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NPORS All Terrain Vehicle Sit Astride Training (N608A)
The sit astride quad is ridden, not driven. You keep it upright by moving your own weight, which is why riders who treat it like a small car end up under it. Two days covers active riding, terrain and gradients, towing and trailed equipment, and the head protection that HSE are unambiguous about. Run on request, on your own machines and your own ground.
Why candidates choose Acadame
What makes our N608A ATV Sit Astride different
About this course
The NPORS N608A category covers the sit astride all terrain vehicle, the machine almost everyone calls a quad bike. It is used on farms and country estates for stock checking, fencing, spraying and getting about, by grounds and sports turf teams, forestry and shooting estates, utilities and survey crews, search and rescue, and on construction and civils sites for getting across ground that a vehicle cannot take.
The reason this machine has its own training category is that it does not behave like anything else people drive. There is no cab, no roll bar and no seat belt. Stability comes from the rider, who has to move their weight forward, back and into the slope to keep it upright: this is why HSE and the farm safety bodies call it active riding. Fitting a load to the front or rear racks, or hitching a trailer or a mounted implement, changes the balance again and is one of the most common factors when a quad goes over.
The hard rules are covered plainly because people break them constantly. Head protection is worn: HSE record that many UK quad bike fatalities have been head injuries and that helmets would have prevented most or all of them. Passengers are not carried on a sit astride machine, because the long seat is there for the rider to move on, not for somebody else to sit on. Children under thirteen are not permitted to ride these machines at work. Around that sit pre use checks, tyres and pressures, terrain and gradient technique, crossing ruts, ditches and watercourses, loads on racks kept secure and balanced, towing and trailed equipment, and riding around people, livestock and the public.
- The machine: chassis and suspension, controls and throttle, brakes, drive selection and differential lock where fitted, racks and tow hitch, tyres and pressures
- Active riding: moving body weight forward, back and into the slope, and why a quad behaves nothing like a car, a tractor or a motorbike
- Head protection and other PPE, and the HSE position on helmets, passengers and minimum age
- Terrain and gradients: climbing, descending, traversing, ruts, ditches, watercourses, soft ground, mud and ice, and recognising ground you should not attempt
- Loads and towing: rack loading kept secure and balanced, the effect of weight on stability, trailers and mounted equipment and how they change handling
- Pre use checks, tyre pressures and condition, defect reporting, riding around people, livestock and the public, and duties under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and PUWER 1998
How completing this course helps you
- The NPORS N608A All Terrain Vehicle Sit Astride category, registered with NPORS and recognised nationally
- An NPORS Red Trained Operator card, or a Blue Competent Operator card where you hold the relevant NVQ, carrying the CSCS logo while your CITB Health, Safety and Environment test is in date, or a traditional NPORS card for non construction work
- Riders who wear a helmet every time and who read the ground before they commit the machine to it
- A record of training that satisfies an employer, an estate insurer or a principal contractor asking how your riders were trained
Who should attend?
Farms and agricultural contractors, country estates, shooting and sporting estates, forestry, grounds maintenance and sports turf, golf courses, equestrian yards, utilities and survey teams, environmental and conservation work, search and rescue, and construction and civils sites where a quad is used to move people and kit across rough ground. Also seasonal and casual staff who are routinely handed a quad with no training at all. If the machine has a cab or a roll cage and you sit in it rather than astride it, the N608B category covers that instead.
Entry requirements. You should be at least eighteen for a workplace card, physically capable of active riding, which takes more strength and balance than people expect, and able to follow spoken and written English well enough for the theory test, though we can arrange an interpreter or a reader on request. You will need a helmet and suitable clothing and footwear, and we will tell you what to bring. NPORS set no licence requirement for the category itself; riding on a public road is a separate matter governed by registration and licence rules. For the version of the card that carries the CSCS logo you need a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass at Operatives level taken within the last two years, which we book for you.
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Course content
What you will cover
Classroom on the machine, active riding, the rules and the duties, then the rest of the time riding on real ground, on gradients and with loads and trailed equipment, with theory and practical testing at the end.
The machine, the rider and the rules
- Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 and PUWER 1998 as they apply to all terrain vehicle use at work
- The manufacturer's handbook, the machine's rated load and towing limits, and its stated gradient capability
- Major components and controls, brakes, drive selection, racks, tow hitch, tyres and pressures
- Active riding explained: weight transfer, why the seat is long and why a quad is not a small car
- Head protection and PPE, HSE's position on helmets, the rule on carrying no passengers and the minimum age for riding at work
- Terrain assessment: gradients, ruts, ditches, watercourses, soft ground, mud, ice and ground to refuse
- Loads and trailed equipment, load security and the effect of weight on stability
- Pre use checks, tyre condition and pressures, defect reporting, and riding near people, livestock and the public
On the quad
- Pre use checks of the machine, tyres and pressures, brakes, controls, racks and hitch, and reporting a defect
- Fitting head protection and PPE correctly, mounting and starting
- Riding technique on the level, with correct posture and weight distribution
- Climbing, descending and traversing gradients using active riding
- Crossing ruts, rough ground and obstacles under control, and choosing a line
- Carrying a load on racks kept secure and balanced, and noting the change in handling
- Towing a trailer or working a mounted implement where that is part of your job
- Parking, securing the machine and leaving it safe
Method of assessment
How the N608A all terrain vehicle sit astride test works
NPORS assess the category by theory test and practical test. Training and assessment run together, on your own machines and, wherever possible, on the ground your riders actually cross.
1. Enquiry and group
Tell us how many riders, where, what machines you run and what you tow or carry. Three sit the novice course with one instructor and one machine, six can sit the experienced worker test. We quote per group.
