BSAC has welcomed three new National Instructors - Kathryn Fowler, Stuart Girdler and Alex Warzynski - following a ‘shake-up’ of the assessment process for the club’s highest instructor grade.
The 2025 National Instructor (NI) candidates were put through their paces over three days in Plymouth as BSAC piloted a new structure for the annual assessment.
Each year, BSAC offers suitably qualified members the opportunity to undertake the National Instructor course and join the ranks of NIs who lead and develop BSAC training and delivery. With Kathryn, Stuart and Alex attaining the grade, 283 BSAC members now hold the NI qualification.
The introduction of a more flexible approach for 2025 meant that candidates could use ‘real-time’ teaching opportunities on the BSAC’s Instructor Training Scheme as preparation for their final assessment. As a result, the National Instructor ‘pilot’ saw the final assessment held over three rather than the usual four days.
Thanking all the 2025 candidates for taking part, National Diving Officer Sophie Rennie, who is also BSAC’s National Instructor Chief Examiner, offered her congratulations to the three new National Instructors.
2025 was the year for a shake-up of the National Instructor Exam and a chance to pilot a new structure. Part of the new exam saw them be assessed as Lead Instructors or Lead Examiners on the Open Water Instructor courses and exams, so they will be around and about doing this for real early in 2026. Good luck, well done, and well deserved.
Meet the new National Instructors
Stuart Girdler, NI282
After withdrawing from the assessment last year due to work constraints, 2025 saw me join the best bunch of divers I’ve ever worked with on the new and accessible NI prep and exam scheme.
Having been appointed as NI282, I can now answer the question - if I had not met the standards, would I have done it again? Yes, without doubt!
Alex Warzynski, NI283
I completed my First Class Diver earlier this year, so National Instructor seemed a good idea. The new modular format makes the events easier to attend, but no less difficult to achieve the high standards set at National level. “If you’re well dived up, an experienced ITS coach, and prepared to put the work in, NI is certainly achievable.
Kathryn Fowler NI 281
Working with a wide range of Instructors and Instructor Trainers at different levels has given me exposure to different instructing techniques. It has been an intense couple of years in the build-up to the NI exam, but the preps and the exam experience have pushed my instructing and diving to another level.
For more information on National Instructor, go to bsac.com/ni
