EASI™ Instructor Tiers

Last Updated: 20 September 2026

What this page is

An instructor tier on EASI™ comes from an appointment. From i1 to i4, the appointment is made by an EASI recognised operator, not by EASI (i5 is set out in 2.6). There are five tiers, i1 to i5. This page says what each tier may do, how someone reaches it, what keeps it valid, and how it ends.

Tiers are optional. The EASI Basic Standard (https://easi.network/standards) asks for no instructor tier, and a recognised operator can award rider levels in its own right. Tiers apply to the staff an operator chooses to appoint in the EASI app. From 1 January 2028, an operator awarding in its own right does so on its paid subscription and an instructor awards on their own register listing; 1.7 says how that works, and awarding is free for everyone until then.

Read this first, because it is the part people get wrong: EASI does not certify instructors. EASI does not employ, direct, supervise or control them, does not train, assess or examine them, and does not run their day to day work. A recognised operator assesses a candidate and makes the appointment; EASI records it. Section 6 sets that out in full.

EASI Standard 1, Part 2: Instructor Registration sets out in detail the competencies, syllabus content and evidence behind each tier. It is a working draft and is not yet published. It is the reference for how an operator assesses a candidate, and it binds only an operator that applies for a higher operator tier.

1.0 The five tiers

1.1 Each tier changes exactly three things: who the holder may supervise, what the holder may assess and sign off for the appointing operator, and whether the holder may train other instructors.

1.2 i1 — ASSISTANT. Assists inside a session someone else is running. Supervises nobody independently and signs off nothing.

1.3 i2 — INSTRUCTOR. May teach and supervise R1 and R2 riders within ratio, and may assess and sign off R1 and R2.

1.4 i3 — SENIOR INSTRUCTOR. May teach and supervise R1 to R4 riders within ratio, may run a session team including i1s and i2s, and may assess and sign off R1 to R4.

1.5 i4 — INSTRUCTOR TRAINER. Trains instructor candidates and interns, and may deliver i1 and i2 courses and supervise internships. May not conduct the final assessment of a candidate they trained.

1.6 i5 — MODERATOR. Oversees an operator's assessment events at every tier, and may deliver moderator induction. A moderator assesses no candidate of their own.

1.7 Rider levels follow the same ladder: an i1 may award no rider level, an i2 may award R1 and R2, and an i3 or an i4 may award R1 to R4. An i5 moderator awards none, because moderating an assessment is not the same as making one. The EASI app enforces this on every award. The person who taught is the person who signs: an instructor awards a rider level only for a rider they taught or assessed themselves, and makes the award from their own account — no paper form, no wet ink. That is what signing means here, and 3.4 says what it commits them to. From 1 January 2028, recording an award also takes a paying role: the instructor's own current register listing, or the operator's paid subscription where a recognised operator awards in its own right. Until then awarding is free for everyone, through the whole of 2027. A paying role lets an award be recorded; it never decides what a rider has earned, which is always the honest assessment of whoever taught them. Rider levels are set out on the EASI Rider Levels page (https://easi.network/rider-levels).

1.8 A tier belongs to one appointment. The same person can be an i2 at one school and an i3 at another. A tier ends when that appointment ends, and the record of it stays.

2.0 How someone reaches each tier

2.1 From i1 to i4, every tier is reached the same way: a recognised operator assesses the candidate and, if it is satisfied, makes the appointment in the EASI app. The operator decides on its own assessment. The prerequisites below are the ladder as Standard 1 Part 2 draws it: the reference for how, binding only an operator that applies for a higher operator tier. Time held at the tier below, and logged hours, are the currency of the ladder, not attendance. i5 is set out in 2.6.

2.2 i1 — ASSISTANT. Minimum age 16. An R4 rider level held at least 6 months, at least 30 logged autonomous riding hours since R4 across at least three different sites or condition sets, first aid and CPR, and the rescue-support module MPH-R(A).

2.3 i2 — INSTRUCTOR. Minimum age 18. i1 held at least 3 months with at least 40 logged assisting hours across at least ten distinct sessions; first aid and CPR; the full rescue module MPH-R(L), including a completed live in-water rescue of a downed rider; and the i2 instructor course, run by a recognised operator to the EASI syllabus, of at least 8 training days and 60 contact hours.

2.4 i3 — SENIOR INSTRUCTOR. i2 held at least 12 months, at least 160 logged teaching hours at i2, current first aid and MPH-R(L), and the i3 upgrade seminar.

2.5 i4 — INSTRUCTOR TRAINER. i3 held at least 12 months, at least 1,000 logged career teaching hours, at least 25 R4 awards signed as assessor of record, and current first aid and MPH-R(L).

