New cycling tests to be launched

The Bikeability tests will be carried out on the roads

New cycling proficiency tests for children, to be carried out on roads, are set to be launched in England.

The Bikeability award scheme aims to give children a more realistic experience of coping on the road.

It comes after a pilot project involving more than 5,000 children in eight regions.

The government is putting £10m into children's cycling, which will pay for around half of all 10-year-olds to take the Bikeability course.

It is estimated that more than 90% of youngsters have never cycled to school.

Bikeability is run by Cycling England, a body set up by the government to encourage children and adults to cycle.

As much as anything else, what Bikeability is there for is actually to convince mums and to convince people like teachers that cycling is really OK Kevin Mayne Cycling England Taking the new-look test

In the last 10 years the number of trips taken by bike is estimated to have fallen by one fifth.

Cycling England's Kevin Mayne said Bikeability's predecessor, the Cycling Proficiency Test, "wasn't doing the job".

"In some cases, it kind of told children about the dangers of cycling without telling them about all the positive things," he told BBC News.

"As much as anything else, what Bikeability is there for is actually to convince mums and to convince people like teachers that cycling is really OK."

Defensive

Unlike the Cycling Proficiency Test, which generally took place in the school playground, many of the Bikeability tests are carried out on the roads.

Children are taught the kind of observation, road positioning and defensive driving tactics that new motorists learn.

Cycling England has said it hopes that within five years all school-leaving children will have passed the test.

In the pilot scheme, which involved Merseyside, Exeter, Essex, Cornwall, Manchester, Hertfordshire, the Isle of Wight, and Kingston in London, nearly 10,000 badges were awarded.