BMABA Assistant Instructor Training Pathway (ITP) Policy

The Assistant Instructor Training Pathway is BMABA's structured, evidence-based route for developing an assistant instructor into a recognised instructor. It combines three things: BMABA's minimum standards, which ensure a baseline of competence across every club; your club's own requirements, which let you train to your own style and expectations on top of that baseline; and evidence-based tracking through MyBMABA, which records CPD, observed practice and progress so that a sign-off is backed by a real body of evidence rather than a single tick.

The pathway gives assistant instructors a clear route to recognition while letting clubs keep their own teaching identity inside a quality-assured framework.

If you're an instructor or club, you can access your ITP dashboard below;

If you're an assistant instructor, you can access the ITP below;

The entire pathway is provided by BMABA CIC free of charge, in full. Membership is fully inclusive: BMABA covers the platform, the licensing and every provision, so a club can use all of it with no cost, no add-ons and no catch. A club may separately charge trainees for its own wider club training programme if it chooses, but that is a club matter. Nothing in the BMABA pathway itself carries a fee.

No club has to use the pathway, and an assistant can remain an assistant instructor indefinitely without enrolling. A club may still appoint someone to an instructor role internally without the pathway. However, only assistants who complete the pathway receive a BMABA-issued instructorship certificate, and only the pathway gives you the standardised evidence trail described in this document.

For assistant instructors aged 18 or over. The outcome is BMABA Instructorship Status: formal recognition that the person has completed the programme and is held by their club to be an instructor in standing.

An important point of principle: Instructorship Status is not in itself authority to teach unsupervised, and it is not a coaching qualification. Authority to teach without supervision is granted only by the club, subject to BMABA guidelines, once the appropriate grade (1st Dan or equivalent) and a recognised coaching qualification are in place. Assistants may begin and work through the programme at any grade the club considers suitable. The platform does not gate the programme on grade; the grade requirement for unsupervised teaching sits with the club as a matter of policy and professional judgement.

For assistant instructors aged 13 to 17. The outcome is a progressive set of awards, Bronze then Silver then Gold, culminating in BMABA Cadet Instructor status. Every cadet tier, including Gold, is a supervised status: a cadet instructor is a child and must teach at all times under the direct supervision of a qualified instructor, and is never authorised to teach unsupervised while under 18.

The Bronze, Silver, Gold structure works like a Duke of Edinburgh style award, giving recognition and motivation at each stage.

A change from earlier guidance: the tiers are now awarded strictly in sequence. A cadet is signed off for Bronze first, then Silver, then Gold, each as a separate sign-off, with a minimum waiting period between each (see Minimum waiting periods below). It is no longer possible to enrol a cadet straight into Gold. This is deliberate: it guarantees genuine development time at each stage and protects the integrity of the award.

A club can add requirements on top of these, but cannot reduce them. The figures below are the live minimums enforced by the platform.

CPD is recorded across five categories: Shadowing Instructor Teaching, Training, At Events, Personal Development, and Other CPD. Mat hours (time spent assisting or co-teaching on the mat) and sessions taught are tracked alongside these.

Alongside the platform minimums, BMABA policy expects an adult instructor to hold safeguarding certification, in-date emergency first aid as a minimum, an Enhanced DBS renewed within three years, and appropriate insurance for unsupervised teaching. The club is responsible for ensuring these are valid.

Competencies the club must assess (through observation, recorded in the observation audit): understands safeguarding and can identify concerns; plans age-appropriate sessions; manages behaviour effectively; communicates clearly with students and parents; maintains accurate records; knows emergency procedures.

Cadet minimums are cumulative totals: the figure shown is the total required to reach that tier, not an amount on top of the previous tier.

Every cadet tier also requires written parental or guardian consent and a supervision agreement on file, both of which the platform enforces before a programme can start (see Safeguarding and cadets). Gold additionally expects in-date emergency first aid.

Competencies to assess build across the tiers, from attentive observation and assisted warm-ups at Bronze, through delivering warm-ups independently under supervision at Silver, to confident co-teaching, adapting to different abilities, reflective practice and knowing when to escalate at Gold. Gold Award holders reach full BMABA Cadet Instructor status, the highest recognition available while aged 15 to 17.

