Courses and Miscellaneous Ques
Can overseas experience count towards the total of logged experience for the SPA, ML or WGL schemes?
All experience is valuable and there is a section in the logbook to include overseas experience. The SPA, WGL and ML awards are UK awards and relate to the United Kingdom and Ireland. However, if your experience is obtained in terrain similar to that encountered in the UK and Ireland, then a small proportion of routes/quality days may be included as part of the requirement for your training course.
Who organises the training?
Mountain Leader Training is organised through the four home nations for SPA, WGL and ML. Mountain Leader Training Scotland runs the Winter Mountain Leader Award, Mountain Leader Training UK runs the IML, MIA and MIC schemes and the British Association of Mountain Guides administers its own scheme. Between them they provide training and assessment for those who lead, instruct and guide others in the complete range of mountain activities.
How do I know that the course is genuine?
To verify your attendance on a course the Course Provider will put a dated, signed or stamped sticker on the appropriate page in your logbook. These stickers are supplied only to course Providers who are approved by MLTE to run courses. Contact us with any queries concerning Course Providers.
Once I have passed, what do I do?
You should continue to keep your logbook up to date with a combination of personal and leadership/supervisory experience. You should also ensure that you keep your first aid qualification current.
Who uses the Awards?
Organisations such as local authority education establishments and voluntary youth organisations use the awards. Specific users range from teachers to youth workers, Duke of Edinburgh’s Award assessors, Scout leaders and commercial operators. These awards are benchmarks of competence in the outdoors and are recognised by many organisations, including the Department for Education and Skills and the HSE’s Adventure Activity Licensing Scheme.
I have done ML training but I think the WGL would be more appropriate for me? How can I change over from ML to WGL?
You can’t ‘change over’ but you can register on the WGL scheme and, having already done ML training, you can go straight on to WGL assessment. You then have the option to do ML assessment if your requirements change in the future.
If I am asked for proof of my qualifications but do not have my logbook with me at the time, what can I do?
You can easily phone any of the Home Nation Training Boards. Alternatively, the organisation asking for proof of your qualifications can do this on your behalf. All progress through the award schemes is recorded on a shared, UK-wide database and the Boards can provide rapid confirmation of the database entry for any candidate. We will not reveal any personal details other than the latest training and assessment records held. The organisation will require proof of identity i.e. your date of birth or address, so that they can verify that you are the person whose record is being accessed.
How many people can I have in my group?
Many organisations, such as climbing walls or schools, apply their own internal restrictions on maximum numbers and appropriate ratios. MLTE does not impose restrictions on group size or ratios. This is because the variables of personal competence and experience of the award holder, nature of the group and hazards inherent at the venue are so complex that we believe the best person to judge is often the award holder concerned. We are more than happy to give informal guidance on this issue and we are able to refer award holders to appropriate sources of information.
