Have you already got your Sports Diver qualification and do you want to plan and lead on dives, organise and manage groups of divers and develop rescue management skills?

Dive Leader

As a BSAC Dive Leader you are are becoming an expert in your field of dive leadership. You will also be competent in planning dives for groups of divers and managing diving on the day including, if necessary, managing rescue situations. The Dive Leader training is a mix of classroom-based and practical lessons that will give you the confidence to plan, lead and manage dives, and deal with emergencies. Leading a dive will develop your enjoyment, confidence and experience as a diver. After qualifying, and if you wish, depth can be built progressively to a maximum of 50 metres. Dive Leaders are also eligible to progress to Open Water Instructor, with further training.

The club can help you in getting your Dive Leader certification so please contact our Training Officer if you are interested in this qualification.

Please note that all our training is run by club volunteers who are qualified as instructors so you’re unlikely to find cheaper training anywhere else. That also means that the training, although serious, is done in a friendly and relaxed environment.

Skills Development Courses

Provided there is demand and an instructor available to run a skills development course we are more than happy to organise training courses. These are called Skills Development Courses (SDCs) and there is a wide range of topics covered including safety, seamanship, decompression and many more. The BSAC Skills Development page lists all current courses.

The club has its own rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) with the opportunity to learn boat handling and helping you become a certified BSAC diver coxswain. Whilst developing your seamanship skills VHF radio courses are often available, with enough interest from members expressed.

As a special service to divers from other agencies who decide to join BSAC we offer an annual course to enable them to dive using enriched air (Nitrox) if their qualification does not already include it. BSAC divers learn to dive with enriched air as part of their standard training. This course costs very little and is particularly useful if you plan to go on a longer dive trip and you would like to reduce nitrogen loading.

If you are interested in any other training we’d love to hear from you. Other people in the club will probably be interested, too. Please get in touch with our Training Officer.

Crossing over from another agency

You can join BSAC and keep diving within the limits of your qualification without having to do further training however you are encouraged to attend two lectures (see below) to help you understand the BSAC structure, and a crossover session in the pool, where we demonstrate some of the techniques specific to BSAC.

If you intend to continue your training with BSAC then your existing diving qualification is recognised as a starting point in the BSAC qualification system according to an equivalency table.

Join BSAC with an equivalent BSAC grade

You need to attend two short lectures which present the BSAC structure and expectations as well as the decompression tables used by the organisation.

You can also apply for an optional equivalency card from BSAC. Please note this being an equivalency card not a qualification card. For example, this means that unless you were previously qualified to dive with Nitrox the BSAC equivalency does not give you the Nitrox qualification that comes with all BSAC qualifications.

Note that the BSAC qualification equivalency table is fairly strict with regards to rescue skills and theory knowledge. Please do not be disappointed if your equivalent BSAC qualification appears to be less advanced than the one in your original agency. Please locate your qualification in the BSAC equivalency tables for divers from PADI, SSI, SSAC & SAA.

Continue your dive training with BSAC

Your equivalent BSAC qualification provides a starting point if you want to continue your training to obtain the next BSAC qualification. This is where the equivalency table plays its strength. We can order a cross-over training pack that ensures you learn all the skills your fellow club divers have already learned in their BSAC training so your knowledge matches theirs. The cross-over training typically comprises both theoretical and practical training sessions which we will usually be able to organise as part of our regular dive expeditions and training trips.

Example: you’re a PADI Open Water or a PADI Advanced Open Water diver. Your equivalent BSAC qualification is BSAC Ocean Diver in both cases. You want to continue your diver training with BSAC. The next qualification is the BSAC Sport Diver. Our Advanced training officer would provide you the Sport Diver Crossover Pack. We usually run a Sports Diver course in Hilary term (January and February) which is suitable for crossover students.

Getting a BSAC qualification by crossing over is quite affordable. Please contact our Training Officer to discuss details and get an estimate of the costs.

Instructor Training

Do you feel like getting involved in teaching and going down the instructor route? You can do this whether you are already a PADI Divemaster or if you have obtained your BSAC Sports Diver qualification.

We actively encourage members to do so. Teaching is a different aspect of diving which is very rewarding. As a university diving club we are particularly grateful to our instructors and are always in demand of more instructors. We subsidise the instructor training considerably by funding up to a third of the instructor training course fees and club credit for your future membership fees.

Below is a brief description to give you an idea of what’s involved in the progression to instructor level in the BSAC system but if you’re interested please email the Training Officer who will provide you some guidance and get you in touch with the relevant contacts.

All BSAC instructor training courses are coordinated by the BSAC Headquarters. After you have completed your Instructor Foundation Course (IFC) and later your Open Water Instructor Course (OWIC), you practice your teaching under supervision within your club. As soon as you are comfortable with your new teaching skills you are encouraged to take the exams to become a qualified instructor — the Theory Instructor Exam (TIE) Practical Instructor Exam (PIE). In practice, in order to achieve the Open Water Instructor (OWI) grade, you need to attend two teaching events and to pass two exams:

OWI = (IFC + OWIC) + (TIE + PIE)

If you are qualified with another agency (e.g. PADI) then you can still become a BSAC instructor. If you are already qualified as an instructor with another agency then you can easily cross-over to teach BSAC courses.

Instructor Foundation Course (IFC)

This is a weekend course which teaches you the techniques of instructing and how to teach. Think along the lines of a try-dive for potential instructors This is open to qualified Sports Divers – or equivalent – and above and will allow you to teach both the theory lectures and also in the pool under supervision, which we can give you plenty of opportunity to do. This is a really fun course and there is no pressure to go on further courses towards instructing. After this course you get some practice by teaching under supervision in the club.

Open Water Instructor Course (OWIC)

This one-day course takes the teaching skills that you have perfected by training in the pool and helps you to transfer them to teaching in open water. This is open to Dive Leaders and above who have done the IFC and will allow you to teach in open water under supervision. This is also normally the only course that other agency instructors need to take.

Theory Instructor Exam (TIE) and Practical Instructor exam (PIE)

These are the assessments for teaching both the theory and practical parts of the courses. In total they take a day but can be done separately if you want.

Please contact our Training Officer who will be very happy to answer any questions and get you started.