Canoe Wales is the national governing body for paddle sport in Wales. We:

  • Manage the National White Water Centre which is located on the river Tryweryn in Bala, North Wales
  • Represent the interests of our club and individual members
  • Advocate on behalf of the interests of the sport in Wales
  • Provide coaching and development programmes from local to international level
  • Stage national and international competitions.

Pathways for old scheme BCU coaches

This page aims to show you as a coach qualified under the old scheme, how you can still progress up the coaching ladder or transfer your qualifications to the new UKCC endorsed BCU coaching scheme. If you are unclear on what each of the new awards involve and the remits associated with them, please see the coaching scheme overview page.

Why Transfer?

As a qualified BCU coach, your pre-UKCC qualifications will continue to be recognised by Canoe Wales and the BCU provided you remain current (details of what this involves can be found here). So, why might you wish to transfer?

  • Opportunity to develop your ‘how to coach’ skills alongside the ‘what to coach’
  • Opportunity to coach in a variety of disciplines
  • Parity with coaches in many other sports in the UK, allowing the transfer between coaches of different sports
  • Counts as your coach update
  • Personal development; the UKCC endorsed awards may provide you with the opportunity to develop certain aspects of your skill set
  • Increased remit or scope; for example the BCU UKCC Level 1 Certificate in Coaching Paddlesport, qualifies coaches to work with paddlers in any craft
  • Increased recognition: the UKCC endorsed awards meet nationally set standards for coaching and consequently are likely to be valued higher by employers and clients
  • You may want your skills recognised on the same scale as new coaches coming through

The choice to transfer lies entirely with you as a coach. The transfer process will involve an element of assessment against the new assessment criteria, taking into consideration your previous experience and qualifications. You will not lose any other BCU coaching qualifications that you may hold, and if you transfer to an award of lower remit, you will still be able to work within your old remit, using your old award.

So what can I do?

The transfer routes available to you are based on your existing qualifications:
I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 1 coach
I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 2 Trainee coach
I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 2 coach
I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 3 Trainee coach
I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 3 coach
I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 3 coach (or higher) in another discipline
I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 4 coach
I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 5 aspirant or BCU Level 5 coach

Please note: The pathways for BCU Level 3 and BCU Level 4 coaches are PROPOSALS ONLY and are still open to change while the syllabus and pre-requisites of BCU UKCC Level 3 are confirmed. We advise you to keep an eye on this website, the BCU website and CoDe to see how it may affect you.

I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 1 coach

You can attend a one-day Level 1 Transfer to become a BCU UKCC Level 1 coach, as shown below:

Level 1 transfer

As well as the old BCU Level 1 award, boat based candidates must hold the new generic 2 star or the old 2 star in both canoe and kayak. Bank based candidates are not required to hold the any star awards.

I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 2 Trainee coach

Option 1:
Old scheme BCU Level 2 Assessments are still available until October 2010, so you are still able to complete the BCU Level 2 award, as long as your training course was less than 3 years ago.

Option 2:
Attend a one-day Level 1 Transfer to become BCU UKCC Level 1 coach, as shown below:

Level 1 transfer

Boat based candidates must hold the new generic 2 star or the old 2 star in both canoe and kayak. Bank based candidates are not required to hold any star awards.

Option 3:
You can enter the new scheme at Level 2, by attending the four-day Level 2 Training. For details of what the BCU UKCC Level 2 involves, follow this link.

BCU UKCC Level 2 from BCU Level 2 trainee

I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 2 coach

If you hold a new 2 star (or old 2 star in both canoe and kayak) and a 3 star in any discipline, you can attend a Level 2 Transfer course. As per any Level 2 Trainee, you will then be required to attend a 3-hour Foundation module (or hold your 3 star in two disciplines) before attending a Level 2 Assessment.

Level 2 Transfer

I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 3 Trainee coach

Option 1:
Old scheme BCU Level 3 Assessments are available until December 2010, so you are still able to complete the BCU Level 3 award, as long as your training course was less than 3 years ago.

Option 2:
If you hold a new 2 star (or old 2 star in both canoe and kayak) and a 3 star in any discipline, you can attend a Level 2 Transfer course. As per any Level 2 Trainee, you will then be required to attend a 3-hour Foundation module (or hold your 3 star in two disciplines) before attending a Level 2 Assessment.

Level 2 Transfer

I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 3 coach

The pathways for BCU Level 3 and BCU Level 4 coaches are PROPOSALS ONLY and are still open to change while the syllabus and pre-requisites of BCU UKCC Level 3 are confirmed. We advise you to keep an eye on this website, the BCU website and CoDe to see how it may affect you.

Option 1:
If you attend a BCU Level 2 Transfer course, you would be a BCU UKCC Level 2 Trainee, completing the coaching theory pre-requisites for BCU UKCC Level 3 Training.

Option 2:
If you attend a Coaching Processes course, you may be able to use the APL Process to gain access to the new BCU UKCC Level 3 Training.

Option 3:
If you hold a 5 star in the discipline you are coaching, hold a 4 star in another discipline (old or new) and have attended a Coaching Processes course, you can progress to the BCU Level 5 Development Programme.

Please note: if you have little experience of coaching in advanced conditions we recommend picking up much of the BCU Level 5 coaching theory by attending the new BCU UKCC Level 3 Training course and consolidating your coaching in moderate conditions. You could then progress to BCU Level 5 Training or BCU UKCC Level 3 Advanced Water [proposed], if you wished to apply the theory to more advanced scenarios.)

I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 3 coach (or higher) in another discipline

Option 1:
If you already hold a BCU Level 3 award in one discipline and wish to coach in another discipline in which you have proficiency proved by a 4 star (old or new), you can apply to Nigel Midgley (National Development Officer) via the APL process and go directly to a BCU Level 3 assessment in that second discipline.

Option 2:
If you are a BCU Level 3 coach (or higher) with a new 4 Star Leader award in a second discipline, you can access the BCU Moderate Water Endorsement (one day of training and one day of assessment) in that second discipline. In order to access the Moderate Water Endorsement training, you should attend a Level 2 Transfer or show that you have suffient experience in both a single-bladed and a double-bladed discipline by applying to Nigel Midgley (National Development Officer) using the APL process.

Level 3 to MWE

I am an ‘old scheme’ BCU Level 4 coach

Option 1:
Old Level 4s should have direct access to BCU UKCC Level 3 Training.

Option 2:
A Level 4 coach with a 4 star (old or new) in an alternative discipline can progress to the BCU Level 5 Development Programme.

(Please note: if you have little experience of coaching in advanced conditions it would be worthwhile getting much of the Level 5 coaching theory by attending the new BCU UKCC Level 3 Training course and consolidating your coaching in moderate conditions. You could then progress to Level 5 Training or BCU UKCC Level 3 Advanced Water [proposed], if you wished to apply the theory to more advanced scenarios.)

I am an ‘old scheme’ Aspirant BCU Level 5 or BCU Level 5 coach

There are no plans to stop or change the BCU Level 5 Award.