Scout SuiteHow-to guide
Explorer Units and Groups
Explorers aren't another Group section in the same way Beavers or Scouts are. In Scout Suite you either stand the unit up as its own organisation, or you host it inside a Group when the unit is partnered with that Group. Pick the shape that matches how you actually run — don't create both for the same young people.
Choose Group, Explorer Unit, or an Explorers section
A Group is a Scout Group: Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs and Scouts, with its own team, finance, waiting list and programme. Create one with Create Group.
An Explorer Unit is a peer of a Group, not a Group with one section switched on. It has its own dashboard, subscription, admin team and bank — the same nav a Group gets — but it only ever runs Explorers. Create one with Create Explorer Unit.
If the Explorer Scout Unit is partnered with a Group — same HQ, same executive, same Scout Suite account as the Beavers and Scouts — don't create a second organisation. Open that Group and add an Explorers section. The Explorers still wear a unit name tape and unit badges, not the Group's.
There's no separate "link this Unit to that Group" switch. Partnership in Scout Suite means the Explorers live as a section of the Group. A standalone Explorer Unit can still belong to the same district as the Group — that's affiliation, not partnership.
Partnered with a Group — add an Explorers section
In the Group, go to Sections → Create Section and pick Explorers. Meeting day, time and location work the same as any other section.
Because Explorers in a Group are still a unit, the form shows an optional Unit uniform block: unit name tape, Unit Badge, Necker Unit Badge and Unit Sponsor Badge. Fill in whatever the unit actually wears. Leave them blank if you haven't got them yet — none of them are required.
Young people, programme, badges and waiting list for that section sit on the Group as usual. The uniform designer uses the section's unit assets for Explorers, and the Group's name tape and badges for Squirrels through Scouts.
ExplorersPartneredIts own organisation — create an Explorer Unit
From the org switcher (top left, next to Scout Suite) or the Your Groups & Units page, choose Create Explorer Unit instead of Create Group. If you've no organisations yet, the same choice is on the welcome screen.
The form matches creating a Group — a name, optional charity number, necker colours, and (optionally) the District or County / Area / Region. Contact email is your account email. Labels on the uniform fields are Unit rather than Group: unit name tape, Unit Badge, Necker Unit Badge, Unit Sponsor Badge. All optional.
It behaves like a Group everywhere that matters
An Explorer Unit lives at the same kind of dashboard a Group gets — Young People, Sections, Team, Programme, Badges, Waiting list, Finance, Communications and the rest are there from the start. Nothing is hidden, unlike a one-off event or campsite tenant.
Anywhere this guide doesn't call out a difference, assume it works exactly like a Group's equivalent page. An Explorer Unit is a peer of a Group, not a stripped-down version of one.
Add the Explorers section inside the Unit
Under Sections → Create Section, the type picker only offers Explorers — Squirrels, Beavers, Cubs or Scouts don't appear, because they don't belong in a unit. Meeting day, time and location work the same as a Group's.
Uniform assets live on the Unit's Settings, not on the section — there's no second set of unit-tape fields here.
ExplorersLink it to a district, if you didn't at creation
Didn't pick a district or county when creating the Unit? A district or county admin can send the normal affiliation invite from their dashboard's Invite group action — it works for an Explorer Unit the same way it works for a Group. The Unit's admin accepts it, and the link is made.
From here, it's just Scout Suite
Add the leadership team under Team, and young people under Young People. Waiting list, badge tracking and programme planning work the same as a Group, against the Explorers section rather than several age-graded ones.
Building a programme and Collecting subs cover those in full — nothing in either guide is Group-only.
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More in this topic
Waiting lists, parents, moving on, and Explorer Units.