OUSA Skill Level Recognition Program

The Orienteering Skill Level Recognition Program is Orienteering USA's progressive framework for developing orienteering skills. It defines four levels of achievement, each with concept, skill, and application requirements. A patch is available for completing each level.

The program is designed for youth, parents, and group leaders. It assumes learners work with an OUSA club and attend events, so it skips some foundational skills that our curriculum teaches explicitly (boundaries, gathering, spatial awareness). But from map reading onward, it is the most concrete description of what an orienteer should know and be able to do at each stage.

The Four Levels

Basic (Level 1)

Completable in a single session. Covers foundational map reading, map orientation, thumbing, intersection navigation, and safety.

Concepts:

• Find trails, roads, buildings, rocks, man-made point features, north lines, start, control, and finish on an orienteering map
• Explain how to use the map legend
• Explain what different trail symbols might look like in the terrain
• Explain why it is important for your map to be oriented in relation to the terrain
• Explain how to check control codes
• Explain basic safety procedures (whistle, time limits, finish check-in, local hazards, what to do if lost)

Skills:

• Orient your map using the features around you
• Orient your map using your compass
• Thumb your map to keep track of your position and features that you pass
• Determine the proper direction to travel at intersections and when leaving controls
• Determine what fraction of a leg is completed when passing mapped landmarks

Application:

• Complete one basic course (White) or find at least five controls on a basic score-O course

Intermediate (Level 2)

Requires additional concept and skill development and completing three intermediate courses. Introduces route choice, handrails, attack points, control descriptions, compass directions, and pacing.

Concepts:

• Identify rock features, point features, earth symbols, linear features, and water features on the map
• Explain what all map colors represent, especially vegetation types
• Explain how to use the control description sheet
• Describe control description symbols for trails, rock features, earth point features, and common man-made features
• Explain backtracking and safety bearings
• Know basic first aid procedures
• Explain map scale and the difference between 1:5000 and 1:10000
• Explain handrails and identify non-trail features that can be used as handrails
• Explain attack points and identify a useful one on a course

Skills:

• Identify different route choices between the same controls
• Travel off-trail for short segments from one handrail to another
• Use your compass to find the cardinal directions
• Measure a distance on the map and walk it by counting paces
• Point out the direction to the next control from wherever you are

Application:

• Complete 3 intermediate courses (Yellow), mix of point-to-point and score-O
• Complete a course review with another participant or experienced orienteer

Advanced (Level 3)

Introduces off-trail navigation, contour reading, terrain features, relocation, and full control description literacy. Requires volunteering at an event.

Concepts:

• Explain every symbol and vegetation type on an orienteering map
• Identify the five major terrain features on a map and in the terrain (hill, reentrant, spur, saddle, depression)
• Show which direction is uphill/downhill and which areas are steeper/flatter
• Know all control description symbols
• Explain the steps of relocation (SOFA) and when to use them
• Explain route selection methods (CAR or other methods)
• Explain catching features, collecting features, and aiming off
• Describe and name the parts of a baseplate compass
• Explain the red light / yellow light / green light concept

Skills:

• Comfortable running off-trail
• Estimate your distance from a parallel handrail
• Take a bearing from the map and follow it with your compass
• Describe route choices on an advanced course map, incorporating the concepts above

Application:

• Complete 5 advanced courses (Orange), mix of point-to-point and score-O
• Compare 3 courses with other competitors and write a summary of one
• Draw your route on at least 3 course maps
• Assist with volunteer duties at an orienteering event

Expert (Level 4)

Focuses on competitive performance, course design, and giving back to the sport. Introduces map simplification, flow, reading ahead, and physical training.

Concepts:

• Explain map simplification
• Explain rough compass bearings
• Explain flow and how to maintain it
• Explain reading ahead and the best times on a course for it
• Describe basic search and rescue procedures
• Explain why both physical and technical training are important

Skills:

• Follow a contour line through terrain
• Triangulate your position from nearby features
• Estimate distance from multiple features
• Identify micro routes for faster running
• Follow rough compass bearings
• Maintain a control-punching routine that preserves momentum
• Warm up and cool down

Application:

• Complete 5 expert courses (Brown or higher) with course reviews
• Keep a detailed performance log
• Design and set a course of at least intermediate difficulty
• Create a simple hand-drawn map using orienteering symbols
• Follow a physical training plan

How Nav Games Maps to the Skill Levels

Our curriculum covers most of the Basic level and parts of Intermediate. Students who complete our full 6+ progression will have touched on many Intermediate and some Advanced concepts, though in a school PE context rather than through competitive event participation.

OUSA Level	Nav Games Coverage	Notes
Basic	Covered in Grades 3-5 and 6+	Our curriculum builds up to these skills more gradually, starting with pre-map concepts (boundaries, gathering, spatial memory) that OUSA assumes. Map orientation, thumbing, and intersection navigation are taught through Geometric-O, Map Walk, and Score-O.
Intermediate	Partially covered in Grades 6+	Route choice, handrails, attack points, control descriptions, and cardinal directions appear in our later lessons. Pacing and off-trail travel are introduced but not deeply developed in a school setting.
Advanced	Lightly touched	Contour reading and terrain features are stretch goals. Full control description literacy and relocation (SOFA) are introduced conceptually. Compass bearings and off-trail running require more time than a typical PE unit allows.
Expert	Beyond school curriculum	Course design is an extension activity. The competitive and physical training elements are beyond our scope but represent where orienteering can lead for motivated students.

The Skill Level Recognition Program and the Orienteering Development Model complement each other. The ODM describes how people develop (stages and dimensions). The Skill Levels describe what they should be able to do (concrete, assessable requirements). Our Navigation Games Progression cross-references both.

Resources

• Orienteering USA
• Discovering Orienteering by Charles Ferguson and Robert Turbyfill (recommended by OUSA as a companion resource)