If you are thinking about becoming a PADI Instructor, I’m sure you have wondered – how difficult is the PADI IDC? Maybe you have spoken to other instructors who have recounted their own war stories, or chatted with Course Directors who told you that it’s a walk in the park. The reality is that your PADI Instructor Development Course will likely be somewhere in between the two, and the experience will be different for everyone. The saying “to be forewarned is to be forearmed” definitely applies here, and that’s what this post will try to help you with. We will look at what the common IDC challenges are for people; what are the best ways to prepare; and whether its possible to actually fail your IDC or IE. Plus (spoiler alert!) we tell you what “IE” really stands for.
Over the years, Angel and I have conducted many IDCs and trained literally hundreds of PADI Pros. We have seen that the IDC can bring unique challenges to each candidate. This post is not going to eliminate these issues but reading it before your IDC may help you to prepare well and so reduce the stress of those challenges. With less stress, you will enjoy your IDC and learn more. It might even lead to fewer grey hairs for your Course Director which, trust me, is always a bonus!
What does the IDC teach you?
The PADI Instructor Development Course (IDC) is designed to build upon what you have already learnt in your journey to become a PADI Pro. The more you have absorbed over the months or years as a diver, and the more questions you have asked, the better equipped you will be to become an excellent PADI Instructor. The quality of your Divemaster course is an important factor in being well prepared for your IDC, but is not the only factor. How many logged dives you have is also relevant, but how much awareness you had and your involvement during those dives will make more of a difference.
During your IDC you will play the role of instructor, assistant, and student. You are encouraged to think like an instructor and should treat everything as though you were dealing with real students in real situations. You will get more value from the workshops and presentations this way.
The PADI IDC teaches you how to teach. But it does so on the assumption that you already know about diving and know how to dive. The training itself is not difficult. But when the IDC is coupled with a lack of fundamental knowledge and skills, that’s when things can get challenging.
The most common IDC challenges
The most common causes of anxiety for our IDC candidates fall into two distinct categories: Underwater skills and written exams. Let’s look at these areas separately, and how you can help minimise these difficulties by preparing in advance.
1. Underwater skills
By the start of your IDC you obviously already know how to dive, but maybe its been a while since you dived regularly. Or maybe there are some aspects of diving that you aren’t particularly comfortable with. For example I have seen divers with thousands of dives who hate having water in their mask. Rather than facing their fears by practicing those mask skills, they simply avoided it whenever possible.
Being able to demonstrate skills is part of your Divemaster course as well as your IDC. As you will have already learned, just doing the skills (“the Nike demo”) does not make a good demonstration. It needs to be slow and exaggerated etc. Not being comfortable performing some skills will mean that your demonstration will often be poor.
Your general diving skills will also be assessed during your IDC. It’s important to be comfortable and in control in the water if you will be responsible for your students’ safety. As an Instructor you can’t focus on the task at hand (ensuring your students perform the skills correctly and safely) if you don’t have control of your own buoyancy and position in the water.
– How you can prepare
Dive a few times before the IDC starts. If you have bought new equipment, try it out beforehand so that you are happy. Practice skills that you are not comfortable with. If you remember messing up your hover during your Divemaster course your stress levels will be sky high when you have to demonstrate it in front of your fellow IDC candidates and Course Director. So practice that skill with your dive buddy beforehand to build confidence.
A word of caution. I would not recommend watching endless YouTube videos of dive skill demonstrations. Watching a thousand divers remove and replace their mask will not make it any easier for you to do it. Also, I have seen candidates get obsessed with the precise way that they saw the skill being demonstrated and lose sight of the skill’s objective. Remember that there is no “PADI way” or best way to perform a skill. Being open minded and flexible are attributes of a good Instructor.
2. Written exams
During your Instructor Development Course you need to pass two written exams. These are the PADI Standards and Procedures exam, and Dive Theory exam. You must pass these to be able to successfully complete your IDC, and be able to go to the Instructor Exams (IE). At the IE you must pass another set of written exams to become a PADI Instructor. Many people break out into a sweat at just the thought of sitting written exams. Again, the more prepared you are, the easier this will be.
PADI Systems, Standards and Procedures Exam
This is an open book exam. You need to find the answers in the PADI Instructor Manual (95%+ of the answers will be in there), PADI Guide to Teaching, or some Specialty Instructor Guides. The Instructor Manual is part of the required materials of the PADI Divemaster course and so you should at least be familiar with how to use the manual. (If you are a Divemaster from another organization crossing over to PADI for your IDC, talk to your Course Director about how to get the Instructor Manual).
In your IDC classroom sessions you will practice finding many PADI Standards and it can be quite intense at the beginning. You will get better at this during your IDC and by the end of the course you should have become very good friends with your Instructor Manual!
– How you can prepare
You can’t “study” the Instructor Manual and the idea is not to memorize the contents because PADI Standards change frequently. What is important is that you read the first few pages of the Instructor Manual entitled “How to Use This Manual” so that you will be familiar with the layout and know where to look to find the information.
Decide at the beginning whether you will use the paper version or digital version of the Instructor Manual, and use the same version in all your exams. If you use the digital version make sure you also have some software that allows you to highlight and make notes in your manual.
Dive Theory Exam
This is the stuff of nightmares for many IDC candidates! The dive theory exam consists of five subjects: Physics, Physiology, Equipment, Diving Skills & Environment, and RDP/Decompression Theory. You must pass all five to pass the IDC exam and the IE exam.
