[Mal Bridgeman]

Originally Posted by Garf

There are two levels of "pass" for a fundementals course. The Recreational pass suggests the instructor is happy that the student met the requirements to be qualified with GUE, and get the nitrox certification etc. However, if the student wishes to continue GUE training with a Tech or Cave course, they must upgrade their recreational pass to a "technical" pass, as the tech pass is a pre-requisite. This is so that the tech and cave instructors know precisely what level the students who come on their course are at, and dont have to teach them the basics - the whole point of fundementals.

The reason for not getting a technical pass is either equipment related (you must use twinset, canister light and a backup light I think for a tech pass), or skills related - you must be able to perform a valve drill etc. It could also be becuase the instructor just "feels" like the person needs to do more work in a particular area. GUE seem to give their instructors a great deal of leeway in this area as they are not just looking for people who tick the skills boxes, but people who actually "get it" - display a grasp and appreciation of the team ethos etc. I think this is a great approach. The instructor will give the student who gets a recreational pass a detailed set of instructions for what they need to work on in order to upgrade so they can go away and put their hours in before coming back to be re-evaluated, so I suspect Clare has given Frankie a very clear idea of what he has to do now if he wants to upgrade to a tech pass.

To add a bit to Garf's answer, there is also a "recreational" curriculum and a recreational pass gives access to that training.

As well as the light and doubles usage, the requirements of trim and buoyancy control are different between the two types also.

HTH
Mal