Becoming a Cycle Trainer

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This qualification is a 2-phase accreditation.

Phase 1- Attend a 4-day training course delivered by an Instructor Training Provider * where you will study teaching and communication, risk management and the riding syllabus. You will practice teaching fellow attendees on the course. Following successful completion of the 4-day course you will be awarded a provisional accreditation (NSIP). You will be able to begin working with this qualification

Phase 2- When you gave gained some experience and possibly had some mentoring, you will then be assessed in a Post Course Assessment (PCA) which should take place within 6 months of the initial course. If you are successful you will fully accredited with the Department for Transport.

*The department for Transport is currently tweaking this system and setting up Instructor Training Organisations (ITOs) to replace the ITPs. This should happen by the end of the summer,

The price varies between each Instructor Training Provider (ITP) since the scheme operates as a free market.

The cost of the initial 4-day course will be between £400-£500 and there will be an additional cost of between £100-£200 for each Post Course Assessment (PCA). (Its worth noting that people require 2 PCAs on average to complete their accreditation.)

The good news is that there are grants available, bursaries of £300 are awarded to anyone who passes the 4-day course and demonstrates serious intent to work as an instructor. This is because the DfT wish to build capacity in this newish sector.

You can download a bursary and application form here

Sorry Will, deleted post and moved to the outside of London thread. I wouldn't think that I'd qualify for the bursary, but could look into local funding.

You will require professional indemnity insurance, a first aid appointed person qualification (one day course) and an enhanced CRB check if you plan to train young people or vulnerable adults.

If you get a job with an established cycle training provider they will probably arrange these for you. If you plan to work independently you will need to sort this out yourself.

The ITP you trained with will be able to advise you about where to obtain these.

You will also need to be passionate about cycling have great communication skills and be a really confident cyclist

And a helmet; I think many if not most schools now ask Trainers to wear helmets?

You will not be reassessed formally.

If you work for a cycle training scheme (Bikeability scheme) you will be mentored and appraised annually like with many other jobs.

From next year every instructor will need to take a minimum of 3 hours of professional development training (CPD) from the Instructor Training Organisation that they belong to. This could be an additional course (such as bike maintenance training, refresher training, Special Needs course, mentor training, cycling with games) or it could be a mentored session with some feedback.

And a helmet; I think many if not most schools now ask Trainers to wear helmets?

Not the case Will.

Some Local authorites (not the majority) require the young people in schools to wear helmets as do a few schools and very few LAs require instructors to wear them.

The National Standard position on helmets is that of choice. The belief is that training someone is effective at minimising the risk of a crash, and that it is riskier to refuse to train someone because they don't have a helmet. Instruvtors do need to find out what a young person's parents or guardians choice is and enforce their choice.

(In fact National Standard cycle training exists to promote cycling. Any activity that requires personal protective equipment could be construed as dangerous therefore helmet wearing makes it look as if cycling is dangerous and scary and may put people off cycling)

As an instructor you will learn how to fit a helmet correctly (it is amazing how many helmet wearers don't know how fit their helmet and ride with an ill-fitted helmet which is riskier than no helmet)

As an instructor you are only required to wear a helmet if you work for a scheme which requires this.

Sorry Will, deleted post and moved to the outside of London thread. I wouldn't think that I'd qualify for the bursary, but could look into local funding.

Andy, the bursary is available across the whole of England and (now Wales I think) not only in london

Yeah sorry, Isle of Man so not UK based.

BC also do bikeability courses. It becomes a slightly shorter course through this route if you are already a L2 or above cycling coach.
http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/travel/article/ct_Cycle_Training_Home

And a helmet; I think many if not most schools now ask Trainers to wear helmets?

Not the case Will.

Some Local authorites (not the majority) require the young people in schools to wear helmets as do a few schools and very few LAs require instructors to wear them.

Sustrans' BikeIt features helmet compulsion for the trainer, I think. Is that correct?

It is correct though there is a little dissent with sustrans. British cycling bikeability scheme insits on helmets for trainers too

Sustrans' BikeIt features helmet compulsion for the trainer, I think. Is that correct?

As with a lot of things with Sustrans, there isnt a hard and fast line, we work with real world situations, which requires flexibility.

