This is a trade facing website. Visit the ACT's consumer site thecyclingexperts.co.uk for information and advice on cycling and find your local independent cycle retailer.

Search News

Results: 1-10 of 907


9 Jul 2025

A recent BBC Breakfast segment has sparked backlash from the cycling community over its portrayal of e-bikes, with critics accusing the broadcaster of conflating legal e-bikes with illegal,...

8 Jul 2025

More than 30 locations across Scotland have seen a major rise in the number of people cycling, according to newly released data.

7 Jul 2025

Sixteen illegally upgraded e-bikes capable of speeds up to 40mph have been seized and disposed of in a joint enforcement operation in Birmingham city centre.

7 Jul 2025

Bristol-based Cytech training provider and ACT member Life Cycle has launched its award-winning Bikes Beyond Bars programme at HMP Bullingdon, expanding a project that has already impacted lives...

4 Jul 2025

New data from Strava reveals a major surge in cycling across the UK, with Gen Z and Millennials leading the charge.

3 Jul 2025

Shimano has launched an urgent investigation into what it describes as a “critical” shortage of skilled bike mechanics across Europe, warning that the situation threatens to...

2 Jul 2025

MPs have called on Amazon and eBay to tighten controls after e-bikes and chargers flagged as serious fire risks were found for sale on their platforms.

25 Jun 2025

The E-Bike Positive campaign has seen major success in the first half of 2025, with its message reaching nearly 8 million people across the UK through high-profile media coverage and growing...

20 Jun 2025

The House of Commons Business and Trade Committee has asked the ACT, and its parent company Bira, to help them reach out to small business retailers across the country, for their quick input on...

20 Jun 2025

Activate Cycle Academy has reopened its Cytech training facility in Darlington, offering a full range of courses from Home Mechanic up to Cytech Technical Three.
 

Back to news menu

Funding axed for school cycling proficiency scheme in Northern Ireland

Posted on in Business News , Cycles News

A course that teaches children how to ride bicycles safely in Northern Ireland schools in no longer affordable - according to the government department that pays for it.

Cycling proficiency

The Department for Infrastructure (DfI), which is responsible for cycling proficiency in Northern Ireland, has said it cannot fund the safety course.

Cycling proficiency, sometimes called 'bikeability', is taught in many UK schools - It teaches children, who can already ride a bike, how to do so more safely; including what protective gear to wear and the rules of the road.

Instead, schools in Northern Ireland will have to pay cycling instructors themselves if they want to continue the scheme.

Speaking to the BBC in Northern Ireland, the Department for Infrastructure (DfI) said it has spending restrictions which means it cannot keep paying instructors or schoolteachers to deliver the cycling lessons.

And schools, who were planning to run cycling proficiency classes between Easter and the end of the school year, have been told that those courses will no longer be paid for by the DfI either.

The scheme teaches children who can already ride a bike how to cycle safely.

The department said: "The cycling proficiency scheme is delivered by teaching staff in schools, who receive payment from the department for doing so."

"Due to budget constraints, we are not currently in a position to fund this payment to teachers."

Despite saying it would no longer fund the courses and instructors, The DfI has said it will continue to provide training for teachers wanting to deliver cycling safety lessons themselves.

The cycling proficiency course involves 12 weeks of lessons and is aimed at children in the older years of primary school.

The scheme has been running in schools in Northern Ireland for more than 50 years, training more than half a million children during that time.

School headteachers have until Friday 21 April to inform the department if they plan to continue to run cycling proficiency classes before the end of the 2022/23 school year.

Back to news menu

Useful links

If you have any other queries please contact us.