The Accreditation Programme is operated by the Guild to assess members who are seeking Accredited Members status.
The Programme is designed to ensure the establishment and maintenance of quality and the setting of high standards for the practice of battlefield guiding.
The award of the Accredited Members Badge indicates that the holder is a battlefield guide who has:
- Demonstrated a verified professional level of expertise through validation.
- Shown a personal commitment to raising the understanding, practice and profession of battlefield guiding.
As a membership organization the Guild is committed to an Accreditation Programme that is accessible to any member seeking Accredited Member status. However, the standards required for Accreditation are rigorous. Candidates therefore need to ensure they are adequately prepared to demonstrate both the practical and theoretical skills required. The Guild’s Education and Events Programmes are designed to help them achieve this, but the responsibility to be properly prepared rests solely with the individual candidate.
The assessment process is known as Validation, and encompasses the four areas of guiding competence:
- Knowledge: Relevant military history covering the battlefield from three key perspectives historical, topographical and archaeological
- Presentation: Communication skills and style – the ability to convey information effectively and to vary presentational methods so that it is most easily received by each audience
- Duty of Care: As it affects the conduct of the Battlefield Tour ‘On the ground’. Not about matters of mundane administration but fundamental issues which will affect the learning and enjoyment of the Tour such as group safety, transport and feeding
- Business: Battlefield guiding as a business whether it is working for a company or as a sole trader
