NICAS Handbook

Requirements for Awarding Centres

Registration

  1. All climbing centres who wish to deliver any levels of the scheme must apply for registration as an Awarding Centre from the ABCTT. A climbing centre is defined as any organisation – voluntary or professional – that owns or manages an artificial climbing facility (indoors or outdoors). Approval will only be given to organisations, not individuals, and will be restricted to a named climbing facility. Individual freelance instructors may deliver the Scheme through a centre with the approval of the registered Course Provider and after induction (see below). Mobile climbing facilities will generally not be approved unless they are part of a larger organisation with its own static facility.
  2. Centres will be approved to deliver stipulated levels of the scheme depending upon the quality of their physical and human resources. Most centres that instruct top roping with students belaying should be able to deliver levels 1 and 2 (See Minimum Awarding Centre Requirements). For the delivery of higher levels approval will depend upon the nature of the facility and level of qualifications and training of trainers and assessors. The registration application must be supported by the centre’s Technical Advisor (see below).
  3. Approval will be granted by the ABCTT for the period of one year. Should the ABCTT feel that any element of the applicant’s provision of the scheme requires further explanation or appears unsatisfactory then approval will be withheld and the application referred back to the centre for its resolution.
  4. Registration will carry a fee payable to the ’ABC Training Trust’. Registration will need to be renewed on an annual basis in order to maintain approval.

Registered Course Director

  1. To gain approved status with the ABCTT each centre must register a named Course Director. This person will be responsible for the delivery and quality of the scheme within the organisation. (See Responsibilities of the Awarding Centre). The Course Director is responsible for providing training and induction for any instructional staff and external instructors who wish to train and assess the scheme at that centre. The Course Director may refer to a Technical Advisor for support on the design and delivery of the scheme and any such training. Inducted instructors – in house or external must be recorded.
  2. The Course Director will act as the link between the centre and the ABCTT and will be responsible for ordering log books and materials from the ABCTT.
  3. The Course Director is responsible for the development and implementation of Child Protection Policy at their centre including CRB checks and references for instructors where appropriate.
  4. The Course Director is responsible for the awarding and recording of NICAS certificates (though this may be delegated).
  5. In order for a centre to deliver the scheme at any level the Course Director (and any other registered Assisting Directors) must have attended a NICAS induction workshop. They will subsequently need to attend a further workshop every three years. These courses will be provided by approved Primary Centres around the UK.
  6. If the Course Director leaves the organisation responsible for the climbing centre the centre must re-register a new Course Director or lose its approval status.

External Instructors

  1. Qualified instructors who are not linked to any particular climbing wall may also deliver the scheme through an Awarding Centre with the induction and approval of that centre. They may train and assess candidates at any level but cannot award certificates – this must be done by the Awarding Centre. The Course Director of the Awarding centre must satisfy himself that they have sufficient qualifications, training, experience and public liability insurance to deliver the relevant levels of the scheme.

Technical Advisors

  1. Every approved climbing centre wishing to deliver the scheme must have access to a named Technical Advisor (MIA, MIC, UIAGM Guide) for advice, in accordance with MLT National Guidelines. All Primary Centre Course Directors may act as Technical Advisors for NICAS. Levels 3-5 teach skills and knowledge that are outside and above many instructor training schemes, including the SPA. In many cases Course Directors or their Technical Advisors will have to provide extra training for their staff in order to deliver these higher levels of the scheme to a satisfactory standard. The ABCTT will be able to provide technical advice through its NICAS Officer.
  2. The centre’s Technical Advisor must support its registration application to the ABCTT. Their expertise is required to confirm that the centre has the appropriate resources to deliver the levels of the scheme that it has applied for.
  3. Technical Advisors can advise on course design, delivery, procedures, staff training, moderation and assessment procedures. It is advised that Course Directors select a Technical Advisor with a strong background in the use of climbing walls.

Administration

  1. The scheme is designed to keep administrative burdens to a minimum. There is no central database of candidates as the scheme does not confer any qualification. Candidates will only communicate with the approved Awarding Centre that they are registered with.
  2. The Course Director will communicate with the ABCTT for advice and to order log books and certificates. The Course Director will be required to keep a simple record of candidates stating their name, DOB, date of registration, organisation (if any) and dates of achieving levels. This will aid the problem of lost log books. The ABC reserves the right to ask for these details to help them review and develop the scheme in the future. A pro forma for this will be provided upon registration.
  3. The centre will be responsible for administering log books to candidates and delivering training and assessments. There are no training or assessment reports required by the ABCTT.