This is a core control of the pathway and it is enforced by the platform. Every award has a minimum period that must pass before it can be signed off. These are hard gates: until the date is reached, the sign-off is blocked and the reason is shown, no matter how quickly the hours or observations are completed.

Because Silver runs from the Bronze award date and Gold from the Silver award date, a cadet progressing tier by tier waits at least 360 days in total, just under a full year, from starting to reaching Gold. This paces genuine development and prevents a cadet being moved through three recognitions in a term.

Both the club and the assistant see the earliest eligible date clearly. On the club side it appears as an eligibility line in the sign-off panel. On the assistant side it appears with deliberately careful wording: it is a minimum eligibility date, not a guarantee and not an automatic progression date, and any award depends on the club's assessment.

Clubs can set an opening CPD position at enrolment (for example an assistant they have already worked with for months). That flexibility is legitimate and is retained. The time gate is what keeps it honest: because the clock runs from the start date, no opening balance can shortcut it. A club still has to wait the minimum period from when the assistant was actually put on the programme, so it is not possible to enrol someone and award them the same week regardless of the hours entered.

When a club activates a programme, it sets a start date. This date is important, because every time gate is measured from it, and once the programme is activated the date is locked and cannot be changed.

The start date defaults to today. A club can backdate it by up to seven days, but no further, and it cannot be set in the future. The seven-day grace exists for the ordinary real-world case where an assistant actually started in class on, say, Saturday, but the admin only entered them on the system the following Tuesday. Both limits are enforced on the server, so the window cannot be widened. Seven days is deliberately far too small to affect a 90-day gate, which is what keeps the start date trustworthy as the anchor for everything that follows.

Safeguarding controls for minors are live and enforced.

At enrolment and throughout, every assistant must follow BMABA's Safeguarding Policy, report concerns to the club's Designated Safeguarding Lead, and maintain professional boundaries. Adult assistants must hold appropriate safeguarding training and a valid Enhanced DBS where applicable. Under-18s receive age-appropriate club-level safeguarding and are DBS-checked where permissible for their age.

For cadets specifically, the platform enforces two confirmations before a programme can be activated: written parental or guardian consent, and a supervision agreement confirming the cadet will be supervised at all times. A cadet programme cannot start, and a cadet award cannot be signed off, without these in place. The cadet's under-18 supervised status is carried through into the award and printed on the certificate.

The club's ongoing responsibilities for a cadet remain as a matter of policy and are not replaced by the software. A cadet never teaches alone, even for five minutes; a qualified instructor (18+, 1st Dan minimum, valid DBS) must be present and actively supervising; the cadet is a child and must themselves be safeguarded, given age-appropriate workload that does not interfere with education, and never placed alone with children in changing rooms or isolated areas. The club retains full accountability for session delivery and safety, conducts a risk assessment specific to cadet involvement, reviews it at least every six months, and keeps parents informed and engaged, including immediate notification of any safeguarding incident.

Minor status itself is held and verified through BMABA's site-wide safeguarding controls, so the ITP consumes an authoritative record of who is a minor rather than relying on anything entered ad hoc in the programme.

Hours alone do not make an instructor, so the pathway records observed practice as well. The observation audit is a set of practical things a club signs off when it has actually watched the assistant do them.

Every club starts with three core, compulsory observations: Warm Up, Cool Down and Technical Skills. For adults, all three must be signed off before Instructorship. For cadets they are placed across the tiers by default (Warm Up at Bronze, Cool Down at Silver, Technical Skills at Gold), and a club can move them or add more.

Beyond the three core items, a club can switch on further observations from a shipped library (for example Sparring or Randori, Kata, Forms or Patterns, Weapons Handling, Pad and Focus Work, Leading a Grading, Conditioning and Fitness, Behaviour and Discipline Management, Injury and Safety Response, and Class Set-up and Close-down), or create its own custom observations. Any observation a club marks compulsory must be signed off before the relevant award. This is set up once, per club, in Club Settings.

