How to plan a BJJ class schedule

To plan a BJJ class schedule, start with the number of classes you can fill and coach well, usually 7-16 adult classes a week. Put fundamentals classes on fixed evenings, mix gi and no-gi, add at least one open mat, and use your attendance numbers to decide when to add, move or cut a class.

This guide uses the timetables of 194 BJJ gyms from our price checks in the UK and the US. It covers how many classes to run, which types of class, the split between gi and no-gi, open mats, class times and length, and how to change your BJJ timetable without losing members.

How many classes a week should a BJJ gym run?

The median BJJ gym runs 10-12 adult classes a week: 12 in our UK data and 10 in the US. Half of the gyms run between 7 and 16 classes a week.

Adult BJJ classes on the timetables of 58 UK gyms and 136 US gyms, counted from each gym's own website on 13 November 2026.

Gyms in big cities run more classes than gyms in small towns. The median London gym in our data runs about 15 adult classes a week, and the median small-town gym in both countries runs 7.

Start with the classes you can fill. A new gym with 40 members does better with six full classes than with twelve half-empty ones, because a busy room gives everyone good partners. Add classes when the ones you have are regularly close to full.

The number of classes also changes what members get for their money. In our US price check, gyms with 21 or more classes a week charged $1.88 a class, against $6.79 at gyms with six or fewer.

What types of classes should be on a BJJ class schedule?

A BJJ class schedule needs four kinds of class: fundamentals for beginners, all-levels classes, something for experienced members, and open mats. Kids classes, women's classes and competition training come next, when you have the members for them.

• Fundamentals: a set curriculum for white belts, on the same evenings every week. The guide on how to build a BJJ curriculum for white belts covers what to teach.
• All levels: the core of most timetables, where beginners and experienced members train together.
• Advanced or competition: harder rounds and more detailed technique for blue belts and above.
• Open mat: free training with no set lesson, for drilling and rolling.
• Kids and teens: usually in the late afternoon, before the adult classes.
• Women's classes: often once a week, as a way in for women who want to start BJJ.

If you only have one mat and one coach, put the beginners first. A white belt who has a fundamentals class to go to twice a week has a clear reason to keep coming.

How should you split gi and no-gi classes?

Almost every BJJ gym teaches both gi and no-gi. 47 of the 49 UK gyms and 82 of the 104 US gyms whose timetables showed the split run both, and no-gi makes up about 40-45% of the adult classes at the median gym.

Gyms whose timetables showed gi and no-gi classes separately, checked on 13 November 2026.

No-gi-only gyms are more common in the US, where 10th Planet and other no-gi schools are bigger. Ask your members which they prefer, and look at attendance by style before you change the split. White Belt Club's guide to gi vs no-gi BJJ explains the differences from the student's side, and is worth sending to new members who ask.

A no-gi beginner course is one way to lower the cost of starting. Art of Ground Games in Helsinki runs its beginner course in no-gi, so nobody has to buy a uniform before they know they like BJJ.

Should you run a BJJ open mat?

Yes, most gyms do: about three quarters of the gyms in our data run at least one BJJ open mat a week, 41 of 55 in the UK and 92 of 118 in the US. The median gym runs one.

An open mat gives experienced members time to roll and work on their own game, which takes pressure off the regular classes. Art of Ground Games runs a lot of open training, and its founder, Vann "Jungi" Nikkan, explains why it helps the beginners too:

What makes that work is the other half of the schedule: we run a lot of open training and members can use the gyms around the clock, so the experienced people have all the time they want to work on their own game. They do not need the class to be about them.

Vann "Jungi" Nikkan, founder of Art of Ground Games (full interview)

Weekend mornings suit open mats, because members have more time and visitors from other gyms can come. Ask a coach or a senior member to be on the mat, so new members have someone to roll with safely.

When should BJJ classes be on the timetable?

Put most of your adult BJJ classes on weekday evenings, after work. Add early morning or lunchtime classes when you have members who can't come in the evening, and keep weekends for open mats and longer sessions.

