Masters: course outline
Do you want to reach the highest civilian riding standard and qualification in the UK? Are you looking at the next step after completing your Advanced or Member’s Assessment? Do you feel that there is more to learn and want to transform your riding? Then the Masters Programme is for you.
EKAM sponsors their members who complete the Masters course by reimbursing them 50 % of the course fees upon passing their test. This offer is open to four members per year – please contact the Chief Observer if you are interested.
The fundamentals learnt during the Advanced Rider Course will be the basis of the training, but you will have to perform them at a higher level with continuous concentration and active planning
Masters training will be concentrating on advanced techniques such as, accurate cornering and speed analysis, devising ride plans, making safe progress, linking hazards and bends and improving Observation, Anticipation and Planning all using the System of Motorcycle Control in Motorcycle Roadcraft.
You will become more autonomous throughout your training and will become more self-critical.
The final test will be longer and more demanding than your Advanced Rider test and is conducted by a specialised Examiner. The 90-minute test takes place on unfamiliar roads and includes slow manoeuvring and Highway Code questions.
Upon signing up, you will be assigned an IAM Masters Mentor who will accompany you on six training runs. The Mentor’s role goes beyond simple instruction. Your mentor will offer advice, share their own experiences and stories from their own Masters journey, and act as a sounding board for the mentee’s ideas and challenges.
A pass is awarded for meeting the standard, while a Distinction is given for a near perfect score. The Masters qualification is valid for five years.
Testimonial
From Oliver Allen-Gausden, who achieved his Masters Rider qualification in June 2025.
“I joined the IAM in April 2024 (having passed my test 18 months earlier), and signed up for my Advanced riders which I passed with a F1RST in November.
“With the changes to my riding already making me safer, it took me one week to sign up for my Masters (the infamous ‘Dark Arts’) under the watchful eye of an ex-Police biker. The first session was intense, with all sorts of things picked up which, although fine for Advanced riding, wasn’t up to scratch for Masters.
“The next seven months and six sessions saw my riding progress in ways I never thought possible, my OAP (observation, anticipation and planning) was honed, knowledge of the highway code expanded and sections of the ‘Roadcraft’ book read many times over.
“One of the many things Masters teaches is to appraise your own riding, and four months on from passing my test, I’m still self-learning (as well as spotting issues with non-IAM friends riding). Becoming an IAM Master was the best decision I could have made on two wheels. I’m a safer, smoother rider, and far more aware of what is going on around me, this in turn has made me faster, should I choose to be!”