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What Happened to the RYS 200 & 500?

As part of the Next Generation of Yoga Alliance, we’re revisiting our Policies to determine where there’s room for improvement. In our period of discovery, we realized that the definition and administration of our 300-hour advanced teacher training Standards could be more clear and consistent.

Former RYS 200 & 500s now hold two designations: RYS 200 and RYS 300 (effective December 2013).

We recognized that our previous Registered Yoga School (RYS®) designations were confusing— the same designation was used to describe schools that offered different combinations of trainings. A RYS 200 & 500 could refer to a school that offered a 200-hour training and a 300-hour advanced training, or it could refer to a school that offered a 200-hour training and a separate 500-hour advanced training. They indicated what level of Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT®) a teacher would be eligible to receive after completing a teacher training training, rather than the number of hours and the type of the training training itself.

To make the designations easier to understand, we changed the nomenclature to RYS 200 and RYS 300.

Previously, a trainee could become a RYT 500 by completing:

  1. A 500-hour teacher training at a RYS 500, or
  2. A 200-hour teacher training with a RYS 200 and a 300-hour teacher training at a RYS 200 & 500

Now, a trainee can become a RYT 500 by completing:

  1. A 500-hour teacher training at a RYS 500, or
  2. A 200-hour teacher training with a RYS 200 and a 300-hour teacher training at a RYS 300

We also discovered that – because of the way the Standards were written – the composition of a 300-hour advanced training was not equivalent to the difference between the 200-hour Standards and 500-hour Standards. This meant that the composition of the training RYT 500s received could be different depending on which teacher training(s) they attended.

RYS 300 Standards are now equal to the RYS 500 MINUS the RYS 200 Standards.

The new 300-hour Standards were revised to be simple: they are equivalent to the difference between the 200-hour and 500-hour Standards. Schools holding or applying for the RYS designation will want to follow the new 300-hour Standards when preparing their syllabus.

*Please note, to be a RYS 300 you must also be a RYS 200 or RYS 500. This is to ensure you have a foundational training that leads to the advanced training (through either a RYS 200 or RYS 500 training).

The new standards allow for more flexibility, with a wider range of elective hours, than the old ones. You can compare the new and old 300-hour standards in this chart.

Here’s a chart showing the current possible designations a RYS could hold:

Registered Yoga School Designations
RYS 200 RYS 300 RYS 500
A RYS 200 is a school that
  • Submits and follows a 200-hour syllabus that meets the Yoga Alliance 200-hour Standards
  • Issues a 200-hour certificate to trainees who complete the teacher training
  • Trainees are eligible to earn the RYT 200 after completing the teacher training
  • Trainees review the 200-hour syllabus and review the RYS 200 when they register with Yoga Alliance
A RYS 300 is a school that
  • Already has a RYS 200 or a RYS 500 in place (schools are not permitted to apply for a RYS 300 unless they are already a RYS 200 or a RYS 500)
  • Submits and follows a 300-hour syllabus that meets the Yoga Alliance 300-hour Standards
  • Issues a 300-hour certificate to trainees who complete the teacher training
  • May or may not accept transfers into the 300-hour teacher training
  • Trainees are eligible to earn the RYT 500 after completing the 300-hour training and a RYS 200 training (can be different schools)
  • Trainees review the 300-hour syllabus and review the RYS 300 when they register with Yoga Alliance
A RYS 500 is a school that
  • Submits and follows a 500-hour syllabus that meets the Yoga Alliance 500-hour Standards
  • Issues a 500-hour certificate to trainees who complete the teacher training
  • Does not accept transfers into the training at the 200-hour mark
  • Does not issue a 200-hour certificate at the 200-hour mark
  • Trainees are eligible to earn the RYT 500 after completing the teacher training
  • Trainees review the 500-hour syllabus and review the RYS 500 when they register with Yoga Alliance

 

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