-
Hiya, how you getting on with your adult training with Bikeworks? There are plenty of providers in London and the going rate is £20ph, although it's been this rate for over a decade. A real terms paycut of 30/40%.
Many providers will pay lower than this though and there's been a race to the bottom with instructors being the ultimate victim - providers fighting over contracts offering it cheaper based on lower hourly rates for instructors. We unionised back in 2019 mainly due to the retraining, stagnant pay and worsening conditions, and despite most of our existence being under COVID rule, we've been able to achieve so much, I'd encourage you to join the instructors union https://iwgb.org.uk/en/page/iwgb-cycling-instructors-branch and organise your workplaces for improved working conditions. You may have experienced some cancellations in your work that may or may not have been covered. We really admire the islington cancellation model. Both @WillMelling and I work for Islington where we get 100% pay for group and school courses cancelled within 2 weeks or 50% if cancelled within 4 weeks. The cancellation terms are also much better for 1-1s and there's admin pay all @£20ph. Cycle Confident pay £18 per hour for 1-1s in 2 hours blocks. no admin pay and 24 h cancellation policy. It's crazy! CC pays £15 for school work if your provisionally qualified and £20 for lead £18 for co if you're fully qualified.
There are plenty of options out there, don't settle for too little and know that cycling instructors are in high demand at the moment so you can be picky.
If you'd like to know more, just ask.
Suami
Chair, IWGB Cycling Instructors Branch
srocha-
Thanks a lot for the detailed reply! That's all good info, thanks. Good to see the unionisation. I'm a member of the IWW from my Deliveroo days up north but the IWGB seem to be a lot more active in London.
My job isn't purely instruction based, I manage a group of van drivers and cargo bike riders and take care of all of the training involved with that. It sounds like a benefit of that is guaranteed hours and no cancellations.
I still need to get a lot more experience before I have a crack at my post course assessment. Gill from Bikeworks has been quite helpful but if anyone needs any assistance, ideally training adults at level 3, I'd be keen to get the hours under my belt!
ltc
Near Crystal Palace. Happy to travel within reason though!