Climbing qualifications relaunch
Recognising the evolving landscape of climbing, nearly three years ago we embarked on a review of our climbing qualifications to determine whether they were fit to serve the needs of the outdoor sector into the 2020s and beyond.
After a thorough review, we have revised and renamed seven of our qualifications and have agreed to launch two new qualifications and a rock skills scheme. The changes reflect the evolution of the activity and its increasing popularity in the UK and Ireland and this first phase of implementation involves relaunching seven existing qualifications on 2nd April.
New names
Four of the qualifications are being renamed to help the wider public understand their role:
Foundation Coach,
Development Coach and
Mountaineering Instructor Award will keep their names, with a further review of the Mountaineering Instructor scheme taking place in due course.
New prerequisites
Personal experience is crucial to all of our qualifications and each stage (registration, training, assessment) has an agreed list of prerequisites which candidates must meet in order to maintain the standard and maximise learning. The prerequisites for all seven schemes were reviewed and some have been amended in response to the research findings and the way people use our qualifications.
Full details can be found on the website and in the new candidate handbooks.
New syllabi and guidance
The syllabus for each qualification was reviewed and all of them have been updated to include new syllabus points and standardise the language. To accompany the new syllabi we have rewritten the guidance notes for candidates, trainers and assessors with the addition of ‘Key Practice Points’ for each syllabus section.
