Special Courses are courses arranged for your group at your base location. This means that within the template of the leader courses and qualifications course are tailored to take account of your existing skills, abilities and experiences as well as the specific needs of the employer or work role.

Special courses, as with all OTC courses are based on the groups needs and fulfilling these within the expected outcomes of the course. OTC pride ourselves on hitting your targets and enthusing your leaders to be able to provide the best mountain bike sessions available. Don't take our word for it: we have been working for the biggest and best providers in the UK (Forestry Commission; PGL Holidays; Neilson; Thomas Cook / Crystal Active for example, as well as many individual centres and organisations). For a full list of organisations for whom we currently work, pleasee the special courses listed at the calendar listing.

Any existing course can be run as a Special Course, provided the venue meets the Accredited Centre criteria and there are sufficient candidates. These include:

Site Specific Training and/or assessment
Assistant Leader Combined Training and Assessment
Road Leader Combined Training and Assessment
Trail Mountain Bike Leader Combined Training and Assessment
Technical Mountain Bike Leader Training and Assessment
Advanced Mountain Bike Leader Training and Assessment
Skill Awards and Skill Instructor Award Training and Assessment
Supporting courses
Pre-assessment Interviews

See name change info

Other courses, designed specifically to meet your mountain biking needs can also be arranged.

Special courses have the facility to be fully or part funded by employers or organisations. For current Special Course costs, determine your prefferred course, the number of people wanting to take the course, and contact OTC.

A suitable venue which meets the Accredited Centre Criteria.
A suitable group of sufficient numbers to make the course viable.
Sufficient timescale prior to the course to make arrangements for the course.
It is also possible, where you wish it, that the course is also opened to external candidates.

Substantial interest from University students has enabled OTC to arrange Special Courses at Universities specifically for their students. Advantages this brings include:

Financial support or assistance by the University.
Adherence to the Students Union Health and Safety Policies for mountain bike clubs.
Additional qualifications for students CV's.
The opportunity to earn during study years

See more on further and higher education courses here

Selecting the right course

To help you determine the right course for you, we have developed a special guide to identifying your current abilities, leader desires and employment demands. See our guide to choosing the correct course.

For more details or potential dates for special courses, contact OTC. We are always able to assist you in determining your precise requirements for your special course, and it is important to you and us that you get the right course.