Application Procedure for existing Blue Badge Tourist Guides
Before applying, please decide whether you wish to join the full training course or enter as a Blue Badge Tourist Guide Candidate. Both routes require an application, an interview and specified examinations; the fees, training access and level of course support differ. The sections below explain the application process, compulsory requirements, exemptions, fees and conditions for each route.
Applications are welcome from existing Blue Badge Guides. Applicants may either join the full training course or apply to sit the Institute of Tourist Guiding examinations as Blue Badge Tourist Guide Candidates (BBTGCs).
To apply for the full training course or to join the course as a BBTGC, complete the following steps:
1) Complete the standard application form in full on the training course website. Pay the £30 registration fee in accordance with the instructions.
2) In the final section of the application form, explain in no more than 250 words why you wish to train in the Heart of England as an existing Blue Badge Guide and why you are particularly suitable for guiding in the region. Include relevant experience and any specialist knowledge.
3) After submitting the application form, email hoebbtraining@gmail.com to confirm submission. In your email, provide the following details of each existing Blue Badge qualification so that the Institute of Tourist Guiding can validate it:
- The name of the course
- The Course Director(s)
- The course dates of your existing Blue Badge qualification(s)
The closing date for applications is Wednesday 31st March 2027.
Compulsory requirements and exemptions
Whether they join the full course or enter as BBTGCs, all existing Blue Badge Guides must attend a Communications Seminar unless they have attended one during the five-year period ending 31 March 2027, and a full familiarisation training session for the place of worship. They must also sit two written regional examinations and two practical examinations: coach and museum/gallery.
Exemptions apply for the:
• Core Knowledge examinations
• Tour Planning Project (for existing guides who qualified after 2002).
- Walking Tour examination
- Place of Worship examination (however as required by the Institute of Tourist Guiding, a minimum of one training day is compulsory.)
These exemptions apply only to guides whose Blue Badge was awarded by the Institute of Tourist Guiding or one of its predecessor organisations. If your qualification was awarded by another organisation, such as STGA, contact the Course Administrator for guidance before applying.
Fees Payable
Institute of Tourist Guiding Fees
Existing Blue Badge Guides who join either the full course or the course as BBTGCs must pay the Institute of Tourist Guiding student registration fee, currently £203, together with the applicable Institute examination fees. Current examination fees are available here.
Course entry Fees
Existing Blue Badge Guides enrolling on the full course.
The fee is £4,365 or £4,815 if the Communications Seminar is included. Payment is due by 5:00pm on Tuesday 20 April 2027. Full-course students must participate in all sessions set out in the Prospectus and complete the self-directed study requirements; applicants should therefore plan to attend every required element.
Existing Blue Badge Guides enrolling as Blue Badge Tourist Guide Candidates.
BBTGCs must attend at least two examination practice days, a place of Worship familiarisation training session and the compulsory two-day Communications Seminar, unless they completed the seminar within the previous five years. The fees payable for each of these are:
- Two Examination practice sessions
- Coach route (full day) £250
- Museum or Art Gallery (full day) £225
- Place of Worship training session £225
- Communication Seminar: £450
4) Additional training units available:
a) Regional Knowledge online lectures: The complete series of 15 regional lectures may be booked before Part 2 of the course begins for £300. The fee includes handouts and quick questions. Individual regional lectures cannot be booked separately.
b) Core Knowledge online lectures: £20 per lecture chosen from a full list which will be made available if a place is offered. Chosen lectures are pre-bookable and payable at enrolment.
c) BBTGCs may participate in individual course training sessions. Fees are £250 for a full-day coach session, £145 for a half-day coach session, £225 for a full-day non-coach session and £120 for a half-day non-coach session. Mock written examinations cost £25 per paper and are held in a classroom under examination conditions. All sessions must be booked and paid for before Part 2 or Part 3 of the course begins, as appropriate.
d) Tour Planning Project support £200
e) Recommendations of books, podcasts and other research resources £50
f) Extra training for examination retakes as required. Fee will be advised at the time.
What you will receive.
Unless enrolling in any of the additional training units listed above, BBTGCs will receive only the following standard materials:
The Course Regional Syllabus
The Course Timetable
Apart from arrangements for the Communications Seminar, examination practice days, the Chief Examiner’s briefing and online lecture information for pre-booked lectures, BBTGCs will not receive other verbal or written assistance from the Course Directors or Course Administrator. BBTGCs who enrol in additional training units will receive the documentation required for those units, equivalent to the material provided to full-course students.
- Two-day Communications Seminar: applicants will be offered a choice of two consecutive dates between 26 and 31 October 2027. Examination practice will take place between Thursday 2 and Sunday 5 March 2028.
• Chief Examiner’s briefing: It is anticipated that this will be held during the final practice weekend.
Please Note: All practical sessions during the examination practice weekend will include the requirement to deliver commentaries and receive tutor feedback. BBTGCs will be expected to participate fully alongside the full course students during this practice weekend and during the Communication Seminar.
Selection, acceptance and withdrawal conditions
All applicants must attend an interview. An invitation to interview does not constitute acceptance onto the course. Places will initially be offered to new applicants who live in the Heart of England or are fluent in a language other than English. The number of places available to existing Blue Badge Guides will be determined after interviews are complete and those initial offers have been accepted.
Acceptance of existing Blue Badge Guides as BBTGCs onto the Heart of England Blue Badge Tourist Guide training course is at the discretion of the Course Directors. Priority will be given to applicants who are fluent in a language other than English and to those who live in the Heart of England.
Any request for ‘late’ joining of the course by an existing Blue Badge Guide shall be allowed only at the discretion of the Course Directors, subject to and in accordance with all course timescales.
On accepting a place, applicants must pay the applicable full-course or BBTGC base fee in full by 5:00pm on Tuesday 20 April 2027. Fees for additional training units are payable according to the deadlines specified for each unit.
Once a place has been accepted, no refund will be given if a student withdraws from the programme or any part of it or does not use any part of the services provided. If enrolments are insufficient, the British Guild of Tourist Guides reserves the right either to cancel the programme and refund all fees paid or to offer the programme at a higher fee.
Except where an exemption listed above applies, an existing Blue Badge Guide who does not attend a booked session will not receive a fee reduction or refund for that session.