2.6 i5 — MODERATOR. i4 held at least 24 months, at least four complete i1 or i2 courses delivered as lead i4, current first aid and MPH-R(L), and appointment by EASI after a record review, moderator induction and a supervised moderating sequence. A moderator is the one appointment EASI makes itself, because the job is to oversee other people's assessments rather than to teach for a business.

3.0 The things that are not negotiable

3.1 First aid and CPR. Every tier from i1 upwards needs a recognised in-person first aid and CPR certificate, current within 24 months. Certificates earned wholly or partly online are not accepted. EASI does not teach, examine or certify first aid — it is a prerequisite you bring. If it expires, the operator must stand the instructor down until it is current again.

3.2 The rescue module. MPH-R is EASI's own rescue syllabus; operators deliver it. MPH-R(A), rescue support, is required at i1. MPH-R(L), leading a rescue, is required from i2 upwards, and awarding or revalidating it requires at least one completed live in-water rescue of a downed rider. Rescue currency runs on the same 24-month cycle as first aid, so both renew together.

3.3 Separation of trainer and assessor. Nobody conducts the final assessment of a candidate whose training they substantially delivered. An i4 may run i1 and i2 courses but not assess their own trainees. An assessor or moderator also stands aside where they have a financial interest in the candidate's operator, are a close relative, or have any other conflict. This rule cannot be waived: where no independent assessor or moderator is available, the assessment waits.

3.4 What a signature means. An instructor who signs a rider's checkpoint, session record or rider-level award, or who countersigns another instructor's hours, is stating they personally verified it. A false, reckless or unverifiable signature is misconduct by the person who signed. Their own appointment, and their operator's recognition, is on the line in every signature.

3.5 Logged hours. Hours count when they are logged and countersigned, with date, site, operator, role, the craft used, duration and activity, and the countersigner's identity. Hours that cannot be verified do not count.

4.0 Staying current

4.1 There are two cycles, not one, and today they move together. The appointment runs for 36 months on the dates in 4.2. The register listing that carries it runs for 36 months of its own: while no listing fee is charged — and 6.6 says none is charged before 1 January 2028 — the listing is renewed with the appointment at revalidation; once a fee applies, 6.9 says which 36 months it runs for. There is no annual membership and no yearly renewal. While a register listing has lapsed, the instructor is not listed with EASI: the app will not let them award a rider level, and they must not show the EASI seal or say they are listed with EASI. Whether they teach is a matter between them and their operator, and it is the appointing operator's job to know the listing has lapsed.

4.2 An appointment runs for 36 months from when it was made or last revalidated. Revalidating in time is for the instructor and their operator to do, and whether to renew the appointment is the operator's decision, on its own assessment. Standard 1 Part 2 is the reference for what a revalidation checks: current first aid and rescue currency, and logged teaching. Revalidating an appointment and renewing its register listing are two different things, counted on their own dates: this clause counts the appointment, and 6.9 counts the listing.

4.3 After any continuous 12-month period with no logged teaching, the operator observes a session and signs it off before teaching resumes.

4.4 Revalidation has a three-month grace period: revalidate within three months of expiry and the new period runs on from the original expiry date. A lapse of up to 12 months is cured by revalidating. Beyond 12 months, a reinstatement course is required, and that course is the operator's: its tuition is paid to the operator, not to EASI. This clause is the appointment's cycle. A register listing has a grace period of its own, on the same three months, and 6.9 says how a lapsed listing is cured.

5.0 Suspension, ending and review

5.1 The operator that made an appointment can suspend it, reinstate it or end it in the EASI app. EASI records that the operator did so, and when. While an appointment is suspended or ended, it cannot be used to award a rider level.

5.2 An expired first aid certificate and a lapsed register listing are both administrative matters, not findings of misconduct. A stand-down for expired first aid currency ends when the certificate is restored. A lapsed listing is not a stand-down: what it stops is the award, the seal and any claim to be listed with EASI, as 4.1 says, and it ends when the listing is restored.

5.3 An instructor who thinks their record is wrong can ask EASI to review it, free, by writing to admin@easi.network.

5.4 A register record is not deleted because an appointment ended. The record keeps what was held, when, and whether it was current when it ended.

6.0 What EASI does and does not do

6.1 EASI publishes the EASI Standard, recognises operator businesses that keep to it, and records the appointments those operators make. EASI maintains that register. It is not open to public lookup yet.

6.2 EASI does not employ, direct, supervise or control any instructor. It does not train, assess or examine them, and it does not manage or oversee their day to day work. From i1 to i4, an appointment is the operator's act and remains the operator's act.

6.3 ID confirmed. The "ID confirmed" tick on an Instructor role in the EASI app means EASI has confirmed the person's identity and accepted their role. It is not a tier, and it says nothing about their competence. Only an appointment carries a tier, and only an instructor whose tier allows it can award a rider level.

