BSAC

The Open Water Instructor grade requires students to pass three separate elements to complete.

Click here for information on Examination Pass Rates

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 DAVID WAKELAM

Open Water Chief Examiner
The Practical Instructor Exam is a key assessment to becoming a BSAC Open Water Instructor. Practical teaching is often regarded as the central skill of teaching diving and feels more natural to diving instructors than teaching in a classroom environment. By the same token it is the case that training is most appropriate in the environment in which we actually 'go diving' and so I firmly believe that the Practical Assessment should take place in 'Open Water'.
I hope that the guidance below and the links from it will serve to advise all our members of what is involved in the assessment and to ensure that they are successful when taking the exam.

DAVID WAKELAM

Open Water Chief Examiner

Email - owi.chief@bsac.com

The Practical Instructor Exam is a key assessment to becoming a BSAC Open Water Instructor. Practical teaching is often regarded as the central skill of teaching diving and feels more natural to diving instructors than teaching in a classroom environment. By the same token it is the case that training is most appropriate in the environment in which we actually 'go diving' and so I firmly believe that the Practical Assessment should take place in 'Open Water'. I hope that the guidance below and the links from it will serve to advise all our members of what is involved in the assessment and to ensure that they are successful when taking the exam.

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Before the event
Prerequisites
The preparation for a successful examination begins long time before the actual exam and this in effect includes ensuring that you meet the relevant Prerequisites which have provided you with the necessary skills and training for the role of an Instructor (IFC, Dive Leader & OWIC + minimum age of 18).

Are you ready?
The next step is to decide if you are ready to take the exam. In theory this would appear to be difficult for you to judge but you have been given the skills necessary to assess your own performance and can call on the advice of others within your branch and the Coaching Scheme to advise you too. You might also use your Planning & Preparation below to guide your decision.

Booking the Exam
Once you have decided to do the exam based on the above booking is simple with one of 3 methods available to you

Dates are published in the Annual Programme of Events sent to all members, Online as part of the Find an Instructor event and for the coming months in the latest issues of 'DIVE' and BSAC Talk.

Things to check
Please make sure that your membership is current (now and at the time of the examination), that BSAC HQ has a record of the relevant Diver grade and your attendance at the IFC and OWIC. It may be necessary for you to submit documentary evidence of this to complete the application.

What to expect?
You should receive confirmation of your booking shortly after completion of the process and all documentation has been checked and confirmed. 2 weeks before the event Joining Instructions (sample) are sent out with details of the event, venue and what to bring plus local contacts and accommodation lists should they be required.
Some regions provide formal Examination Prep Events and you may be contacted directly by the regional representative inviting you to such an event.

Planning and Preparation
The topic for the lesson you will teach for your assessment will be given you on the day of the event shortly before you are due to present it. It is therefore essential that you plan and prepare for the possible lessons you could be asked to teach. These lesson topics are drawn from the Diver Training Programme (DTP) up to and including Dive Leader, though you will not be expected to teach an entire lesson from the Manual.
On the IFC and OWIC you will have planned a number of practical lessons with your tutor using the Lesson Planning Sheets provided and extracts from the BSAC Instructor Handbook. On the OWIC you will also have seen these put into practice and received feedback on the successful elements of these lessons and guidance on how they can be further improved. This should have provided you with a starting point of 4 lesson plans (which will require some modification based on the feedback. The OWIC Student Notes also provide guidance on a range of possible topics and you should apply the same planning process to these lessons.

You can read further detailled advice on Planning a Practical Lesson based on teaching the use of a Distance Line here.

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During the Exam
Typical timetable
The Practical Instructor Examination will take slightly longer than half a day, 4.5 to 5 hours depending on local conditions. A sample Timetable can be viewed here. In certain locations a TIE may be offered on the same day and may involve this as a Typical Timetable. The opportunity to do such a combined examination will be largely dependent on the facilities at a particular location and members should note that as both the PIE and TIE can be booked separately the situation may arise that one part of the exam may be fully booked before the other. We do not reserve places for those who wish to book both events at the same time.
What happens?
The day will start with an overall brief from the lead Examiner on the day. They will introduce the Examiners, Local Organiser and any other relevant people and give a brief overview of the location and perhaps highlight appropriate teaching locations and any specific information you may need.
You will then split into groups of 3 candidates to an Examiner and be briefed on the lesson topics and the conduct of the examination and the examiners role. You will be allowed approximately 30 minutes to prepare your lesson but during this time you will also need to move your equipment to the waterside and change into suits etc. so it is essential that your planning is done well in advance so that you simply need to transfer your lesson to a slate or waterproof notepad.
Each candidate will then present a 45 minute practical lesson in the Open Water. The Examiner will not be part of the student group but will observe all aspects. Your Examiner should only intervene on a point of safety and will then hand back control of the lesson to the candidate. (this should not be taken as a signal that the lesson is a fail as the situation may have been out with the control of the candidate). During the session the Examiner will be taking notes in order to provide feedback in the Examination Report to highlight effective teaching techniques and provide guidance for further development.
Timing of the lesson is the responsibility of the candidate teaching at the time but the Examiner may give a reminder if the lesson begins to run over excessively as there is a need to give all candidates an equal chance.
At the end of the session when all candidates have given their lessons the Examiner will summarise the session but WILL NOT discuss marks or any specific points arising from the lessons. Any questions from candidates will be referred to the Chief Examiner on the day. The Examination will conclude with a debrief from the Senior Examiner on the day who will highlight good teaching practices seen on the day, highlight the need to continually develop as an Instructor and indicate what the next steps will be and how long the results will take.

