Close Protection Driving

An intensive 3-day course of pragmatic coaching in CP driving fundamentals

Preface

In essence, the mission in close protection (CP) is to protect the ‘principal’ (protected person).

During road journeys, the principal’s security is in the hands of their drivers. Our Close Protection Driving Course equips participants with the fundamentals of an effective CP driving system.

The Driving College’s Close Protection Driving Course is built on advanced and chauffeur driving foundations, and comprises three intensive days of pragmatic, expert coaching.

John Reilly: “I would not hesitate to recommend the course to anyone looking to improve their driving skills…in the security field.”

* Participants must be proficient advanced drivers (e.g. at least RoSPA “silver” or UK police “standard” or their equivalent) with a deep understanding of the role and responsibilities of a professional chauffeur. We suggest participants first attend both our 4-day Advanced Roadcraft Driving Course and our 3-day Chauffeur Driving Course, both of which precede every Close Protection Driving Course.

Lessons

Pragmatic and established over two decades, this course develops advanced drivers’ knowledge, understanding and skill in the fundamentals of close protection driving. Lessons include:

CP operations
understanding the threat
CP driving roles and responsibilities
route selection, planning and journey management
vehicle security and search
mastering mobile security
surveillance detection
embus & debus drills
contingency planning, including dealing with emergencies
the fundamentals of evasive driving (theory)
2-car drills (soft and hard)
armoured vehicle (AV) awareness (theory).

Professional drivers

We believe that professional drivers and CPOs (Close Protection Operators) should all be competent and confident advanced drivers. In professional driving occupations, drivers need an understanding of how best to steer clear of accidents in order to meet their duty of care to their principals and the public.

This intensive driving course is for competent and confident advanced drivers with either chauffeuring or CP training or experience. An established, recommended route onto this course is from our popular Advanced Roadcraft Driving Course and Chauffeur Driving Course.

Assessment and accreditation

In order to earn either a college certificate of achievement or an accredited qualification, participants will need to successfully complete two assessments of their knowledge, understanding and skill:

Ongoing assessment of driving competence throughout
Theoretical examination (comprising multiple-choice questions).

On this course, there is no final ‘driving test’. We favour ongoing, ‘formative’ assessment of drivers’ skills in contrast to short, summative driving tests.

Level & duration

Most qualifications have a difficulty level. The higher the level, the more challenging the qualification is. This course and the qualifications for which it provides evidence are at (England’s) level 4 (of nine).

The UK government’s office for qualifications (Ofqual): “TQT is, essentially, an indication of how long a typical learner might take to study a qualification, including the time spent on their individual study and on assessment. It also includes Guided Learning Hours (GLH), which is the time spent actually being taught.”

21 Guided Learning Hours (GLH)

28 hours Total Qualification Time (TQT)

*excluding TQT for earlier training that is a prerequisite for this course.

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Testimonial

Feedback from Andy Harvey

“The course was intensive but wholly enjoyable. It stands out for the instructors’ ability and knowledge, which was some of the best I’ve seen. I would highly recommend this course!”

Newspaper review

From The Sun newspaper’s Nick Francis

“…I can honestly say I haven’t been driving like that. Now I will.“

The full review is online at To Protect and Swerve

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