British Cycling Mountain Bike Leadership Award - FAQs

We do our best to be available to answer your Leadership related queries. Below are answers to some frequently asked questions which will be regularly updated. If you can't find the answer you need, feel free to give us a call or alternatively send an email to the address below. Normal office hours are Monday-Thursday, 8:45am - 5:00pm and Friday, 8:45am - 3:45pm.

Frequently Asked Questions

I did my Trail Cycle Leader/ Mountain Bike Leader training with the MBLA scheme. Can I transfer these to British Cycling’s qualification?
There is no current mandate for MBLA qualifications to be transferable. To gain a British Cycling
qualification, you will need to do the Level 2 MTB Leadership course.

Why does British Cycling seem to have two different options for becoming trained in MTB Leadership (MBLA awards and the MTB Leadership programme)?
The MBLA awards aren’t British Cycling qualifications as the organisation was only involved
in the initial development phase. The Scottish Mountain Bike Leaders Association (SMBLA) has
subsequently developed and maintained the awards and British Cycling has continued to recognise
them in partnership with Scottish Cycling.

British Cycling will continue to recognise the MBLA awards for the foreseeable future, but it is
not certain whether the two structures will one day match up and there is no current mandate for them to be transferable.

With the benefit of many years experience in qualification development, British Cycling is piloting a Leadership programme in order to explore these very issues and there will be a full review in 2013. As the two schemes aren’t directly transferable, being an MBLA tutor will not allow you to tutor the British Cycling Level 2 MTB Leadership Award, although it may identify you as being someone with the qualities and experience to do so.

Do I need to be qualified at Level 1 before booking onto a Level 2 course?
If you are booking on to a MTB Leadership course as an individual then the Level 2 Award is the one to go for.

We are currently working on the Level 1 and Level 3 Awards within the MTB Leadership programme. Level 1, which is a site-specific award, has been successfully piloted and is being prepared for launch later in the summer of 2012. Level 3 is currently in the early development phase, with a view to release in 2013.

Where can I lead rides upon successful completion of the Level 2 Award?
The Level 2 Award will qualify you to lead in non‐adventurous terrain in strictly summer and
intermediate seasonal conditions (AALA) and in terrain of low to moderate technical difficulty.
We are developing an extended remit into adventurous terrain for Level 3.

For more details, contact us:

Tel: 0161 274 2063
Email: mtbleadership@britishcycling.org.uk

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