Success on the Examination is based on ensuring that your lesson contains evidence of applying the relevant Essential criteria to the lesson. For a practical lesson we use STEP to remind us of these criteria. As part of your lesson Planning & Preparation you should use the Lesson Checklists used on the IFC & OWIC to ensure that the Essential Criteria are present. If they are and the lesson is effective then the minimum grade that can be achieved will be a Pass.

Datums
The use of a Datum was shown during the Open Water Instructor Course as a valuable means of controlling the student group during all phases of the dive and consequantly serve as a significant means of ensuring the SAFETY (S of STEP) of the lesson. The Open Water Instructor Course Student Notes has copies of sketches of various shotline configurations . In addition some further general Advice has been produced by Peter Bolton, BSAC National Instructor, initially for use in his branch, but reproduced here (please note that htis advice relates to actual teaching within the branch and so not all aspects will be applicable for use on the PIE but is sound advice nevertheless.

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Personal Experiences
Richard Aldridge
Trident SAC

The PIE is not something you can eat, but its certainly something that you can get your teeth into.
In order to qualify as a BSAC open water practical instructor, you need to attend three separate events, the last of which is the PIE.

Having attended the IFC ( instructor foundation course ) in 2002 where you are taught over an intensive weekend how to teach others, and then the practical instructors course in 2004, where you are taught how to teach in open water, it was time to take the plunge (literally) and do the PIE.

Richard Aldridge

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After the Exam
Results
Following the completion of the Examination by the candidates there will be an Examiners meeting where the Senior Examiner on the event discusses and agrees the Marks to be awarded and a supporting comment. The Examiner prepares a detailed written comment for each candidate. Any concerns are discussed with reference to the Essential Criteria and marks revised accordingly. The Senior Examiner is then responsible for producing a consolidated report for the event and for each candidate. The Senior Examiner is allowed 2 weeks to return the results to BSAC HQ. The results then need to be approved by the Chief Examiner and a further week is allowed for this. Finally once the finalised and approved results are back at HQ the Central Bookings Administrator has a further week to complete the administration and send out the results. Overall the process takes 4 weeks though we aim to process results faster than this.
However if the simple Pass/Fail results can be returned to HQ within the 2 week period candidates are able to phone HQ for these results though no discussion on reasons etc. can be entered into until the report has been received by the candidate.
HQ staff are NOT authorised to give the results over the phone to anyone other than the candidate themselves.

Each candidate will receive a written Assessment Sheet detailing their performance in the examination against the Essential Criteria. If the successful completion of the PIE means that a candidate qualifies for either a Practical Instructor or Open Water Instructor Award then they will also be sent the relevant Logbook sticker stating their Instructor number and in the case of OWI a cloth badge.

Appeals process
Should a candidate on the exam feel that their report does not truly reflect their performance on the Essential Criteria they should make a formal appeal in writing to the Chief Examiner with a copy to the ITS manager at BSAC HQ.
Email -
owi.chief@bsac.com
itsman.chief@bsac.com
Appeals are considered on their individual merit and are investigated thoroughly by consultation with the Examiner and the Senior Examiner on the day.

What can I teach?
The PIE on its own does not award the Practical Instructor qualification and needs to be accompanied by a pass in the Theory paper to allow the award of the Practical Instructor qualification
Practical Instructors are able to teach practical diving skills unsupervised by an Open Water Instructor.

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Teaching Resources Downloads

Practical Lesson Planning Sheets
Classroom Lesson Planning Sheets
Theory Lesson Checklists
Practical Lesson Checklists
Theory Examination Question Paper (sample cover sheet)
Theory Examination Answer Sheet (sample Answer Sheet)
shotline configurations

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Book a Practical Instructor Exam (PIE) Online