During the PADI Divemaster course you also had to pass a dive theory exam. However the level of knowledge required to pass the Divemaster exam isn’t as high as the level required for the IDC. Also, the five subjects are combined into one Divemaster exam, so you could potentially fail every physics question in the exam but skill get a passing score overall. (Remember that your instructor for your Divemaster course should have gone through and explained every missed question in your Divemaster exam, so that you ultimately understood them all.)
How you can prepare
Everyone needs to prepare for the PADI IDC dive theory exams. Even if you passed your Divemaster theory exam with 100% you will not know everything you need to know for the IDC dive theory exams. Fortunately, there are lots of tools available to help you study and prepare.
Your digital IDC Crewpack contains a few things to help. One is the IDC/IE Theory Study Guidelines. This is a helpful list of what you should know. Armed with that, you can then use the PADI materials to study those areas. The Diving Knowledge Workbook (also in your digital IDC Crewpack) is a great way to practice the exam-style questions and check your answers.
The best revision materials are your PADI manuals. You won’t find everything in your Divemaster manual. The answers to many questions can be found in the Advanced Open Water manual, maybe in chapters for adventure dives that you didn’t choose in your Advanced course. Make sure you are familiar with the first chapter of the Thinking Like a Diver section too.
If you are a renewed PADI Divemaster you will have the digital suite of PADI products in your eLearning account. So you will have access to the latest version of the PADI student materials. If you are not sure how to access your digital suite just ask us.
If you take your IDC with The Go Pro Family we will give you some extra study tools to help you focus your studies and test your knowledge. We also offer pre-IDC study workshops, and extended theory class with each IDC.
One very important recommendation is to be honest with yourself and your Course Director during your training. If you are struggling with a topic of dive theory then speak up and do so early! That way, the IDC Staff Instructor or Course Director can work with you to help you overcome those hurdles. We know that not everyone is a mini Einstein and we are happy to help.
Other ways you can prepare for your IDC
When PADI revised their IDC in 2020, they included an eLearning component for candidates to go through and complete before the IDC starts. This consists of 16 chapters on the theory behind teaching and other information that will come in useful during your IDC and afterwards when you start working as an Instructor. There are also knowledge reviews to complete at the end of each chapter.
It is important that you start this eLearning well in advance of your IDC. There is a lot of reading involved and so its best to do maybe one chapter per day, rather than try and cram it all in at the last minute. I would also recommend completing the IDC eLearning in your native language to speed things up, even if your IDC will be conducted in another language.
Because the eLearning is only one part of your IDC preparation, you should allow yourself plenty of time to complete it as well as study dive theory etc. Ideally, you should get access to your digital IDC Crewpack at least one month before the start of your IDC so that you can prepare fully. As soon as you sign up for your IDC with The Go Pro Family we will give you access to your digital IDC Crewpack and all our other preparation tools so that you can get started.
Can you fail your PADI IDC or Instructor Exams?
Before you can attend the PADI Instructor Exams, you must pass your IDC. If you have prepared well and listened to the feedback from your Course Director then you should not have a problem passing your IDC. Some people need to work harder than others – especially with dive theory. Doing an extended IDC program means that you have time to develop your teaching skills and not just focus on passing the IE.
Mistakes and bad days are expected during your IDC. The performance requirements of the IDC mean that you can pass the course even though you don’t get a passing score on all your presentations. Opting for a shorter IDC of six or seven days does limit the amount of practice and repeat presentations you can fit in. Our extended IDCs include extra exams so that you get plenty of practice before the “big one”.
At the PADI Instructor Exams there are – just like every PADI course – performance requirements that need to be met. That includes a minimum 75% passing score in all written exams. Failure to meet the required score in the dive theory exams is by far the most common reason why people fail their IE around the world. That being said, if you have worked hard to pass your IDC, then the IE is the easy part.
At The Go Pro Family we have an unrivalled pass rate. In fact, we say that “IE” stands for “It’s Easy”. Whilst it is most unlikely that you don’t pass your IE after having been trained by us, we do offer an IE pass guarantee and this promise gives you the ultimate security in investing your valuable time and money into your IDC training with us!
Conclusion – How hard is the PADI IDC?
This is obviously a subjective questions and every candidate will have their strengths and weaknesses. Preparation is key to success but remember that practice does not make perfect. The acronym “IDC” stands for Instructor Development Course. You are not expected to be excellent in everything from day one and you will improve your skills and knowledge during the course. Mistakes are expected during your IDC and its actually a great learning experience for all candidates when someone has a bad day or messes up.
However, if you have your fundamental skills and knowledge at a good level by preparing well, you will enjoy your IDC more, and be able to take more value from it. That in turn will help you when you start your first job as a PADI Instructor.
Is the PADI IDC hard? Maybe for some.
Is it intense? Yes, probably for most.
Is it highly rewarding, fun and an unforgettable experience? Hell yes!
We would love to know what you think. Did you find our suggestions helpful? If you already did your IDC, do you agree with us? Would you recommend preparing for your IDC in any other way? Let us know in the comments.
The Go Pro Family is PADI Platinum Course Directors Angel Navarro (from Spain) and Jo Armitage (from the UK), and their team of pros. Together, they have personally trained over 900 PADI Instructors, and have issued over 4000 professional-level certifications. Based in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, The Go Pro Family offers professional-level scuba training as well as technical, cave diving and freediving.
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