BSUPA Level 1 Instructor is the first rung on the British Stand Up Paddle Association teaching ladder. You learn to deliver Ready to Ride sessions on flat water: six students, six boards, one instructor, within a BSUPA recognised school. Running a beginner session calmly beats showing off your pivot turn. That is the point.
Most courses run two days split between classroom and water. You lecture on site assessment, teaching psychology, weather and tides; demonstrate rescue techniques; pass paddle competency tests; and teach peers while assessors watch. Candidates without prior watersports teaching experience complete shadow teaching before certificates issue. Online first aid does not count. BSUPA wants you in a room with a manikin, which is fair enough.
You can start at sixteen but are not a fully licensed instructor until eighteen. Until then you assist under supervision and cannot stretch class ratios. Certificates last three years with current BSUPA membership and valid first aid. Qualifications only work when you teach from an affiliated school, not from a random beach with a sticker on your board bag.
Level 1 Instructor assessment blends classroom theory, personal paddle tests and teaching practice across two days.
Quick answers about this qualification. For anything else, use live chat or browse bookable activities below.
Find activitiesIt qualifies you to teach beginner Ready to Ride SUP sessions on flat water within a BSUPA recognised school, up to six students per instructor.
The two-day course covers teaching skills, rescues, personal paddling and BSUPA standards. It is the foundation of the BSUPA instructor pathway in the UK.
Strong flat-water paddling plus BSUPA membership and in-person first aid. You must pass competency tests including towing, unconscious casualty recovery and group control before teaching assessment.
Leave a comment when you book with your paddling background, existing certificates and whether you have taught other sports before.
Usually two consecutive days with classroom and water time each day. Shadow teaching for new coaches happens before or after the course depending on school policy.
Allow evening preparation for lecture topics and session plans. Instructing courses are tiring even when you are not the one falling in.
Yes. BSUPA Level 1 includes a theory exam alongside paddle tests and teaching assessments. Topics cover safety, weather, equipment and lesson delivery.
Trainers review material during the course. Treat the exam as proof you can brief beginners accurately, not as academic torture.
Candidates without prior watersports teaching experience must ghost qualified BSUPA instructors for a minimum period before certificates issue. You observe real beginner sessions and assist under supervision.
Leave a comment when you book if you need shadow hours arranged locally. Schools often schedule these before the main course if you plan ahead.
You can take the course at sixteen but are not fully licensed until eighteen. Younger instructors assist under supervision and cannot be solely in charge of students or extend ratios.
Employers and schools apply their own deployment rules on top of BSUPA junior policy.
Coastal BSUPA instructor certificates may require RYA Powerboat Level 2. Inland certificates do not, but carry limitations on where you may teach. Confirm your intended venue type when you book.
Leave a comment when you book if you need coastal scope so the school advises on powerboat prerequisites.
Personal SUP kit if you have it, note-taking tools, lunch and clothes for long classroom and water days. Schools usually provide assessment boards and classroom materials including BSUPA manuals.
Refresh first aid and membership before day one so paperwork does not delay certification.
Teach Ready to Ride within BSUPA schools, log hours toward Level 2, and build a seasonal instructing career at centres listed on adventuro.
Already-qualified watersports instructors may consider the one-day Conversion course instead of the full two-day programme.
Three years from the course date provided BSUPA membership and valid first aid remain current. Lapsed membership or expired first aid suspends your instructing status even if the wall certificate looks fine.
Plan renewal and CPD before busy summer seasons rather than the week your school opens bookings.
adventuro lists BSUPA schools running Level 1 Instructor courses at coastal and inland venues. Compare dates, coastal versus inland certificate scope and whether shadow teaching is bundled.
Leave a comment when you book listing first aid expiry, membership status and target employer if you already have a school in mind.
No activities match your filters
Try adjusting your filters or