The Royal Ballet School opened applications for its 2025 Affiliate Training and Assessment Programme (ATAP) on 6 January.
As always, this year, the private and recreational dance training programme will support dance instructors in becoming Affiliate Teachers.
These teachers will train with the school and become accredited to support young people in their own sessions.
This means young people don’t have to attend the school in London to receive Royal Ballet School training.
Affiliate Teachers provide young people with holistic ballet lessons that prioritise high-quality training over examinations.
This approach offers an alternative to traditional training models, which follow a set syllabus for examination.
However, students can train with an Affiliate Teacher while following a recreational dance organisation’s traditional syllabus.
Here’s everything you need to know about ATAP 2025, including how to apply.
How the affiliate training and assessment programme works
Teachers have plenty of freedom to weave their own teaching style with ATAP.
They develop the skills to show students “how” to learn choreography, repertoire, performance skills, and classical ballet vocabulary.
Teachers also learn the school’s Model for Optimal Dance Training, which blends movement studies with contextual studies.
Movement studies cover foundation movement skills, generic movement skills, qualitative movement skills, and ballet technique and vocabulary.
Meanwhile, contextual studies cover repertoire, choreography, creative tasks, and art form appreciation.
These build on movement studies, allowing students to learn about the art form as a whole rather than focusing only on technique.
Young dancers develop their understanding of the language of ballet. They connect their skills with the diversity of the art form across past and current repertoire.
Assessing students
ATAP offers three training levels for primary-school-age students (Levels 1-3).
It also offers three optional training levels for secondary-school-age students (Levels 4-6).
Each level has a recommended age band ranging from 5-15+.
Teachers create and conduct age-appropriate assessments against Royal Ballet School criteria.
They film assessments and submit them via the School’s secure platform for moderation.
The School then provides ongoing guidance on monitoring student assessment results.
Maintaining affiliation
To maintain their affiliation, teachers must submit at least 20 student assessments every two years.
Each year, they must also:
● Pay an annual membership fee.
● Partake in three days of Royal Ballet School continuing professional development training.
● Provide a DBS, safeguarding policies, and insurance and legal certificates.
There is a refresher course available for teachers who don’t meet the criteria to maintain their affiliation.
Support for affiliate yeachers
The Royal Ballet School supports Affiliate teachers in several ways, offering:
A resource-packed digital library
Teachers receive exclusive access to a digital library holding more than 150 training videos, creative practice examples, and session notes on choreographic exploration and development.
Alongside the videos, there are also supporting documents to help teachers with lesson planning and marketing their dance businesses.
Professional development sessions
Teachers receive three professional development sessions per year as part of their affiliation membership.
During these sessions, School staff guide teachers to help them progress in their practice.
Whether it’s pedagogy, advice on programme content and delivery, guidance on the assessment process, or business strategy, experts are on hand to assist.
An enrichment calendar
Beyond the ATAP curriculum, teachers can participate in various enrichment activities and events that take place online and in person.
These workshops and Q&A sessions enhance the training journey with additional insights and opportunities to connect with other dance teachers.
Educational sessions aside, teachers receive Royal Ballet ticket offers and invitations to attend School events.
Teachers can also claim special offers on the School’s seminars, webinars, and other educational programmes.
These include Primary Steps on Demand and the Intensive Courses on Demand.
Supportive online community
Affiliate Teachers receive an invitation to join the Affiliate Teachers Directory.
They can also join a private Facebook community, where they can connect with like-minded teachers across cohorts.
Frederick Ashton repertoire
The Frederick Ashton Foundation has partnered with The Royal Ballet School to provide Ashton’s repertoire for teachers to study.
As The Royal Ballet’s founder choreographer, Ashton’s work is still in high rotation in company repertoire today.
Picture credit: Free to use from English National Ballet/Laurent-Liotardo
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