BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The education of physiotherapists is disengaged from social control, which is one of the principles of the Brazilian public healthcare system. Social control ensures the participation of the population in the planning and monitoring of the public healthcare system and depends on qualified professionals. Thus, the aim of the present study was to investigate how training in social control occurs in undergraduate physiotherapy courses at public higher education institutions in the state of São Paulo, Brazil. METHODS: Five teaching staff members were interviewed and six teaching projects were analyzed from a total sample of six public higher education institutions in the state of São Paulo using a qualitative method. RESULTS: The physiotherapy curriculum at Brazilian higher education institutions is based on the national curricular guidelines. However, these guidelines have gaps in the curricular guidance related to social control in terms of ensuring consistent training throughout the course, practical experiences, and a sufficient workload. To overcome barriers to training in social control, there is a need for the qualification of teaching staff, the adoption of skill-based education, the strengthening of social control, and a human resource policy favoring the hiring of physiotherapists in the Brazilian public healthcare system. DISCUSSION: Training in social control in physiotherapy courses at higher education institutions remains a challenge, considering the complex skills involved and the requirement of curricular changes. The present study only analyzed public educational institutions in the state of São Paulo, Brazil.