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This year’s Women's Outdoor Instructor Development Programme will run at our Aberdovey Centre from Monday, 10 November to Friday, 19 December 2025 / Tuesday, 6 January to Friday, 30 January 2026.
Applications open on 8 March 2025.
We believe that role models matter to the young people we work with and we want to play a part in providing opportunities for the next generation of great female instructors.
50% of Outward Bound course participants are female, yet our instructional team is not representative. We recognise our traditionally masculine roots and therefore since 2019 we've been committed to taking action to redress the gender imbalance in our workforce. We don’t know if this is an answer to increasing representation by women within the outdoor sector. But we do know that if we always do what we’ve always done, we’ll likely get what we’ve always got. This is an opportunity to challenge ourselves, tread new ground and hopefully learn a lot through the process.
We've listened to practitioners, academics, national governing bodies, experts outside of the outdoor sector and most importantly you. Women looking forward to a career in the outdoors. We’ve heard from women who experience limitations (internal or external), women who don’t and from those who in hindsight recognise a variety of factors which have stalled progress, undermined confidence or limited movement towards their potential as an outdoor instructor.
These are themes that come up time and time again in conversation and research into women’s leadership in the outdoors. It’s exciting to be in a position to take some practical action!
Perhaps you identify with the self-doubt that can show up uninvited when you’re putting yourself forward for challenges, new roles or assessments. Or the feeling of needing to be 110% ready. You might have come across more subtle influences that can lead to a different experience for female leaders in the outdoors. When you stop and consider the history of participation, leadership and media portrayal in the outdoors, it’s unsurprising that this affects women disproportionately.
Maybe you recognise the value of an opportunity to be led and mentored by other women (as well as men), and the benefits that can flow from learning alongside female peers. Interestingly research suggests a paradox here, with some women feeling the benefit only after overcoming initial resistance to joining a female specific opportunity. Will you take the leap to find out?
It’s possible that none of the above applies to you and you are simply interested in the opportunity to develop your skills as an instructor in the outdoors. We’ve heard a mixture of responses to women specific courses. They won’t be for everyone. If you’re curious, and the course appeals, we hope you’ll consider applying to find out more so you can see for yourself whether this could be the next step in your career.
This is a programme for women who want to work as an Instructor, developing young people, within The Outward Bound Trust in the future. If you identify as non-binary or transgender and the purpose and themes of the course resonate with you, we’d love to receive your application.
You should have completed a minimum of one out of three of Summer Mountain Leader Training, Rock Climb Instructor (or SPA) Training, and/or Paddlesports Leader Training (or equivalent) and have significant personal experience / logbook time in another, by the course start date. There is no maximum level of qualification. It is desirable to have 12-18 months experience working with young people in any context.
The programme could be for you if:
Depending on your start point, and aspirations there will be different pathways into employment following the programme.
A 10-week outdoor instructor development programme, based at our Aberdovey centre. The course will include the opportunity to work on the skills required to be an Outward Bound Instructor. This includes technical (mountain, rock and water) skills as well as developing your intra-personal (self-awareness) and inter-personal (leadership & group) skills.
There will be time working with groups of young people alongside experienced instructors and structured mentoring. Your course lead will work with you as a group over the 10 weeks to ensure you have maximum opportunity to progress and work towards your goals.
We are investing in the programme because we want more women and marginalised genders to be motivated to come and work with us in the future, to inspire and enable the thousands of young people who are impacted by an Outward Bound course each year.
Mon 10 Nov – Fri 19 Dec 2025/Tues 6 Jan – Fri 30 Jan 2026.
Note: You will need to move out of the course accommodation over the Christmas period (19 Dec 2025 to 5 Jan 2026).
While this is a development programme and not formal employment, so that you and your peers can make the most of the experience, we ask the following from you:
The course is kindly supported by funding from Berghaus and is therefore heavily subsidised.
Due to rising costs we are asking for a contribution of £500 to cover food and accommodation for the 10 weeks. This can be paid in instalments if needed. If cost is a barrier to applying, please make a note on your application as we may have access to means-tested funding that could support you.
Shared accommodation will be provided for the duration of the course (max two people per room). Food is provided at the centre when groups are onsite, generally this is from Monday lunch to Friday lunch. Outside of these times you will need to self-cater, facilities provided at your accommodation.
Applications will go live on International Women’s Day on Saturday 8 March, 2025.
If selected for the programme, you will need to undergo an enhanced level PVG check ahead of the course starting. The cost of this will be covered by Outward Bound.
During the course we will work with you to identity your career pathway within Outward Bound, desired location and timescales. This may involve being signposted towards paid seasonal pastoral contracts, an Instructor Development position, or an Instructor role anywhere in The Trust. See here for more info about working with The Trust and where our centres are based: Why work at Outward Bound?
You might like to scan these blogs from our last course...hear from participant Bryony as she shares her experiences of taking part, mentor and Outward Bound instructor Nick discusses the importance of equality at Outward Bound and project lead Kate reflects on why we ran the course and what can be taken from it.