What is the Green Badge Course?
The Scottish Tourist Guides Association (STGA) offers a Green Badge Training Programme for tourist guides in Scotland.
The STGA Green Badge Training Programme builds on experience gained training guides in Scotland over the past six decades, and incorporates the most recent national, European, and international standards.
Upon successfully achieving your Green Badge, you will be qualified and accredited to guide throughout a specific area as set by the STGA, running your own business as a Scottish Green Badge tourist guide.
The areas of training have been set up to ensure that sufficient guides are available in an area to meet the demands of the tourism industry.
Current Green Badge Guide areas are the islands of Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles alongside the mainland areas of the Northern Highlands and the North East, Aberdeen and Environs
What does the Green Badge course involve?
The Green Badge Training Programme is designed to prepare students for the STGA Green Badge Accreditation Examination.
There are two parts to the guide training:
Core Knowledge
Guide Training Programme
The Core Knowledge section is an online course and the participant can work through the course at their own speed.
The Guide Training Programme is where the knowledge that has been learned in the Core Knowledge Course is put into action.
This knowledge will be used to create the narrative for commentary on the coach, walk and site. Regional studies field trips are made throughout the area.
As the Green Badge courses differ, these modules may vary.
FAQs
The fee for the Green Badge course is estimated to be £1500.00, based on a minimum sign up. However, this fee may differ by region.
Once offered a place on the course you will need to be available for the following classes:
- streamed lectures
- classroom sessions
- field trips and practical guiding activities
Students must be prepared to commit a substantial amount of time to self study and preparation for assessments.
Upon completion of the Green Badge Guide Course and the Green Badge exam, students become self-employed members of the STGA. Members of the Association get work via many different avenues including tour operators, Destination Management Companies (DMCs), shore excursions companies, and independent tourists.
Once qualified each guide is self employed. This means the amount an individual works as a guide is up to that individual. Tourism in Scotland is growing and there has not been any shortage of work in recent years.
All STGA guides are self-employed members of the Association, it is up to each member to determine their own rates for the services they provide.
Our suggested guide rates can be found here
Get in Touch
For all Green Badge enquiries, please contact a member of our Training office team:
- Training Manager
- training@stga.co.uk
- 07944 470 371
- Training Support Administrator
- trainingsupport@stga.co.uk
- 01786 451 953