Each sign-off is a stamp: an oversight account (the lead instructor, a second instructor, or a designated management account) records what they observed, with a short note, and the stamp captures who signed it and the date. Once stamped it is locked; a mistaken stamp can be removed by an oversight account, and that removal is written to the audit trail. The assistant can see their own progress (which items are done and when) but cannot tick anything themselves and cannot see the instructor's private summary notes.

For cadets, an observation assigned to more than one tier is re-demonstrated and re-stamped at each tier, so a skill genuinely has to be shown again as the cadet climbs.

CPD is submitted by the assistant and approved by the club.

The assistant logs an activity with a date, a category, the hours, and factual notes describing what they did. The club receives the submission, verifies that it took place and that the hours are accurate, and approves or rejects it with feedback. Approved hours automatically update the totals and the progress tracker. Rejected entries do not count, and if an assistant disputes a rejection they may appeal to BMABA, which will review the evidence; a valid rejection (inaccurate hours, or an activity that did not take place) stands.

The five CPD categories are Shadowing Instructor Teaching, Training, At Events, Personal Development, and Other CPD (which covers things like first aid courses, safeguarding, seminars and reading).

CPD only counts from the start date forward; it is not backdated. A club may, however, set an opening position for existing experience at enrolment (mat hours in particular), at its discretion, as described under Minimum waiting periods.

If BMABA membership lapses, or a required certification is not valid, progress pauses: the platform will not allow an award to be signed off while membership is inactive, and the club is responsible for keeping DBS, safeguarding and first aid current.

Separate from CPD, every assistant has a private learning journal: their own reflective space, which never counts towards CPD, hours or the award. It exists to support honest reflection and to let the assistant watch their own development over time.

The journal has its own tab. Entries can be free writing or reflections, on a single timeline, with reflections visually marked. Reflections offer optional prompts (for example "What went well?", "What could I improve?", "What am I finding difficult?"). Each entry has a reference and a date, a title (which defaults to the date if left blank), and rich text formatting. An entry can be edited by its author for 30 days and is then permanently locked; entries are never deleted, and an edited entry is marked as edited. In the timeline, entries are collapsed to a short preview and open in full on click.

Sharing is the assistant's choice and it is a single switch for the whole journal. By default the journal is private and the club sees nothing. If the assistant turns sharing on, the club can read it, but only after accepting a safeguarding notice that makes clear the club is responsible for acting on anything of concern, including escalation and disclosure through its safeguarding procedures, and that this matters especially where the assistant is a child. Even when shared, the club sees the entries read-only and cannot edit them.

When a programme closes, the journal becomes read-only. An assistant who progresses to instructorship can continue their professional journal in BMABA Workspace, which is built for instructors.

When an award is signed off, BMABA generates the certificate as a PDF. The adult certificate is a Certificate of Instructorship (Adult Pathway); the cadet certificates are Bronze, Silver and Gold Cadet Instructorship certificates.

The certificate records instructorship status only. It is issued by BMABA CIC in good faith on the club's formal attestation, for which the club is responsible. It is not a licence, not a coaching qualification, and not proof of grade, black belt or any entitlement to teach without supervision. For cadets it states the supervised, under-18 status explicitly. The ISO 9001:2015 and UKAS-accredited certification shown on the certificate relate solely to the Quality Management System of BMABA CIC, under which the award is operated, and are not conveyed to the club or the holder.

The club controls when the certificate becomes available to the assistant to download.

Everything below happens at https://mybmaba.org.uk/portal/itp/. The first time you open it, a short "Take a tour" walkthrough appears; you can reopen it any time from the Take a tour button.

Enrol an assistant. From the Programmes tab, create a new programme and choose the pathway (Adult or Cadet). If you want to see what a course involves before enrolling anyone, you can preview it first. This creates the programme as a draft.

Activate it, and set the start date. Activating turns the draft into a live programme. Set the start date here: it defaults to today, and you can backdate it up to seven days if the assistant actually started earlier. For a cadet, you must confirm parental consent and the supervision agreement at this point, or activation is blocked. Once activated, the start date is locked and all the timing gates run from it.

