BSAC

 

After careful consideration the team has come up with some changes to the exam which will benefit both First Class Diver Candidates and the BSAC.

 

During the review the team considered many aspects relating to the exam. It was recognised that the positioning of the First Class Diver award has been increasingly unclear for the members and BSAC over the last ten years with the increasing diversification of Diving as a sport.

 

The First Class Diver Award has always been about excellent diving skills and ability and the related seamanship skills, coupled with the ability to run diving operations and manage diving. However the group recognised that award needs to move forward and reflect branch diving and other types of diving which has moved on a lot – to incorporate all types of diving (including rebreathers, marine & archaeological surveys and photo/video).

 

The working group and the National Diving Committee believe that depth is not the only way to introduce challenging diving and that whilst some good divers can very adequately drop down a shot line, swim around on time, and return up the shotline to conduct beautiful controlled decompression – the very same divers may struggle to complete a drift dive at 10 metres. The First Class Diver Award needs to recognise that there are many ways to the top rung on the BSAC diving qualification ladder and that depth is not the only one.

 

With this in mind the FCD Working Group and the National Diving Committee has made the following changes to FCD. The practical examination for First Class Diver will with immediate effect revert back to the format of a two day examination.

 

The elements of examination are over the two days and cover twelve different criteria, two of which are the assessment dives for day 1 and day 2.

 

The updated assessment notes will allow a number of different types of assessment at First Class Diver:

 

 

The format is designed to allow for assessment of Practical Diving and related skills beyond Advanced Diver and not any perceived reliance of depth or covering every practical discipline. Consequently, the practical examination for First Class Diver is not to be an examination requiring depth dependency.

 

In light of the assessment being skills dependent the pre-requisite requirement of candidates having either the Extended Range Diver Qualification or evidence of a large number of dives below the 30 metres is with immediate effect removed. This pre-requisite is seen by the National Diving Committee as no longer relevant and could act as a barrier to some potential candidates from submitting themselves for examination.

 

The changes are designed to encourage and promote a more consistent assessment of candidates’ skills over the two days of the practical exam and also reflect the increasing diversity of divers’ skills and interests.

 

 

In summary the National Diving Committee believe the changes will allow candidates a clearer and fairer assessment of their skills. The new format allows examiners to assess the ability of candidates over two full days rather than squeezing the assessment in to a smaller time frame. The examination can now reflect the wide variety of diving BSAC divers are doing.

Most important of all, the National Diving Committee believe the exam will be highly enjoyable, and for those that pass, will recognise what it takes to be a modern BSAC First Class Diver.