A Candidate's Review.
The following is the view of Tony Clarke of Hert's & Bedford Advanced Motorcyclists who recently participated in the IAM's (Motorcycle) Special Assessment:-
The Ultimate Test
At my tri-annual RoSPA Diploma retest, the Examiner (a serving Class 1) commented a “bl**dy good Gold”. I felt rightly pleased because I think I’m quite good – but just how good is “good”?
Our local Examiner, John Atkinson, has been banging on about the IAM Special Assessment for years – it’s so special that so few people take it that the product is under review, I’m told. At a previous Committee meeting, we decided to offer all our very regular Observers the opportunity to do the Special Assessment. OK then - £60 test fee in the post and let’s go for it.
To maintain maximum consistency, these Assessments are conducted by the IAM Staff Examiners. Jon Taylor covers the Southern half of the country. We’d agreed to meet at Rykers Café at Box Hill, near Leatherhead. The day dawned wet and cold – just right (not) for that hardly scrubbed in set of tyres I’d put on at the weekend. I wasn’t feeling my best either after some over strenuous DIY and a few late nights at work. Although we agreed to meet at 11am, by the time I’d filtered through 50 miles of packed traffic on the A1M and M25 (it’s 75 miles to Box Hill), I was cold and feeling the strain – I didn’t feel a huge amount better after a recuperative coffee. Not an auspicious omen.
Jon was bang on time. The briefing was what I’d expect and we were off. The next 90 minutes were on a variety of roads from motorway to very narrow single track. Even on a perfect day, the fastest rider would have a job to safely attain nsl. Being a damp, gloomy autumn day, there were plenty of hazards to cope with from leaf fall to big puddles and inches of muck in the middle of the road. There were times that deepest Surrey (which I never knew had so many narrow lanes) felt like Middle earth! Needless to say, direction changes were given via Jon’s indicators and I’d never ridden on any of the 50 odd miles of road that we covered.
After 90 minutes I knew my concentration was starting to wane – but as we’d made good progress Jon directed me into a ridiculously narrow lane for a further few miles and then on to some town work.
Back at Rykers there was another surprise in store. Jon did a neat figure of 8 in the leaves (to check they weren’t too slippery) and invited me to follow suit. The first attempt was too fast so I had to do it again; lock to lock slower than walking pace. Did I say I was knackered? I have to admit that Jon did this exercise (on my bike) better than I could.
Before the debrief I had a couple of written tests to do (why is that you can’t do the simplest thing when you brain is fried?) And no, I’d not read Roadcraft from cover to cover as I should.
Jon said that given what I do (RoSPA Diploma, IAM Snr Observer and a Regional Motorcycle Advisor) he was expecting a high standard of riding. Thankfully he said that he wasn't disappointed. OK, so I wasn’t as good as I wanted to be, but that’s the perfectionist in me. The feedback was very helpful.
If you take up the challenge don’t expect a high mark – 100% is an impossibility. Police Class 1’s are expected to achieve a mere 85% - so anything over 70% is, in reality, “bl**dy good” – the written report may take a few weeks, but I’m hopeful of getting into the 70’s.
Would I recommend the Special Assessment? You bet I would! This was the most challenging ride I’ve ever had. The Special Assessment also serves to demonstrate that it doesn’t matter how good you may be – there’s ALWAYS room for improvement. Jon’s very comprehensive debrief confirmed my feeling that I’d given a ride below my best and pointed me to a few areas for development; and that’s the most useful part.
Food for thought. As Members know, all H.B.A.M. Senior Observers offer ‘Enhanced Advanced’ – so you can go on to take a RoSPA test and get your Gold. Why bother? For the same money you could take the Special Assessment, save your annual sub to RoSPA and use what you’ve saved for periodical retests.
Tony Clarke
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