6.4 EASI is a private, voluntary industry scheme. EASI is the scheme owner, not a certifying body, and it is not an accreditation body. It is not accredited by or affiliated with UKAS, does not operate under Regulation (EC) No 765/2008 or its retained UK equivalent, and claims neither. EASI recognition applies to operator businesses only and carries no government or UKAS status.

6.5 Nothing here relieves an instructor or an operator of their own legal duties, including local licensing, employment, safeguarding and maritime law. Where local law is stricter than anything on this page, local law applies.

6.6 Fees, where they apply, pay for audit, moderation, register listing and scheme administration. No fee buys an appointment, a tier, a register record an operator has not awarded, or any other outcome. No instructor fee is charged today, and none will be charged before 1 January 2028. EASI will publish every instructor fee on this page by 1 December 2027, with the date it starts, and the first fees apply from 1 January 2028. Any fee introduced after that, and any change to a fee already published, is published on this page at least 60 days before it applies. The fee you pay is the fee published here on the day it falls due, and it does not change once your 36 months have started.

6.7 What you never pay for. There is no annual membership and no yearly renewal: any instructor fee, once published, is paid for 36 months at a time, and 6.9 says which 36 months. One person, one fee: however many operators appoint you, you pay once for each 36 months, at the highest tier any of those appointments carries, and your other appointments are listed at no extra charge. Where one of them is at a higher tier than the tier your listing is paid at, you pay the difference and nothing more, as 6.9 sets out. Asking EASI to review your record is free. EASI does not charge anyone to confirm a record. Insurance is never bundled into any fee, and EASI never requires cover from a particular insurer. There is no per-seat pricing. Being listed, logging sessions and seeing riders' records stay free for every recognised operator (EASI Operator Agreement, clause 4.5, https://easi.network/operator-agreement). And where a moderator oversees an assessment, EASI pays the moderator: the operator being moderated never pays the person moderating it, and neither does the candidate.

6.8 A recognised operator keeps its course tuition in full. EASI takes no share of what an operator charges for teaching, at any tier.

6.9 When a listing's 36 months run. A register listing runs for 36 months at a time, on dates of its own. Where a fee starts applying to appointments that are already listed, those 36 months run from the day it starts, whatever date each appointment was made. Where an operator appoints you at a higher tier inside a listing you have already paid for, you pay the difference between the two and the 36 months run on from the original date — the move up is the operator's appointment, and the fee only records it. A listing has a three-month grace period, the same as a revalidation: renew inside it and the new 36 months run on from the original expiry date; cure a lapse after it and the new 36 months run from the day the fee is paid. Where an operator's paid subscription covers a listing fee, that listing belongs to one person and runs on that person's own dates: it is not an awarding licence the operation passes around, because an award is signed by the person who taught the rider, as 1.7 says. Your appointment's own revalidation is counted separately, under 4.2 and 4.4, on your operator's dates.

7.0 Describing your tier

7.1 Name the operator whenever you name your tier: "i2 Instructor, appointed by [operator], an EASI recognised operator." If the appointment is suspended or ends, or the operator stops being recognised, the EASI Brand Rules say what to do with the line.

7.2 You may show the EASI seal next to that line, on the terms in the EASI Brand Rules (https://easi.network/brand-rules): only while your appointment is active, only while the operator that appointed you is recognised, and, from 1 January 2028, only while your own register listing is paid and current — never on its own, and never on anything that looks like a qualification. Until that date the seal costs nothing. If your listing lapses, take the seal down; your tier line can stay, because your operator's appointment has not changed, and the Brand Rules say how long you have.

7.3 A course belongs to the operator that runs it: "the i2 instructor course with [operator], to the EASI syllabus". EASI does not run courses.

7.4 Please do not say "EASI certified", "EASI accredited", "EASI qualified", "EASI approved", "EASI trained", "EASI verified instructor", "EASI course", "UKAS accredited" or "government approved", or name a tier with EASI and no operator, such as "EASI i3". None of these describe anything EASI does.

8.0 Questions and corrections

8.1 If you think a tier or an appointment recorded about you is wrong, email admin@easi.network and EASI will review it, free. What EASI holds about you, and how to get a copy, is in the EASI Privacy Policy (https://easi.network/privacy-policy).

8.2 If you are an operator and you disagree with a rule you are held to, the EASI Standard page (https://easi.network/standards) sets out how to challenge it.

8.3 Anything else: email admin@easi.network.

See also: EASI Rider Levels (https://easi.network/rider-levels), the EASI Standard (https://easi.network/standards), the EASI Brand Rules (https://easi.network/brand-rules) and the EASI Operator Agreement (https://easi.network/operator-agreement).