• Evenings, about 18:00-21:00: when most working adults can train. Two classes back to back let members pick one or stay for both.
• Mornings and lunchtimes: for shift workers, parents and people who work near the gym. These classes are often smaller.
• Late afternoon: kids and teens, between school and the adult classes.
• Weekends: open mats, competition training and seminars.

Keep fundamentals classes on the same days and times every week. Beginners build the habit around a fixed slot, and a moving fundamentals class is easy to miss.

How long should a BJJ class be?

Run BJJ classes for 60 or 90 minutes. An hour fits more easily around work and lets you run two classes in an evening, and 90 minutes leaves more time for rolling.

I'd keep fundamentals classes to an hour and put the longer classes later in the evening for experienced members. Whatever you choose, use the same structure every time: a warm-up, technique, drilling, positional sparring and, when the class is ready for it, a few rounds of rolling. The white belt curriculum guide has a template for a fundamentals class.

How do you know when to add or cut a class?

Use attendance to decide. Add a class when an existing one is regularly close to full, and move or cut a class that stays quiet for a couple of months, after you've asked the members who do come.

Look at three numbers for each class on your timetable:

1. Average attendance: how many people come to that class each week.
2. Fill rate: booked places as a share of the class capacity.
3. Who comes: beginners, experienced members or both, which tells you what the class is really for.

Say your Tuesday 19:00 all-levels class averages 28 people on a mat that fits 30, and Thursday 12:00 averages 4. (These numbers are made up for the example.) Split Tuesday into a fundamentals class and an advanced class, and ask the Thursday regulars whether an earlier or later time would suit them better.

In Matpass, the attendance report shows the class fill rate and the busiest classes by weekday and time, such as "Fundamentals, Mon 18:00", with the average number of check-ins. It also breaks attendance down by gi and no-gi, and shows the fill rate for each instructor.

How do you change a BJJ timetable without losing members?

Tell members about a timetable change at least two weeks ahead, explain why, and keep the classes beginners rely on in the same place. Most members plan their week around two or three fixed classes, so a change to those classes needs the most care.

• Change one thing at a time, so you can see what happened to attendance.
• Talk to the regulars of a class before you move or cut it.
• Try a new class for six to eight weeks before you decide whether to keep it.
• Update the timetable everywhere at the same time: your website, Google and your booking system.

In Matpass, you set up the weekly timetable once with each class's instructors, room, capacity, level and gi or no-gi style, and change a class for one week or for all the weeks that follow. Members who booked a class get an email when its start time moves or when the class is cancelled, and the public schedule on your website updates straight away.

Key takeaways

• The median BJJ gym runs 10-12 adult classes a week, and half run 7-16.
• Start with the classes you can fill, and add more when existing classes are regularly close to full.
• Every BJJ class schedule needs fundamentals, all-levels classes, something for experienced members and an open mat.
• Almost every gym teaches both gi and no-gi, with no-gi at about 40-45% of the classes.
• Put most adult classes on weekday evenings, and keep fundamentals on the same slots every week.
• Use average attendance and fill rate for each class, for example from the attendance report in Matpass, to decide what to change.
• Announce timetable changes at least two weeks ahead, and change one thing at a time.

Frequently asked questions

How many times a week do BJJ students train?

White Belt Club, which I also run, recommends two sessions a week for beginners and three to four for blue and purple belts in its guide on how often you should train BJJ. Plan enough fundamentals classes that a beginner can come twice a week.

Should beginners and advanced students train in the same class?

Beginners and advanced students can train together in all-levels classes, as long as beginners also have their own fundamentals classes. Pair new members with experienced partners who roll with control.

Do you need a separate kids timetable?

Yes, kids classes need their own slots, usually in the late afternoon or on weekend mornings. Split them by age, such as 4-6, 7-10 and 11-14, because the groups need very different classes.

How many people should be in a BJJ class?

Set the capacity from your mat space and your coaches. I'd count how many pairs can roll at the same time without running into each other, and set the capacity at twice that number.