed by The Royal Ballet School marketing team
- Exclusive Affiliate Programme merchandise shop and link to purchase Affiliate uniform
- Guidance to give to parents of Affiliate students
- Exclusive special offers for teachers, including discounts on the Intensive Courses on Demand and Primary Steps on Demand programmes.
- Ambassador workshops in-person and online
- Creative and repertoire workshops with Royal Ballet School and Affiliate programme practitioners
- Drop in Q&A sessions with programme leaders
- Facebook forum for Affiliate teachers to connect across cohorts
- Listing on a directory of Affiliate Teachers
- Royal Ballet ticket offers
- Invitations to watch Royal Ballet School events where possible.
Course dates 2025
UK and Hong Kong
Applications open 6 January 2025
Applications close 14 April 2025
Intensive course (in-person) for Levels 1-3
- Monday 11 to Friday 15 August 2025: UK
- Monday 25 to Friday 29 August 2025: Hong Kong
October to November 2025: Trial implementation period to include 2 online training sessions
December 2025: Teaching evaluation
February to June 2026: 4 online training sessions
Location of training
UK
The Royal Ballet School
46 Floral Street
London
WC2E 9DA
Hong Kong
Hong Kong Ballet studios
6/F, S22, 22 Heung Yip Road,
Wong Chuk Hang,
Hong Kong
Australia
The Royal Ballet School is considering running the Affiliate Training and Assessment Programme in Australia 2025. If this is something that you would be interested in applying for, we would love to hear from you. Please register your interest below.
‘Charli has come out of class excited to come home and research and learn. It’s been a really positive experience allowing every child to be independent, creative, expressive individuals’. Parent of an ATAP student
‘The ATAP method has revolutionised my work. I feel much richer in stimuli, ideas, ways to go. Students are very involved, creative… And they improve faster!’ Giulia, Affiliate Teacher
‘A bold, innovative and exciting new program which I believe has the potential to change the way training and assessment is conducted in many private ballet schools throughout the world.’ John Byrne, dance teacher, examiner and director
‘Teaching using the ATAP philosophy has honestly transformed the way I teach. It has given me new creative ideas, more confidence and more than anything else the dancers love the structure of the classes… It really works!’ Linda, Affiliate Teacher
Programme ambassadors
Latest news
If you’re interested in becoming one of our Affiliate Teachers, register below to receive news and updates about the programme. We’re particularly keen to hear from you if you’re not based in the UK and may be interested in a future Intensive Training week held in your area.
Are you a parent and wondering what the benefits are for your child?