Whether you want to take theory sessions from the Diver Training Programme, find out more about a specific subject or sharpen your skills, we have a webinar for you.
We have been working with the Diver Resources Team and our incredibly knowledgable volunteers to create a programme of webinars that covers special interest, diver training and BSAC updates. We're sure to have something for you!
Disclaimer: These webinars are put together by volunteers. Neither the volunteers nor BSAC are liable for any damages arising from any action taken as a result of watching these webinars. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute endorsement or recommendation by BSAC. The views expressed by volunteers are their own.
Do I need to sign up for webinars in advance?
Training webinars: Yes, please sign up. To ensure your attendance is registered and counts towards your Diver Grade, you may be required to purchase a training pack. These are now available for all to buy on the BSAC Shop.
Special interest webinars: Simply click the booking buttons to sign up for the webinar in advance.
Booking for all webinars closes at 17:00 the day before the webinar.
Please note all times are UK (BST / GMT) unless otherwise stated
If you'd like to request specific training, please fill out this form. Any special interest topics you'd like featured? Or guest speakers you'd like us to ask? Please email us and we'll see what we can do!
Booking for all webinars closes at 17:00 the day before.
Week beginning 4 October |
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| Mon 4 Oct 19:30 - 20:30 |
RNLI use of checklists in casualty careIn the presentation, Paul is going to describe how treatment check cards and check card medicine revolutionised the RNLI, and how this concept has now spread via his card sets to multiple organisations across the UK. It is a fact that as you read this 30,000 people in the UK will be ready to treat someone using Paul's card sets. Paul Savage is Chairman of the UK Search and Rescue Medical Group on behalf of the UK Government which shapes the future and direction of UK SAR medicine and is a member of the main advisory board and the training and standards board of the Faculty of Pre-Hospital Care at the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh). He is also an instructor for specialist elite sections of the UK military. |
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| Wed 6 Oct 19:30 - 20:30 |
Advanced Diver: AT1AT1 - The role of the advanced diver |
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Week beginning 11 Oct |
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| Mon 11 Oct 19:30 - 20:30 |
Radio communicationsCheryl Clifford and Luxury Bell will cover how to call the HM Coastguard via terrestrial communications including VHF, telephone and DSC, as well as what happens when you contact the coastguard and what information is needed to get help to you. There will be an opportunity to ask any questions you may have about coastguard operations and communication methods. |
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| Wed 13 Oct |
Advanced Diver: AT2AT2 - Advanced diving |
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| Thu 14 Oct 19:30 - 20:30 |
Understanding metal shipwrecksBSAC Heritage Advisor, Jane Maddocks, looks at how divers can navigate steamships underwater because they understand the structure and recognise the main bits of wreck as they swim over it. This webinar is for anyone who is on a wreck and thinks “I don’t know where I am”. The webinar will also cover ways of researching the story of a wreck to confirm its identity. |
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Week beginning 18 October |
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| Mon 18 Oct 19:30 - 20:30 |
ScubaTrust: diving with a disabilityScubaTrust is a registered charity formed 25 years ago. The simple aim is to teach or reteach people with a wide range of disabilities to scuba dive. Eric Bellworthy has been involved for eight years and he will discuss the physical and mental benefits of scuba to people with a disability. Eric will use examples of the difficulties individuals and groups encounter and overcome. The work is completed by volunteers who along with the members pay all their own travel and expenses. |
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| Wed 20 Oct 19:30 - 20:30 |
Advanced Diver: AT3AT3 - Organising diving from different platforms |
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Week beginning 25 October |
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| Mon 25 Oct 19:30 - 20:30 |
Diving the Azores
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| Wed 27 Oct 19:30 - 20:30 |
Advanced Diver: AT4AT4 - Review of diving conditions and on-site first aid |
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| Thu 28 Oct 19:30 - 20:30 |
Filmmaking for diversAdvanced Instructor Don Hendry talks through what filmmaking for divers entails: what sort of camera to use and how to use video editing software. |
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Week beginning 1 November |
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| Mon 1 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Abu Dhabi Sub-Aqua Club: an overseas branch
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| Wed 3 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Advanced Diver theory revision |
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Week beginning 8 November |
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| Mon 8 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Coral under climate changeThe Red Sea hosts some of the world’s most diverse and colourful coral reefs and is a popular holiday destination for British divers in search of warmer water. But the Red Sea is warming much faster than the global average as a result of human-induced climate change. This talk will explore recent changes in the Red Sea and how marine biologists are working to understand the impacts those changes are having on reefs. Marine biologist, Dr Jessica Bellworthy, will share the journey to the discovery that corals in the Red Sea may be some of the strongest in the face of climate change and why now it is even more important to protect this divers’ paradise. |
