A Cambridge journalist, James Drake Digby, had thought that the Fen speed skaters were worthy of national recognition and he was also concerned that betting was leading to malpractice.

[2] The newly formed National Skating Association held their first one-and-a-half-mile British professional championship at Thorney in December 1879.

[1] The NSA also established an amateur championship, which was held for the first time at Welsh Harp, London, in January 1880, and won by Frederick Norman, a farmer's son from Willingham.

In 1894 the National Skating Association decided to move their headquarters from Cambridge to London, from where they concentrated on figure skaters and rinkmen.

As a consequence of the segmentation, the NSA became NISA (National Ice Skating Association), the headquarters of which are now based in Nottingham.

[3] Complying to the purpose of the organisation, the BIS levels are used by instructors to grade learners of ice skating in the UK.

Skaters must show proof that they have completed the Skate UK Star programme before being allowed to apply for the judged levels.