Set your club standards (once). In Club Settings you can raise CPD thresholds above the BMABA minimums and set up your observation audit: choose which observations your club requires, mark them compulsory, and for cadets decide which tier each sits at. You can also add your own custom observations. You only need to do this once; it then applies to everyone you enrol.

Review CPD. When an assistant submits CPD, it appears for you to review. Check it is accurate, then approve or reject with feedback. Approved hours update their progress automatically. The dashboard flags how many items are waiting for your review.

Sign off observations. On an assistant's card, open the observation audit. Click an item, write a short note on what you observed, and sign it off. It records your name and the date. Compulsory items must be signed off before the award.

Track progress and award. Each assistant's card shows their progress and, when the time comes, an eligibility panel. Until every requirement is met (BMABA minimums, your club standards, compulsory observations, and the minimum waiting period), the panel lists exactly what is still outstanding. When everything is met, you can sign off the award, and BMABA generates the certificate. You then choose when to make it available to the assistant to download.

Reading a shared journal. If an assistant has shared their journal, you can read it after accepting the safeguarding notice. Keep your safeguarding responsibilities in mind for anything of concern.

Everything below happens at https://mybmaba.org.uk/portal/assistant-dashboard/itp/. The first time you open it, a short "Take a tour" walkthrough appears; you can reopen it any time from the Take a tour button.

My programme tab. This is where you follow your progress. You will see your CPD hours by category, your mat hours and sessions, what your club still needs to sign off, and how close you are to your next award. You will also see the earliest date you could be considered for that award. That date is a minimum, not a promise: the award still depends on your club's assessment.

Logging CPD. Add your development activities here (shadowing, training, events, personal development and other CPD), with the date, hours and a short factual description. Your club reviews each one and approves it, and approved hours update your totals. If something is rejected you will see the reason, and you can appeal to BMABA if you disagree.

What your club observes. You will see a list of practical things your club signs off when they have watched you do them, like leading a warm-up. You can see your progress, but you cannot tick these yourself; your instructors record them as they observe you.

My journal tab. This is your own space to reflect, separate from CPD, and it never affects your award. Write freely, or add a reflection using the prompts if they help. You can edit an entry for 30 days, after which it locks; entries are never deleted. Your journal is private by default. If you choose to share it with your club, you can turn that on with a single switch, and your club will then be able to read it. When your programme finishes, your journal becomes read-only and you can carry your professional journal on in BMABA Workspace.

How long does it take? For adults, typically 12 to 36 months, most often 18 to 24, depending on commitment and the club's requirements, with a minimum of 90 days in any case. For cadets, Bronze is typically 3 to 6 months, Silver a further 6 to 9, and Gold a further 6 to 12, with the minimum waiting periods above applying between tiers.

Do cadets have to go Bronze, then Silver, then Gold? Yes. The tiers are now awarded in sequence, each with its own sign-off and minimum waiting period. This is a change from earlier guidance and it protects the integrity of the award.

Can a Bronze or Silver holder teach? Only under the same supervised conditions as all cadets. Every cadet tier requires direct supervision. The tiers reflect development and responsibility within supervised teaching, not any independent teaching permission.

Can we set higher standards? Yes, above the BMABA minimums, as long as they stay achievable. If requirements are excessive, BMABA may ask you to adjust them.

Can we backdate CPD? No. CPD counts from the start date forward. You can, however, set an opening position for existing experience at enrolment, and the minimum waiting period still applies from the start date.

What happens when a Gold cadet turns 18? On turning 18 and achieving 1st Dan or equivalent, they become eligible to move to the Adult pathway. Cadet CPD and mat hours may carry over at the club's discretion, and they must then meet all adult requirements.

What if an assistant is close to 18 at enrolment? Decide together, with parents where relevant, whether to start on the cadet pathway and move across to the adult pathway mid-term, or wait until they turn 18. If they turn 18 mid-term they can no longer receive the cadet tier awards, but their CPD carries over to the adult pathway.

What if a certification expires mid-pathway? Progress pauses until it is renewed. The club is responsible for keeping DBS, safeguarding and first aid current, and the platform will not award while BMABA membership is inactive.

Is any of it chargeable? No. The pathway, the platform, the licensing and every provision are covered by BMABA and included in membership.