In Jesmond, busy streets and narrow school drop-off zones are making cycling increasingly hazardous. Yet the very programme designed to teach children to cycle safely is in sharp decline across Newcastle.

Bikeability is a national scheme created to give children the skills and confidence to cycle safely on the streets. But for thousands of young riders, the programme is failing to reach those who need it most.

New data obtained by JesmondLocal via Freedom of Information (FOI) requests paints a troubling picture of a flagship safety programme in decline. In 2022/23, 4,058 children in Newcastle received Bikeability training. By 2024/25, that number had plummeted by nearly 60% to just 1,633.

According to Active Travel England, the decline isn’t due to a lack of central funding. Vijay Sharma, chief operating officer for Active Travel England, which oversees the grant, told JesmondLocal that Newcastle has consistently been allocated more funding and training places than it has been able to deliver.

In the six months between October 2022 and March 2023 alone, the council failed to claim £4,500 of its available grant because funding is only released per child who completes a course; unused training places automatically translate into unclaimed grant money. This is largely due to 60 allocated Level 2 training places and 18 ‘Family Module’ places going completely unused.

The core of the programme, Level 2 training, which equips Year 6 pupils with the skills to cycle on single-lane roads, is where the greatest impact is felt. The percentage of eligible Year 6 children receiving this training has fallen from 32% in 2022/23 to a mere 19% this year. Nationally, Bikeability trained more than 521,000 children in 2024/25, with year-on-year increases across all major delivery measures, according to Bikeability Trust. While this trend shows increases in places booked and schools reached across the country, Newcastle appears to be moving in the opposite direction.

In stark contrast to the struggles of advanced road safety training, Newcastle city council successfully delivered on 100% of its funded places for Level 1, ‘Learn to Ride’ and ‘Plus Balance’ modules during the 2022/23 period, reaching over 2,400 younger children.

“It’s disappointing to hear that the number of children receiving cycle training in the city has dropped so precipitously”, said Mark Nelson, chair of the Newcastle Cycling Campaign. “Until the city has a connected network of safe cycling infrastructure, Bikeability training is what helps children gain the skills to navigate the city safely.”

Nelson told JesmondLocal the key risks facing cyclists in Jesmond, noting that narrow streets carrying heavy traffic and anti-social parking continue to create unsafe conditions.

Tankerville Terrace, particularly during school drop-off and pick-up times, was outlined as “a very hostile environment” in the very place children need to be safest. Nelson also pointed to frequent issues at the junction of Osborne Road and Acorn Road, where cars often block the designated cycle waiting area at traffic lights. Nelson added that in an area like Jesmond, where there is no physical space for more vehicles, providing safe alternatives to driving to the city centre and nearby areas such as Heaton, Gosforth, shops, and schools is essential.

Local disparities within Newcastle

The data reveals a stark geographic and demographic divide. While the council does not aggregate data by ward, school-level logs indicate that schools in Jesmond, such as West Jesmond Primary and the Royal Grammar School (RGS), remain active hubs for the programme. RGS, in particular, shows a disproportionately high uptake of Level 3 training (advanced road skills) compared to the city-wide average.

In contrast, areas like Elswick and Walker, which feature higher levels of deprivation, see lower reach. This is particularly concerning given that one-third of Newcastle’s children live in relative poverty. The Bikeability Trust notes that children in these areas are the least likely to own a bike, with 1 in 4 children ages 5-10 lacking access to a pedal cycle nationwide.

The North East’s struggle to bridge the cycling gap is rooted in a systematic failure to utilise available resources. Regionally, the area reached only 488 schools out of 884 primary schools in the area. The region also records significantly fewer hours of cycle training delivered, funding allocated and fewer places booked compared to other parts of the country, see figures below:

The regional pattern reflects issues already identified in Newcastle’s own delivery data:

• Financial waste: In 2023/24 Newcastle claimed only £64,898 of its £109,273 allocation, leaving 40% of the budget untouched.
• Delivery shortfall: For the core “Level 1 & 2 Combined” module in 2023/24, the council claimed just 739 of its 1,524 allocated spaces.
• Unclaimed cash: For 2024/25 to date, over £50,000 remains unclaimed, with 905 places still available for the city’s primary module.

The administrative paper trail appears to be holding the programme back. Despite being 2025, every single delivery log for Newcastle’s Bikeability sessions since 2022 is marked as “digitalisation: No”. The council admits it does not record data on waiting lists, unmet demand, or even cancelled sessions.

“Cancellations are not logged. They are often discussed informally over the telephone,” said Declan Adams, Newcastle City Council’s road safety officer. This lack of digital oversight means the council cannot accurately track where demand is highest or why certain programmes, like the “Plus Family” module, saw zero engagement despite having funded places available.

The council attributes the decline to a “post-COVID hangover…We saw a significant reduction in demand following the pandemic and, coupled with a shortage of instructors due to staff leaving, fewer sessions have been delivered,” Helen Stuart, policy and communications business partner for Newcastle City Council, told JesmondLocal.

However, she continued to say that “The post-Covid recovery has taken some time, but we are now starting to see an increase in take-up for Bikeability training” To ensure they can meet this demand, they are employing five new casual instructors who will go out to schools to deliver the training.

“Learning to ride a bike safely and confidently is an important skill, and we want to ensure as many children as possible are given this opportunity,” said Stuart.

In fact, while school-age participation has stuttered, the programme is finding a new foothold with adults; recent delivery logs show a consistent stream of participation from residents in the 25-35 and 35+ age brackets, suggesting that adult provision is increasingly filling the gap left by falling school-age participation.

Studies from the Bikeability Trust show that children are five times more likely to cycle for school or leisure after completing Level 2 training. Crucially, areas with higher Bikeability delivery see lower statistics for cyclists killed or seriously injured.

Without these skills, children are less likely to cycle independently, limiting their access to schools, shops, and leisure activities and reinforcing car dependence across the city. Bikeability teaches children not only how to balance and pedal, but also the theory behind safely navigating junctions, understanding traffic patterns, and making split-second decisions on the road. The programme also covers basic bike maintenance and repair, ensuring young cyclists can keep their bikes safe and functional, which are all pieces of knowledge that could potentially save a child’s life if they are caught in an unprecedented situation such as a punctured tyre, loose breaks or a slipped chain.