Materials

  1. Log books, booklets and certificates can be ordered by the Course Director from the ABCTT. These will cost the Awarding Centre a standard price set by the ABCTT and can be ordered as required. Centres are free to insert pages of their own into the log books detailing their own courses. A list of commercially available training materials is provided in the appendix.
  2. Welsh language log book pages and certificates will be provided in electronic form on the NICAS website for Awarding Centres to download if required.

Minimum Instructor requirements

In order to train or assess on the scheme instructors must satisfy the minimum qualification requirements for each level set out in the table below:

Level   Minimum qualification for training and assessment
1 Site Specific* or CWA *approved by Technical Advisor
2 Site Specific* or CWA *approved by Technical Advisor
3 Site Specific* or CWA + in-house training
or external course*		 *eg the BMC’s “FUNdamentals” course
4 SPA/CWA + in-house training* *approved by Technical Advisor
5 SPA/CWA + ABC TT workshops* *offered through Primary Centres


It should be noted that these are minimum qualifications and that for levels 3-5 the trainer’s / assessor’s knowledge, risk management and coaching skills will be just as important. It is the responsibility of the Course Director with the support of their Technical Advisor to train and approve trainers and assessors for the scheme up to level 4. A documented approval scheme will need to be implemented that demonstrates that their instructional staff have the required skills and knowledge to work at these levels. To work on level 5 courses instructors will have to attend an ABCTT approved course. These will be offered through Primary Centres and will be advertised on the NICAS website.

Minimum physical requirements for Awarding Centres

Centres must have adequate physical resources to deliver the scheme in order to be registered as an Awarding Centre. The climbing structures should generally have enough varied climbing to satisfy the log book requirements. It may be possible however to supplement the Awarding Centres’ facilities with those of other walls. Such arrangements would need to be detailed on the Awarding Centre’s registration application. As a guide the following criteria would generally be regarded as minimums for each level. Final approval for registration will be given by the ABCTT.

Level Roped Climbing Bouldering / traverses / training areas
1 3 lines: minimum 5m high None
2 6 lines: minimum 5m high with marked routes Some – could be on wall
3 Dedicated climbing facility with 30x 5m+ set routes Dedicated bouldering area: 30+ problems
4 Dedicated lead wall with 30 x 8m+ lead routes Not required though highly beneficial
5 Major climbing facility with 50 x 8m+ lead routes. Currently need to be an ABC Primary Centre Dedicated bouldering area with 30+ problems / training boards and circuits

Responsibilities of the Awarding Centre

  1. All registered centres are responsible for the delivery of any courses and the instruction, supervision and safety of any candidates. The registered centre should deliver the scheme in accordance with the NICAS guidelines issued in this handbook. The Course Director is the named individual responsible for ensuring that the centre complies with the NICAS policies and guidelines detailed in this handbook. The ABCTT accepts no direct liability whatsoever related to the delivery of any course associated with this scheme. The ABCTT and BMC recognise that climbing and mountaineering are hazardous activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities and their parents/guardians should be made aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions and involvement.
  2. In particular centres must ensure that:
    1. A full risk assessment is carried out on all activities undertaken in relation to the scheme.
    2. Clear written procedures arising from the risk assessment are communicated to all instructors.
    3. Instructional staff are monitored in the performance of their duties with regard to these procedures.
    4. Candidates are fully informed of the nature of any activities to be undertaken and that the BMC participation statement is explained to them (where appropriate).
    5. Parents/ guardians of minors are informed of the activities to be undertaken and that informed written consent has been obtained from them. (Centres may wish to consider asking parents to read the BMC Parents Guide and then sign on the parental consent form that they have read it.)
    6. The centre has a clear Child Protection Policy that is communicated to all staff who will come into contact with minors. Those in a position of trust, authority, or those with unsupervised access to under 18s are required to be properly vetted using the current Criminal Records Bureau process.
    7. Any information held about candidates complies with the Data Protection Act.
    8. Adequate public liability insurance cover is in place for all activities undertaken.

Moderation

  1. The quality of the National Scheme relies upon the quality of the trainers and assessors who deliver the course. The registered Course Director is responsible for ensuring the quality of instruction, supervision and assessment at all times. The ABCTT expects the Course Director to monitor the performance of all instructors delivering the awards on a regular basis. The timing, frequency and methods of moderation will be site specific and advice can be sought from the centre’s own Technical Advisor if necessary. The ABCTT reserves the right to inspect and moderate Awarding Centres in their delivery of the scheme as it sees fit.
  2. In cases of complaints or concerns about poor quality of instruction or supervision the ABCTT reserves the right to investigate the centre concerned and suggest remedial action. In an extreme case the ABCTT may revoke approval for the centre to deliver the scheme if the situation cannot be resolved to the ABCTT’s satisfaction.


Syllabus and assessment criteria