Outdoor Leadership
University of Cumbria
UCAS Code: NX23 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
University of Cumbria
UCAS Code: NX23 | Bachelor of Arts (with Honours) - BA (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Access to HE Diploma
Must pass all 60 credits, 45 at level 3
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Scottish Higher
T Level
UCAS Tariff
About this course
Take your passion for the outdoors and turn it into a rewarding and fulfilling career. Whether you want to work as an outdoor leader, adventure sport coach or in outdoor education, acquire the skills and knowledge to give you the tools to kick start your career.
You will learn from academics with a great passion for the outdoors. They will not only inspire and upskill you but also guide you to become the best leader possible. Along the way, you will gain transferable skills such as confidence and communication, mastering the art of safely experiencing and teaching adventurous land and water-based activities.
Enhance your theoretical knowledge with engaging practical sessions, including activities such as kayaking and mountaineering. Set in the inspiring landscapes of the Lake District and beyond, these hands-on experiences provide valuable skills and lasting insights that will enrich your academic and personal development.
Harness the power of Cumbria’s robust industry connections to cultivate a network of like-minded individuals and employers. This network opens doors to valuable work experience and enticing career prospects, propelling you into an exciting journey of adventure and opportunity.
**Course Overview**
You’ll develop outdoor and leadership skills, as well as knowledge and experience working with people in challenging environments. You will have access to all our great facilities, gaining all the skills you need to work in the outdoor sector. There will be plenty of opportunities to get outside and enjoy exciting field trips in a range of locations which may include the Scottish Highlands, North Wales and the Spanish Pyrenees.
Our outdoor leadership degree is taught at our Ambleside campus which is based in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Lake District National Park. You’ll live and study surrounded by breath-taking mountains and beautiful lakes – an unrivalled location for pursuing your degree in outdoor education.
This course is designed to integrate theory and practice seamlessly, using a variety of adventurous outdoor activities to enhance your learning. You'll gain valuable experience and skills that support your progression towards National Governing Body Awards (NGBAs)—widely recognised qualifications in outdoor leadership and instruction.
**On this course you will...**
- Benefit from the outdoor experience that's at the heart of this course with theory backed up by practice.
- Improve your competencies in mountaineering, climbing, sailing, caving and paddling.
- Explore the Cumbrian outdoors while developing academic, critical-thinking and valuable life skills.
- Learn to successfully lead people with the most up-to-date and best practice coaching.
- Gain valuable commercial and entrepreneurial skills – enhancing your employability.
**What you will learn**
You’ll have an outdoor classroom quite literally on your doorstep – with more than 150 lofty peaks, 16 lakes and an abundance of rivers. So, there are ample opportunities to learn all the academic knowledge and practical skills you need to kick-start your career as an outdoor leader.
We don’t just teach you the theory, you’ll get on with it in practice so you become a proactive and confident problem-solver able to make sound professional judgements and decisions.
So, if you have the desire to operate effectively and lead in challenging environments, then our uniquely-located course will provide everything you need to succeed. Experience-gaining and skill development sit at the centre of all our modules.
Modules
**Year one**
You'll explore the relationships between environmental, cultural and personal space in various outdoor settings. Plus, you'll develop your core skills in climbing, mountaineering and paddling.
- Outdoor Adventure Skills and Learning (Water)
- Outdoor Adventure Skills and Learning (Land)
- Living and Working in Groups Outdoors
- Outdoor Professional Development
- Physiology and Psychology for the Outdoor Leader
- Outdoor Leadership Theory and Practice 1
**Year two**
- Outdoor Leadership Theory and Practice 2
- Psychological Applications in Outdoor Contexts
- Coaching Individuals and Groups
- Evaluating Outdoor Leadership
- Research Design
- Traditional and Innovative Approaches to Outdoor Education (Optional)
- Sustainable Outdoor Event Management (Optional)
- Health, Wellbeing and Environmental Health (Optional)
**Year three**
- Dissertation
- Coaching and Facilitation in Outdoor Environments
- Outdoor Leadership Theory and Practice 3
- Commerce and Employment in the Outdoor Sector (Optional)
- Outdoor and Environmental Education (Optional)
- Therapeutic Opportunities (Optional)
Assessment methods
Assessment methods are designed to provide both a creative and balanced strategy but also a range of engaging and challenging opportunities which include essays, reports, practical tasks, posters projects, portfolios and oral presentations to name a few.
The assignment methods are related specifically to the stated module aims and learning outcomes, and the staff team work hard in the planning phase of programme delivery to ensure all assignments are equitably spread, through the use of the department assessment calendar across all levels. Furthermore, there is an over-arching ethos within the department that assignments are designed to encapsulate the idiom of ‘assessment for learning’ rather than of learning.
A variety of modules are linked directly to employability, and particularly the actual behaviours and capabilities required of a professional outdoor leader. This is exemplified in the Level 6 module, entitled Participant Coaching, whereby students are assessed in coaching their peers, with the specific intention of improving their outdoor performance.
Formative assessment is available in most modules, where students receive specific feedback on their progress this far, without the attempt being graded.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if the overall teaching satisfaction score here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Management studies
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Tourism, transport and travel
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
Sport and exercise sciences
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Management studies
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
Tourism, transport and travel
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
This course sits in a wide group of smaller subjects that don't necessarily have that much in common - so bear this in mind when you look at any employment data. Most graduates took a hospitality, events management or tourism-related course, but there are a group of sports and leisure graduates in here as well who do different things. Events management was the most common job for graduates from this group of subjects, and so it’s no surprise that graduates from specialist events management courses did better last year than many of the other graduates under this subject umbrella - but all did about as well as graduates on average or a little better. If you want to find out more about specific job paths for your chosen subject area, it's a good idea to go on open days and talk to tutors about what previous graduates went on to do, or to have a look at university department websites.
Sport and exercise sciences
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
One of the fastest growing subjects in the country, the number of sports science graduates went from under 3,000 in 2003 to over 10,000 in 2013. Numbers have fallen slightly since 2015, but we still have over 9,000 graduates in the subject. However, the good news is the country's appetite for good health and fitness - and the adaptability of graduates in the subject - means that sports science grads are less likely than average to be out of work. Sports science graduates, not surprisingly, tend to get jobs in sport, fitness and health - coaching and teaching especially - but they're found all over the economy. Management and business are also popular options for graduates from this subject — and sports science graduates are particularly found where drive, determination and physical fitness are an advantage.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Management studies
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£23k
£39k
£25k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Tourism, transport and travel
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£23k
£39k
£25k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Sport and exercise sciences
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£17k
£23k
£25k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
Explore these similar courses...
Nearby University
Higher entry requirementsLower entry requirementsSame UniversityThis is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
