Orienteering

Orienteering is a sport that exercises the body and mind, and is a great cross-curricular activity that can support Maths, PE, and Geography. The aim is to navigate between control points marked on a map, at a pace and level that suits you.

What is orienteering?

Orienteering events can be held for both individuals and teams, and can easily take place on school grounds. Individual events can be short ‘sprints’ where competitors will finish very quickly, or longer and more complex competitions. Team events can be done as a group or involve a ‘relay’ aspect.

There are multiple orienteering formats, including those using canoes, bikes, or skis, as well as those done on foot. However, most competitions will require some form of equipment to allow competitors to navigate the terrain.

The winner is typically the competitor to finish the course in the fastest time, but other scoring systems can be used, with certain checkpoints or items weighted to be worth more points than others.

Find out more about how to run orienteering formats.

Equipment needed

Maps
Answer sheets
Cones
A suitable space

British Orienteering is the National Governing Body for orienteering in the UK.

See their full range of orienteering formats suitable for schools.

Visit British Orienteering's website

Get involved

The School Games is inclusive to all young people and provides opportunities for everyone to get involved, either within school, against other local schools, or at county or regional level.

School Games Organisers

School Games Organisers (SGO) help schools coordinate appropriate competitive opportunities for all young people from Key Stage 2-4, to recruit, train and deploy a suitable workforce, and to support the development of club.