To make things realistic what I do, and I cant speak for 55 people, is always wear a helmet in the course of my duties. Give advice on helmet use, and be realistic about it, i.e tell children there is no point in us forcing wearing them, as we know often they take them off around the corner from school, but if you are wearing, show correct fitting- which is often half the problem with kids helmets anyway, and encourage wearing them (using the pros example has made this a lot easier over the last couple of years) So thats trainers.

Im being careful here, as it isnt the Bike It officers role to deliver Bikeability per se, Bike It staff work with providers both private and Local Authority based to help co-ordinate Bikeability training, and, where required deliver training to the officers individual level of qualification.

Trainees,
What happens in reality is that different providers of training have different rules,
so for example Bournemouth Council might hypothetically say 'no helmet, no training' whilst Poole again hypothetically would be flexible and allow training without.
So thats for kids and bikeability.

The official line on helmet use from Sustrans is 'Pro- choice anti- compulsion' which covers the position taken considering evidence on helmet wearing.
The evidence says that forcing helmet use is counterproductive to the benefits gained from cycling-hence the above position. Im sure its all on the website www.sustrans.org.uk

My own outlook also would be to advise reading www.cyclehelmets.org.uk contains the full evidence, and to any serious enquirers into this extremely interesting subject read up here to prepare for debates with adults.

Next subject, moving on please.

Agree mf that there is no point in debating helmets yet again, however i don't think you reflected sustrans true stance on helmets in your last post with your comment that they are 'Pro-choice anti compulsion'. This is the case for adults.

Sustrans 'strongly recommends' helmets for children (rather than extending this pro-choice to parents about their own children) and states this position a number of time on the website: eg here .

Sustrans also sells a range of helmets under the heading 'safety' in the online shop

so fairly consistantly inconsistant then. glad we got that sorted.its a beautiful day Im cycling to Bedford.enjoy your rides.

Just to qualify exactly, last friday, I led level 1 session with 13 kids 9/10 years old/ 9 of them didnt have helmets, the above advice applied.
and,
somehow Sustrans are always looked at for some sort of final word on cycling, which is wierd, no one actually asked for that, a quick look at the website would reveal the range of work that the charity does and people dont ask CTC, LCC or CTUK for a final word, seem to have become known as 'the cycling charity' which is far from all of what goes on.
Finally, Bikeability training for all staff has only very recently commenced, so by admission there is plenty to do.

How many of those parents wore helmets as children?

When I was a kid, no one wore helmets. Those of us who survived can choose for ourselves whether to wear them or not; we have the ability and right to assume the risk if we wish to. Assuming that risk for your child is a very different matter.

How many of those parents wore helmets as children?

that is a very good question.
also, how many parents insist on children having helmets.then...ride (badly) with them helmetless themselves.(rhetorical)

I'm not sure if it was answered.

I presume fair amount of work is with minors, right?

What about the CRB check? As I haven't applied for the naturalisation yet, I'd have to send off my query to the Register back home and they don't do interwebz and the application process is awkward and lenghtly.

You need a CRB check to work with children or vulnerable adults. The process can be pretty lengthy here too. If you are working with an organisation they will arrange the CRB check for you though possibly not if you are a foreign national.

Make sure you can state a permanent address for each period described on the CRB application. My mother-in-law (with many years of experience working with vulnerable adults) had a sort of nomadic period, living in/trading out of a camper van for about 5 years, not so long ago.

For some reason, the CRB people took ages to get their heads around this situation. It failed to tick certain boxes, and there was a lengthy to-ing and fro-ing before the green light was given (she was returning to the carework sector).

In their book she was probably on the run or something.

Well, I think I need that CRB anyway. Will see what's my options.

Someone please train me! I'm ready.

It's bit confusing, as I'm not sure where to go.
I've spoken to Digger today, but he'll be away until mid July - I'm thinking about doing C&G in Bike Maintenance though BikeWorks.

Also, any of you guys know about any volunteering which could in return teach me something to do with cycling related industry? I think I'm ready.

As for the CRB, I've been over here for over ten years. Is it an extensive search or the last 5 years? It would be silly to do the CRB in Poland where I don't even have fixed address and all the crimes since 1989 would be committed in the UK (if any)?

cytech is regarded a lot better than the C&G course. I don't know if it costs more or not.