BSAC Assistant Instructor

Assistant Instructor course aims

The aim of the BSAC Assistant Instructor Course is the give the student the basic foundations and training in becoming a BSAC Diving Instructor. The course will introduce the student to the effective and progressive teaching methodology used by the BSAC. These methods will be used in all BSAC courses and training programs.

Other aims of the course is to:

• Teach students how to teach basic practical diving skills and theoretical knowledge associated with diving

• Give students experience of teaching practical diving skills and theoretical knowledge

• Give students constructive personal feedback and show them how they can improve their teaching by evaluating their own performance in the future

• Introduce the student to the range of support material available from the BSAC and how to use these aids to assist in their teaching

• Expose the students to a wide range of attitudes and experience through contact with other participants and Instructor Trainers.


After your attendance on this course, you will be recognised as a BSAC Assistant Diving Instructor (ADI) who will then be able to assist in branch or centre training under the supervision of a Qualified BSAC Instructor.  Once the student has attained their Dive Leader qualification, ADIs are able to extend their skills by attending an Open Water Instructor Course.

Entry requirement

The entry level for this course is a BSAC Sports Diver or equivalent.

Course duration

The Assistant Instructor course is conducted over 2 days.

Course contents

The course starts with a series of theory presentations, which are presented by the Course Instructor. After an initial introduction to the course, we start by taking a look at what personal attributes a diving instructor should have and what we would expect from an instructor, if we were the students. Being a good instructor is not only about being a good teacher!  A good instructor needs to have the right qualities and attitude.

The instructor must be, Experienced, Reliable, Enthusiastic, Sympathetic to students learning difficulties, Open-minded, Friendly and Approachable, Safe, a Skilled diver, a Good organizer, Empathetic Flexible, Patient and an Effective communicator. These are just a few of the attributes the instructor must process.

Once we have established what kind of an instructor we would see teaching us. We then move on and take a look at how is the best way to teach diving as well as how the students will be able to understand the theory been taught and master the practical skills be demonstrated. We do this by using the “five senses”.  75% of effective learning is achieved through sight. So with the use of visual aids and progressive demonstrations makes it easy for the student to learn diving.

Classroom Presentation Workshop

The Classroom Presentation workshop will show you how to plan, prepare and present a classroom presentation. Within this section, you will be shown how to breakdown the lesson content into small logical and progressive steps in order that the students can grasp the information being presented more easily.

On the evening of day 1 of the course, you will prepare your own presentation, which you will then present to the other students the next day. Within this workshop we will plan your lesson in order to meet the teaching criteria and achievement targets.

Practical Presentation Workshop

This section starts by watching a short video demonstration. The video will give you some examples on how to teach a diving skill. The instructor will then run you through the progressive teaching methods used in the video when teaching that particular skill.
The course instructor will then run you through a Practical Pool Demonstration. The skill that will be demonstrated to you will be one of the skills taken from the Ocean Diver or Sport Diver course. Skills such as, Mask or regulator clearing, Buoyancy skills, surface recue towing, rescue lift etc. The instructor will once again show you how to break down these skills into simple steps with each correct step building on the previous one.

Following this lesson, you will be allocated a skill for you to teach to your students on day two. You and your group will also be asked to plan an open water lesson. On completion of your plan, a spoke person from each group will then present this plan to the rest of the class.
The course finishes with an open forum with your Instructor about the course and what you have learnt. This session is aimed at giving you useful feedback on your performance  
On completion of this course the student will be recognized as a BSAC Assistant Instructor