Belzelbub
Contributor
That would work. It would also not be a bad idea to share what would be expected of the student before the checkout dives.Some of these issues could be solved by asking specific questions on the eval, i.e. "did you perform a CESA from a depth of at least 20 feet?"
I recently started volunteering for the Dive Team at a local well known aquarium. Prior to being able to join, I had to complete a swim test and dive skills assessment. Prior to scheduling the test, they sent me the checklist and grading criteria they would use for pass/fail criteria.
In my case, I had no idea how poor my first class was until I took my second class. But even that was probably not a good barometer. Cert 1 was clearly well below minimum standards. Cert 2 was way over minimum standards. 6 weeks worth of instruction. Each week consisted of 2 hours of classroom instruction, an hour of written work (tables, etc.), and 3-4 hours of pool work. That was followed by the checkout dives at the end of the course. Most courses are probably somewhere between those two.