2. Pre course check
We work out who is a genuine novice, who is an experienced worker and who is due a refresher, establish whether you need the CSCS logo version of the card or the traditional NPORS card, check the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test where it applies, and take the details NPORS need.
3. Training
Classroom on the machine, active riding and the rules, then the rest of the time riding. On your own farm, estate or site we use your gradients, your tracks and the ground that actually catches people out.
4. Theory test
The NPORS theory test, open questions and multiple choice, covering legislation, machine components, active riding, head protection and the passenger and age rules, terrain, loads and towing.
5. Practical test
You carry out pre use checks, ride to correct technique on the level and on gradients, cross rough ground under control and handle a load or trailed equipment, assessed against the NPORS test specification.
6. Registration and card
We register the pass with NPORS and apply for your card. With a valid CITB Health, Safety and Environment test it carries the CSCS logo, as a Red Trained Operator card or a Blue Competent Operator card if you hold the relevant NVQ. For farm and estate work a traditional NPORS card is often the better fit.
After the course
The helmet rule only holds if it holds for everybody
Head protection on quads fails in the same way everywhere: the rule is written down, the helmets are in the barn, and then somebody senior rides across the yard bare headed and everyone else concludes it is optional for short trips. HSE's position is not ambiguous. Many UK quad bike deaths have been head injuries and helmets would have prevented most or all of them, and short trips across a yard are exactly where people come off. If you are going to spend money training riders, the cheapest thing you can do afterwards is make sure the rule applies to the owner and the manager as well.
The other thing worth reviewing is what gets hung on the machine. A quad that is stable empty becomes a different machine with a sprayer on the back, a drum on the front rack or a trailer behind it, and most of the overturns involve a load, a slope or both. Where your team also uses a sit in vehicle, a tractor, a telehandler or chainsaws on the same holding, it is usually worth planning all the categories into as few visits as possible.
- N608B All Terrain Vehicle Sit In where the same holding also runs a side by side or cabbed machine
- N601 Agricultural Tractor, the other machine on almost every farm and estate
- N602 Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross Cutting and N605 Strimmer and Brush Cutter for estate and grounds teams
- CITB Health, Safety and Environment test booked with us where the work is on construction sites
Build your course
Who is coming, and how many
We do not run these to a timetable. The course is built around your people: how experienced they are and how many of them there are, which is what sets the length and the cost. Pick the mix and we will come back with a date and a price.
The course builder needs JavaScript. Without it, tell us how many people and what experience they have and we will price it up.
N608A ATV Sit Astride FAQs
The type of machine. N608A is the sit astride quad, ridden by moving your weight. N608B is the sit in machine, including side by sides and cabbed vehicles with a roll over protective structure and seat restraints. N608C is multi drive, covering multi wheel drive and tracked all terrain carriers. They handle very differently, so NPORS card them separately.
Yes, and HSE are unambiguous about it. Their guidance records that many quad bike fatalities in the UK have been caused by head injuries and that helmets would have prevented most, if not all, of these deaths. The course treats head protection as a rule that applies on every trip, including the short ones across a yard where people most often come off.
No. HSE are explicit that carrying passengers on a sit astride quad bike is not acceptable. The long seat exists so the rider can move their weight for active riding, not to seat somebody else, and a passenger stops the rider being able to do the one thing that keeps the machine upright. If you need to carry people, that is a sit in vehicle with proper seats and restraints, which is the N608B category.
For a workplace card we train from eighteen. HSE's own guidance is that children under thirteen must not operate these machines at work at all, and that anyone aged thirteen and over should only ride after formal training on an appropriately sized machine. Tell us at enquiry if you have young workers and we will advise what applies to your situation.
NPORS publish a two day novice duration, with three candidates, one instructor and one machine. Someone already riding at work usually takes the shorter experienced worker test, where NPORS allow six candidates in a session, and a refresher is around a day. We confirm the length when we quote.
Yes, where that is part of your work. Sprayers, feeders, trailers and rack loads all change the way a quad handles, and load and trailed equipment are one of the recurring factors when these machines overturn. Tell us at enquiry what you tow and carry and we will build it into the training.
It depends where the machine works. For construction and civils, the CSCS logo version is what gets you through the gate and needs a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass within the last two years. For farm, estate, grounds and private land work the traditional NPORS card is usually the sensible choice. We will tell you which applies before you book.
Yes, and it is much the better option. Riders train on your own machines and on the gradients, tracks and ground they actually cross, which is where the real judgement calls are. There are no scheduled dates: we run it when you can release people and machines.
NPORS courses are priced per course, not per person. What you are paying for is the instructor, the registered tester and the machine time, so the figure turns on four things: the category, which route your operators need (novice, experienced, conversion or refresher), how many people are coming, and whether we run it on your site or at one of ours. It is also why a squad works out considerably cheaper per head than sending operators out one at a time. Use the course builder on this page: tell it who is coming and it works out how many days the course takes and how many times it has to run, which is what the price is built from. Then ask us and you will get a figure for that exact group rather than a list price with conditions attached.
We run NPORS courses across the UK rather than out of one fixed centre, and for most categories the better answer is that we come to you: your operators are assessed on the machine they will be using anyway, nobody loses a day travelling, and for a group it costs less. If you would rather come to us, we have centres at Trent House in Stoke, Pride Park in Derby, Europa House in Manchester and Kingsway House in Liverpool. Tell us where the work is and we will say honestly which way round makes more sense.
There is no fixed timetable to wait for. NPORS courses here are run to order, which means the dates are built around your programme rather than ours, and a single operator or a full squad can normally be booked in within a couple of weeks. If you have a card about to expire or a start date to hit, say so when you enquire and we will work to it.
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