At any moment, BCUSU has around 100 societies covering a huge range of activities.
Many groups decide to contract professional support for one or more of their activities to ensure they are delivering high quality activity - more often than not this means engaging a qualified coach or instructor to lead sessions.
In order to be able to work with our societies, BCUSU requires any eligible coach or instructor* to register with them for the current academic year. Any eligible coach or instructor who isn't registered will not be permitted access to campus and will not have any invoices processed for payment.
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Stage 1 - Registration
The form linked below must be completed by the coach/instructor.
Registration will require coaches/instructors to provide:
- Proof of adequate public liability insurance
- Relevant and in-date qualifications (minimum levels detailed in the FAQ section below)
- First Aid certificate (where applicable)
- Details of relevant experience
- Details of two referees
All submitted documents should clearly show the name of the awarding institution, details of what is covered including level of cover and the issue and expiry dates.
Once the form has been submitted, it will be reviewed by staff from the Activities and Representation team who will communicate the outcome to you directly. Please be aware, timescales will depend on how quickly we receive responses from referees.
Registrations must be approved before coaches or instructors can enter into contract negotiations with an affiliated society.
Coach/Instructor Registration
Stage 2 - Society Agreement
Once a coach/instructor is registered and approved, they can enter into an agreement with one (or more) societies.
The completed agreement must be submitted by the society committee.
As part of a coaches registraion, when approved they will be issued with a registration code. Once they are happy with the terms of the contract, this code should be provided to the committee to enter into the form as a digital 'signature'.
A copy of the agreement will be submitted to both parties as well as being recorded by BCUSU.
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Society Agreement Form
Stage 3 - Paying your coach/instructor
You can normally pay a coach/instructor only for services that they have already provided within the same academic year they were registered. If you believe you have a valid reason to submit an invoice or reimbursement request before services have been provided, please speak to your coordinator first.
When submitting an invoice, your registered coach/instructor should ensure it contains the following, as a minimum:
- the date of the invoice and a unique invoice number
- the name and address of the company sending the invoice
- a clear description of the goods/services they're charging you for, including dates
- the full amount being charged (stipulating VAT if appropriate)
- the payee's bank details (bank name, name on the account, account number and sort code)
If the invoice is from a registered company then the bank account should be in the company name, or there should be a clear link between the name on the account and the company.
If the invoice is from an individual there must be a statement on the invoice reading "I understand that I am responsible for my own tax and national insurance".
Invoices should be completed and saved as a PDF by the payee themselves. Documents submitted in other forms (.doc files, for example) are less secure and will not be accepted.
The invoice should then be checked and submitted, by the committee, through the Student Group Finance (SGF) module. You can speak to your coordinator if you need help.
NB: We will not reimburse public liability insurance purchases or any other costs associated to the trainers qualifications and ability to affiliate to BCUSU.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Lead coaches/instructors must be qualified to UKCC Level 2 (or equivalent).
- Assistant coaches/instructors must be qualified to UKCC Level 1 (or equivalent).
- Voluntary coaches/instructors should be working towards gaining their UKCC Level 1 (or equivalent) and should only work under the supervision of a suitably qualified coach.
If you have any questions regarding coaching qualifications, please email activitiesandrepresentation@bcu.ac.uk.
For more information on required qualifications, you can view the attached minimum qualification document.
If approved, the registration of a coach/instructor is valid for the remainder of the current academic year. This is primarily because it's the discretion of each incoming committee to choose which coach(es) the want to use.
BCUSU may specify an earlier registration end date if, for example, the individuals insurance certificate expires sooner or if their coaching qualification will need to be renewed.
If this is the case, the coach/instructor should email their renewed document(s) to activitiesandrepresentation@bcu.ac.uk before expiry. We will then extend the registration of the coach/instructor until the new end date, or the end of the current academic year - whichever is sooner.
Somebody trained in first aid should be present at all society events.
Ideally, this would be the coach/instructor leading the session, however it is not a requirement of a coaches afiliation with a society.
For events held on campus, all BCU security staff are first aid trained and should be the first point of contact if required. For any other event, if the coach/instructor is not first aid trained, we will require the society to name a first aider who will be present.
During the registration process, we ask the coach/instructor to upload their public liability insurance certificate.
The following details must be visible in the uploaded document:
- Type of Insurance (i.e. Public Liability Insurance)
- Coverage Amount (which should be at least £1 million)
- Policy number and issuing company
- Name of person insured
- Start and end date of insurance
Please note that if the end date is during the academic year, your registration with BCUSU will expire at this point unless we receive an updated insurance certificate via email to activitiesandrepresentation@bcu.ac.uk.