Career Title:

Outdoor Activities Instructor

Outdoor Activities Instructors help people to have fun, develop new skills and learn more about themselves by leading groups in a range of outdoor activities, that include climbing, kayaking, hill walking, caving etc.

Instructors generally need to be competent at:

• planning and preparing activities that suit the needs, abilities and experience of each group

• giving practical demonstrations, instructions and advice to participants

• instructing in one or more specialist areas, such as climbing or sailing

• and, looking after and checking equipment and facilities.

There are three main areas of employment:

Outdoor Recreation: leading people on outdoor activity sessions and trips or instructing people in the skills of their chosen outdoor pursuit. Roles include leading, coaching, technician and recreation manager.

Outdoor Education: using outdoor experiences, including both environmental and adventure activities, to provide learning opportunities for people in through and about the outdoors. Roles include teacher, tutor and youth worker.

Outdoor Training: using outdoor experiences, probably combined with other training methods, to help people realise their potential as individuals, in teams or for organisations. Roles include development trainer and therapist.

Qualifications Needed:

Degrees and Diplomas in a related field – this is becoming more necessary particularly for people hoping to progress within the industry.

Vocational routes in:

Many people enter the industry without formal qualifications and progress through apprenticeships, vocational qualifications, NVQs and through the industry training scheme (APIOL).

Those entering the industry without formal qualifications generally have to demonstrate a range of technical skills and National Governing Body awards, process skills (such as instructing and group leadership) and meta skills such as judgement and ethical behaviour.  

Where to study:

University of Worcester 

University of Cumbria

Liverpool John Moore University

University College Birmingham

Student Case Study:

Matt Lander – Outward Bound Instructor – case study on connexions website

Employer Case Study:

There are over 1,100 licensed providers of outdoor activities in the UK. These range from public sector organizations (youth services, outdoor services, police and armed services), charities (Outward Bound, Calvert Trust etc), educational establishments (colleges, schools etc) and commercial providers (PGL adventure, Mill on the Brue etc).

Search employers at: http://www.outdoor-learning.org/providers/osb/index.htm