Climbing scheme

See girls climb to the top and enjoy the thrill of abseiling down - thanks to your instruction

Help girls reach the top with the Girlguiding climbing scheme.

This scheme helps you give girls their first taste of climbing and abseiling. You just need some climbing experience before you can get started with the scheme.

What will I learn?

After you've completed the scheme, you'll be able to instruct and supervise up to 12 Girlguiding members while they're climbing and abseiling.

What will I need to do?

There are 2 levels in the scheme. You can do them both, or you can go straight to level 2 if you already have experience equivalent to level 1.

Climbing scheme level 1 - includes how to instruct and supervise climbing and abseiling sessions on purpose-built climbing walls and abseil towers with fixed anchor points.

Climbing scheme level 2 - includes how to instruct and supervise climbing on some outdoor crags using in-situ anchor points such as trees, bolts and stakes.

For each level, you'll need to:

  • Attend a Girlguiding-approved 2-day training course.
  • Gain further experience and record it in your log book as recommended by the director of training.
  • Be assessed by an Mountaineering Instructor Award (MIA) or Mountaineering Instructor Certificate (MIC) holder.

If you're after a more advanced nationally recognised qualification, try the Climbing Wall instructor qualification or Rock Climbing instructor qualification which are run by Mountain Training. 

Who can take this qualification?

Anyone who's interested in supporting girls and young women to climb and abseil. You don't have to be a Girlguiding member.

For level 1 - you must have previous experience of climbing or abseiling on purpose-built walls and abseil towers using fixed anchor points. You'll also need to have an up-to-date 1st response certificate or higher first aid qualification.

For level 2 - you must have experience of single pitch climbing and abseiling outdoors using in situ anchor points such as trees, bolts and stakes. You'll also need to have an up-to-date first aid training, same as for level 1.

You must be at least 18 years old at the time of assessment for both levels.

How much will it cost?

You'll need to pay the cost of the training session. Speak to your outdoor activities adviser for further information as there may be grants or funds you can access.

What support will I get?

Your trainer can give you guidance on what you need to work on in your consolidation period, and your outdoor activities adviser can provide information on local climbing venues.

How do I get started?

  1. Contact your local commissioner, who'll put you in touch with your county outdoor activities adviser.
  2. They'll be able to keep you up-to-date on trainings taking place.
  3. Download a copy of the climbing scheme pack (PDF).

Renewing your qualification

This qualification should be renewed every 5 years. A log of sessions run, an up-to-date 1st response certificate or higher first aid qualification, and a completed renewal form will need to be sent to Girlguiding. Send these to [email protected] for your renewal to be processed.

What's new in the climbing scheme

We want to encourage more girls and volunteers to give climbing a try, so we've made some changes to our climbing scheme.

The biggest change you'll see is that the scheme now focuses on climbing, with abseiling as an optional module. The content is all the same, but now you can choose to add abseiling to your skills or just learn about climbing if that's more useful for you.

If you've already completed the qualification, you don't need to redo the updated version and your qualification isn't affected. But when it comes to renew, you will need to use the new scheme.

If you have any questions about the revised scheme, contact [email protected].

Download the Climbing scheme

The climbing scheme is free to download.