What do the different qualification Levels in massage mean?

• Level 3 is equivalent to a school GCSE and it teaches you to give a routine massage treatment for sport, relaxation, beauty or similar.
• Level 4 is equivalent to a school  level or university entry standard and this teaches some more advanced technique which can help in the recovery of common injuries.
• Level 5 is equivalent to a university under-graduate and only on this level will you learn how to assess, treat and rehabilitate a wide range of injuries. 

All awarding bodies (BTEC, ITEC, VTCT, etc) have to use the same criteria when approving qualification Levels and so they must all be equivalent to each other. An L4 qualification at one body cannot be equivalent to an L5 at another.

Some training providers offers a pathway up through the grades but this means you learn anatomy and massage at a very basic L3 which is not sufficiently for the clinical skills needed at L5. An integrated Level 5 qualification teaches the foundation subjects at the right clinical level needed for the advanced training to follow.

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