Paddle UK Sea Kayaking Qualifications

Paddle UK (PUK) formerly British Canoeing is the UK's paddle sport governing body. PUK qualifications are an internationally accepted quality benchmark in all paddling disciplines. The qualification structure they provide is dynamic and broad enabling paddlers at all levels to benchmark their skills whatever their ultimate aspirations may be.  PUK qualifications have been recognised as an industry standard for over 40 years.

The infographics below give an overview of the sea kayaking specific awards PUK offer. Please see their website for more information.

 

Sea Kayak Personal Performance Awards

These awards provide appropriate milestones and acknowledge the development of personal skills.

There are no prerequisites for these awards and there is no set course length so they can be achieved over any period of time and do not need to be completed sequentially.

 We recommend that anyone wishing to achieve these awards should use the resources on the British Canoeing website to help them set goals and self assess.

 We usually provide sign off for these awards after working with a client over several sessions or on a longer courses. It can be difficult to pack all the the elements of the awards into a course with other paddlers if they are not also working towards sign off.

Safety Awards

These awards provide additional structured learning opportunities that can enhance your safety and enjoyment of the sport.

Some are prerequisites for the professionally endorsed leadership and coaching awards.

Leadership Awards

These awards follow the British Canoeing Awarding Body's educational philosophy and support leaders to provide safe, quality and enjoyable trips based on their groups needs and aspirations.

These awards have become recognised as an industry standard for guides internationally. There are relevant prerequisites associated with each, and assessment should not be undertaken lightly as this is a pass or fail course that requires candidates to demonstrate their ability to lead paddlers during the assessment. Whilst a training course is not a prerequisite for assessment we highly recommend one as it allows you to develop the required skills and get feedback on your performance and areas to build on prior to assessment.

 

Coaching Awards

These awards are for those who wish to coach paddlers to gain/improve paddle sport skills within their chosen discipline.

They have become recognised as an industry standard for sea kayak coaches internationally.

There are relevant prerequisites associated with each, and assessment should not be undertaken lightly as this is a pass or fail course that requires candidates to demonstrate their ability to coach paddlers in relevant environments during the assessment.

Aspiring candidate must register for the award with British Canoeing well in advance of the course and complete some e-learning modules.

The awards comprise of Core Coach followed by the relevant discipline specific training and assessment.

We will always try to accommodate

If you need a course that we are not advertising please get in touch and we will see if we can help.