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| Wed 10 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Marine Conservation Society: MicroplasticsAround one-third of (primary) microplastics entering the oceans comes from textiles. Fibres have been found to make up the majority of all microplastics found in deep-sea sediments. These microfibres come from the clothes we wear and wash. MCS's Head of Clean Seas, Laura Foster, will lead the talk, focussing on what the Marine Conservation Society has been doing to reduce the number of microfibres polluting our ocean. |
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| Wed 10 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Advanced Diver theory revision |
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Week beginning 15 November |
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| Mon 15 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Police divingPolice diver, Dave English, will cover an introduction to the police diving teams in the UK and where they train, with a focus on the Yorkshire Underwater Search Unit. The webinar will cover the make-up of the team, the types of jobs undertaken and methods used eg. search patterns. |
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| Wed 17 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Advanced Diver theory exam |
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Week beginning 22 November |
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| Mon 22 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Wreckspeditions: diving from DunoonJason Coles, co-owner of Wreckspeditions and skipper of Starfish Enterprise will take you on a journey of dive sites in the Clyde, plus the expeditions that are possible and run around SW Scotland, including rarely dived sites around the Isle of Arran, Mull of Kintyre and Ailsa Craig with over 200 wreck sites and thousands of scenic options still waiting to be explored. Jason will cover the conditions you expect and how to experience the diving in this fabulous diving location. |
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| Wed 24 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Ghost Fishing UK: ghost storiesIn recent months, divers removing lost fishing gear from the seas has captured the public imagination and also excited a whole raft of recreational scuba divers. Chair of Ghost Fishing UK, Rich Walker, will go through some of the history of the charity and explain how it functions today. He’ll go into detail about the tools used to undertake this risky work, and the strategies the teams use to keep it effective, efficient and safe. |
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| Thu 25 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Diving Officer Q&AAre you a newly-appointed Diving Officer? Maybe you fancy updating your knowledge? Diving Officer Q&A sessions are designed to get you virtually 'in the room' with BSAC's Coaching Advisor, Mark Paisey. You can ask any questions you may have and Mark will direct you to all the relevant information and support available to branch DOs. |
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Week beginning 29 November |
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| Mon 29 Nov 19:30 - 20:30 |
Midlands Diving Chamber: hyperbaric medicine |
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Week beginning 6 December |
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| Mon 6 Dec 19:30 - 20:30 |
Scottish marine life citizen science
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| Wed 8 Dec 19:30 - 20:30 |
Marine Conservation Society: Climate and blue carbonVolunteer and Community Engagement Managers for the Marine Conservation Society, Jules and Kate, talk about their work on seagrass as part of a large, ambitious project in Southern England. Until recently, not much was known about seagrass and other ‘Blue Carbon’ habitats outside of academic marine biology circles. As countries look to reduce climate de-stabilising emissions, and strive for net-zero, soaking up greenhouse gases by restoring natural habitats that lock up carbon is becoming more interesting to a much wider audience. Seagrass provides important habitat in the ocean for many species and can help to combat the biodiversity crisis too. It affects and is affected by climate change and provides us with other services we don’t see, and probably take for granted. This webinar will be looking at what threats there are to seagrass, what is being done about protecting and restoring it and how you can help. |
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Week beginning 13 December |
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| Mon 13 Dec 19:30 - 20:30 |
Diving Belles: famous women in divingIn 2016, The Diving Museum held an exhibition on women in diving. To celebrate the event, they asked Reg Vallintine to present a talk on the subject at the museum; this is his talk. It is a light-hearted review of some of the most notable women in diving from the ancient Greeks to the present day, including some pioneering ladies in BSAC. |
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Week beginning 3 January |
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| Tue 4 Jan 19:30 - 20:30 |
Marine geology, seabeds and habitats of the south coastAdvanced Diver, Simon Winstanley, will provide a basic appreciation of the geology of the English south coast, discussing both vertical and horizontal planes as well as examining the sedimentary nature of the seabed and its classification. The presentation will touch on the coastal areas (littoral zones) and provide an appreciation of different marine habitats allowing a diver to focus on the most likely phylum of plants and animals. |
