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UPDATED and IMPROVED FOR 2009
- Worried about whether you are up to advanced training?
- Want an independent opinion on your riding?
- Just want to meet your instructor before you commit yourself to a course?
Take a Riding Assessment with Survival Skills for £50
For the last five years Survival Skills has been offering 3 hour riding assessments, costing just £50, where you can have your riding checked out by a qualified instructor and then be
recommended the best course to continue your development as a rider.
You'll get a full written briefing on the day by email before turning up for the riding assessment. Over a coffee, we'll have a general knowledge talk about areas like conspicuity issues, the pros
and cons of body armour, suspension set up, general maintenance and appropriate tyre choice for road use.
Following an on-road briefing, you'll get about 90 mins on the road. The ride will cover everything from fast dual carriageways to busy town centre traffic to sweeping A roads to
twisty and bumpy minor roads.
"Just a quick note to say thank you very much for your time and wisdom on Saturday, I always read stuff and
try and implement it, but I guess it goes to show there is no substitute for someone else's observations and
experience... once I've sold my soul for me new leathers I'll be in touch about further training as discussed." Mark Gaylard
As part of the session, you'll be treated to a full commentary ride using the radio link.
We'll stop at intervals to chat about your ride, and sum up at the end of the session, and discuss a short safety video. A full written debrief on the session will be emailed to you as soon
as possible, together with recommendations for further training and the on-bike video footage (if available).
Assessments usually run weekdays and weekends in two time slots:
09:30 to 12:30 - 14:00 to 17:00
OR
weekday evenings (summer only) 18:00 to 21:00
The riding assessment costs £50 per person.
Maximum trainee to assessor ratio is 2:1.
E-mail us now to check available dates and to reserve your assessment.
Survival Skills and the Enhanced Rider Scheme / Certificate of Competence
What is the Enhanced Rider Scheme?
The Driving Standards Agency have recently introduced the "Enhanced Rider Scheme" (ERS).
It's a mix of an assessment and training for full licence holders. The theory is that if you take the assessment and are up to standard, then an Enhanced Rider Scheme certificate is issued there and then.
If certain weaknesses are identified in the report at the end of the assessment in areas such as bend negotiation, overtaking, filtering, positioning and junctions, then the idea is that you get a
personalised training session. Once you've completed your training, you'll receive a report and DSA Certificate of Competence and "Enhanced Rider Bonus", which then qualifies you for an
insurance discount.
The ERS can only be performed by a trainer on the DSA's Register of Post-Test Motorcycle Trainers (RPMT).
How does a trainer get on the RPMT?
First of all, the register is entirely voluntary and there is currently no obligation for an existing post-test trainer to join.
To become registered, there are a number of routes. All trainers must pass the instructor's version of the Hazard Perception and Theory tests, which you'll know if you've taken a car or
bike test in the last few years.
New instructors will have to pass tests of riding and instructional ability before qualifying for the register, or take a training course with an approved provider but existing trainers can register by
providing evidence they are already training and taking advantage of what the DSA call "prior accredited learning", with the riding and instructional ability tests happening at some time in the future.
There are also routes onto the register for DAS instructors and police motorcyclists.
Why isn't Survival Skills on the RPMT?
I'm not on the register - I've been provisionally accepted via the "Grandfather rights" and the DSA "Direct Access" trainer routes - but as the DSA want a fairly large cheque from me every
four years for voluntary registration and the check tests I'm in no rush at the moment. The only benefit to me would be to appear on the DSA's website.
What's personally frustrating is that I took early steps to obtain recognised qualifications as an advanced instructor, gaining a BTEC some years ago at a time when there were relatively few
qualified advanced instructors. This may sound a bit like sour grapes, but I know how much work went into the BTEC and the level at which it was pitched. It's incredible (to me, anyway) the
DSA have overlooked the BTEC as a route onto the RPMT, despite the people who set it up bringing it to the DSA's attention long before the register was formally announced, and despite
the fact that the BTEC was the first externally moderated (by EDEXCEL) course for post-test trainers in the country.
But on the strength of my Direct Access card alone, I become automatically qualified to train riders at a post-test standard!
So why take a Survival Skills assessment rather than the ERS?
Well, if the insurance certificate is your prime reason for looking at the Enhanced Rider Scheme, then I can't help. And if you just want to learn to go faster in the name of "progress" then I'm
probably not the right person either.
But if you want someone to look over your riding from a 'survival' point of view by looking at the risks of riding, and to gain an understanding of where accidents happen and how and where to
ride to avoid them, then I'd suggest you consider my assessment.
As a qualified advanced instructor for nearly a decade and a half, as well as being a DSA certified basic instructor, and with 16 years of courier experience behind me, I'm able to assess
your riding from newly qualified to highly experienced, across a wide variety of different environments.
So however and wherever you ride I'll be able to give you a frank critique of your skills, the risks attached to what you do and an insight into how to improve. There's no obligation to come back
to me (and spend more money!) to get training to pick up a certificate, but you will get a full written assessment which shows you where you need to work to up your skill level.
Whatever your riding standard, you'll get something positive from a Survival Skills Riding Assessment.
What the trainees say
This is what riders who has taken the Survival Skills Riding Assessment had to say about it:
From Gordon McBean
Thanks for the clear assessment and the great advice. It is good to know that I am doing most of the things right, but even better to know how to improve on my riding to a
safer/smoother standard.
I found the varied route and pace very good as it addressed a large portion of my normal riding, so it was able to bring out the valuable information that I can put to use.
From Mike Sladden
The assessment started off with answers to a series of questions covering various aspects of riding. Good questions too, quite searching actually. The next section of the
assessment was verbal and covered many different areas relating to riding and biking in general, I wasn't expecting it to be so comprehensive, no offence, so I was pleased to
find so many areas were covered.
Right, on to the ride. We ran through what we were going to do and I got a brief warning to keep the speed within sensible limits but to ride as I normally would. On with the
radios and then we jumped onto the bikes, the roads we started on are single carriageway suburban country roads, I wasn't nervous but I was reminded of my bike
test – that's the last time I was under instruction via radio. We pulled into the first garage so Kevin could fill up [Editor's note - dratted Hornet petrol tank!] and I got
another polite warning to keep the speed down. Sorry. From the garage, the roads led us into the main town, traffic was fairly light but due to road works, we ended up in a few
queues at temporary traffic lights.
Having spent about 10 minutes riding round the town, we pulled into a car park. I got a run down from Kevin on how I was doing so far.
The next stage of the ride took us onto some sweeping motorway and then onto some A roads, there were a few other bikes about despite the low temperatures. From there we
moved onto some urban A roads which then took us onto some great fast and flowing bends.
Next, we rode some single track roads, they were muddy in places and there were some large piles of snow on both sides, Kevin told me there has been drifts about 3 feet deep a
few days previously so I'm glad I missed them.
The final sections were small town, fast A roads and then national limit single carriageway roads which were great fun. I really enjoyed winding it on a bit along them. I
had to stand on the pegs for quite a lot of it because they were so bumpy. They reminded me of a rideout last year in Surrey.
Back at Kevin's we ran through the ride and how I did, and watched and discussed a Bikesafe video. It was so useful to have a qualified instructor break down my riding and
explain how to improve what I do, Kevin's explanations and advice have gelled what I have learned into a more structured set of skills rather than a collection of "it has
worked so far so I'll keep doing it" techniques.
I wish I had done something like this years ago, would I recommend it? Yes, without reservation.
So... now the sun is shining, and for just £50, what are you waiting for?
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