Cycling Proficiency Test
 Cycling proficiency badge awarded in the 1970s | |
| Skills tested | Safe road cycling |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Accident prevention |
| Year started | 1958 |
| Year terminated | 2007 |
| Regions | United Kingdom |
| Annual number of test takers | 250,000 (in 1979) |
| Prerequisites | Child aged c. 10 years old |
From 1958 to 2007, the Cycling Proficiency Test was offered to children around 10 years old across the UK. It assessed a child's potential for riding a bicycle safely on public roads. The National Cycling Proficiency Scheme (NCPS) provided a period of instruction followed by the test. The test and the scheme were developed by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA).
Child cycle training schemes were chosen and delivered by local authorities. By the 1990s, the NCPS was competing with more recent schemes based on cycling awareness, which trained cyclists to identify risks to their safety and ride accordingly.
In 2007, the NCPS and the Cycling Proficiency Test were replaced by the Bikeability programme.
History
Before World War II, UK cycling groups had been lobbying the government to train school children in riding their bicycles safely on public roads. After the war, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) developed the Cycling Proficiency Test. On 7 October 1947, seven children took the first test indoors at a RoSPA road safety conference.[1] In 1957, 37,000 children passed the test.[2] The National Cycling Proficiency Scheme (NCPS), which included the test, was launched in 1958.[1][a] By 1979, the scheme was training 250,000 children a year.[3]
The NCPS provided children aged 9–10 years old with a period of instruction, riding a set of manoeuvres and learning relevant parts of The Highway Code, followed by the test. It was delivered by local authorities, who were subject to reorganisation.[3]
By the 1990s, child cycle training had become fragmented with authorities choosing their own schemes. In 1996, the Transport Research Laboratory compared eight schemes for the Department of Transport. Four were NCPS variants based on instruction. The rest, including one developed by RoSPA, were more recent and were based on cycling awareness, which trained child cyclists to identify risks to their safety and ride accordingly.[2]
In 2007, the NCPS and the Cycling Proficiency Test were replaced by the Bikeability programme.[4]
Notes
Citations
- ^ a b c RoSPA 2001, p. 1.
- ^ a b c Savill, Bryan-Brown & Harland 1996, p. 4.
- ^ a b c Wells, Downing & Bennett 1979, p. 1.
- ^ Topping 2007.
References
- Wells, Pat; Downing, C. S.; Bennett, Marie (1979). Comparison of On-Road and Off-Road Cycle Training for Children (Report). Crowthorne: Transport and Road Research Laboratory. ISSN 0305-1293. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- Savill, Tracey; Bryan-Brown, Katie; Harland, Gordon (1996). The Effectiveness of Child Cycle Training Schemes (Report). Crowthorne: Transport Research Laboratory. ISSN 0968-4107. Retrieved 15 February 2026.
- The Effectiveness of Cyclist Training (PDF) (Report). Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents. September 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2006. Retrieved 18 February 2026.
- Topping, Alexandra (26 March 2007). "Young Cyclists Road Test New Scheme". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 19 February 2026.