Booking coming soon |
Week beginning 10 January |
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| Tue 11 Jan 19:30 - 20:30 |
Marine identification: taxonomy and classificationBSAC's Marine Identification course is a great day event that will introduce a diver into the underwater world. Advanced Diver, Simon Winstanley, will provide additional knowledge to help understand the grouping and relations between different plants, animals and things! The presentation will scratch the surface of some questions like when is a plant not a plant; what looks like a plant but are animals; when is a coral not a coral; fish that dissolve their brain and become static digestive systems; what the difference between an anemone and a coral; and more. |
Booking coming soon |
Week beginning 17 January |
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| Mon 17 Jan 19:30 - 20:30 |
Newly-qualified instructors: help and guidanceTaking your first steps as a newly qualified diving instructor can sometimes be daunting! And integrating new instructors in your already established training team can also be challenging. In this session, Advanced Instructor, David Ashmore, will provide some help and guidance aimed at not only NQIs but also Training/Diving Officers, as well as committees. For NQIs, we'll talk through what your next steps could be and how to make sure you become the very best instructor you can be. For branches, we'll provide advice on how to make sure NQIs can be supported through those difficult first few courses as well as how to embrace those up-to-date methods and ways of teaching which they will inevitably bring to your instructor team. Whilst this session is aimed at NQIs and TO/DOs, we welcome anyone who might be interested in the topic. |
Booking coming soon |
| Thu 20 Jan 19:30-20:30 |
Be a better Dive Leader by applying human factorsEveryone loves a story. We will look at some real-life diving incidents involving Divemasters and draw human factors lessons from them. This is learning from others. Mike Mason will also provide some specific advice on how Dive Leaders can apply human factors to make their diving safer, more productive and more enjoyable. Mike is an experienced military pilot in his day job and works as a Divemaster at weekends. He is also a BSAC Dive Leader. He is striving to improve diving safety through the application of human factors. |
Booking coming soon |
Week beginning 31 January |
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| Mon 31 Jan 19:30 - 20:30 |
Behind the scenes of Advanced Diver module AP2Michael Benko, Diving Officer at Putney Sub-Aqua Club, will discuss his experience of completing his AP2 module on dive planning and management. The module is designed to teach you how to run a two-day diving event and the webinar will cover the research, planning and execution of Michael’s project diving an unknown barge outside Portland Harbour. |
Booking coming soon |
| Wed 2 Feb 19:30 - 20:30 |
Jim and Ged's around the world diving adventureJim and Ged Brockett took time out between jobs to sail around the world diving at every location possible on the way. This is their story. |
Booking coming soon |
Week beginning 7 February |
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| Mon 7 Feb 19:30 - 20:30 |
Identifying motor torpedo boatsBrian Millar will cover the three classes of Royal Navy motor torpedo boats and how to identify them. This webinar comes from a diving project conducted off Portland to identify a motor torpedo boat wrecksite. |
Booking coming soon |
| Wed 9 Feb 19:30-20:30 |
Dive Leader and the role in the communityBecoming a Dive Leader isn’t only about diving a little deeper or leading less experienced divers in the water. In this session, FCD David Ashmore will talk in detail about what, as a Dive Leader, you can do to make your club and the wider BSAC community a better place to be for everyone. Whilst this session is aimed at qualified and trained Dive Leaders, it is open to anyone who is interested. |
Booking coming soon |
Week beginning 14 February |
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| Wed 16 Feb 19:30 - 20:30 |
Dive Leader: planning a diving dayIn this session, FCD David Ashmore will explore in more depth the processes and practices used to plan and manage a diving day. This session expands on the information learned in DL module, DT8, but no prior knowledge is assumed or required. The session will cover planning a simple trip to a quarry, through to organising a day out with the club RIB. Whilst this session is aimed at qualified and trained Dive Leaders, it is open to anyone who is interested. |
Booking coming soon |
Week beginning 21 February |
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| Mon 21 Feb 19:30 - 20:30 |
Trimix and the brain |
More info and booking coming soon |
| Wed 23 Feb 19:30 - 20:30 |
Dive Leader: learning from incidentsEach year, BSAC publishes a detailed report on all of the diving incidents which occurred over the preceding 12 month period. Whilst reading the report is often a sobering exercise, in this session, FCD David Ashmore will talk about how we can turn this into a learning experience, how we can apply thought processes and techniques to prevent them from happening again. Whilst this session is aimed at qualified and trained Dive Leaders, it is open to anyone who is interested. |
Booking coming soon |
Week beginning 28 February |
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| Mon 28 Feb 19:30 - 20:30 |
SCUBA, robotics and 3D imageryThis talk will highlight part of Karen Boswarva's (BSAC Marine Environment Specialist Scotland) PhD research conducted recently at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS), Oban. This work compared surveys conducted by scuba and remote operated vehicles (ROVs), testing 3D photogrammetry as a potential method for managing commercial shellfish species. You will learn about:
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Booking coming soon |
