Apprenticeship & Careers

Apprenticeship standards update (Trailblazers)

Following more than 12 months of intensive work by industry employers, trade bodies and stakeholders, the new Horticulture and Landscape Apprenticeship Standards have now achieved Government approval. This paves the way for the next step in the process; the development by employers, with the support of training providers and assessment organisations, of assessment plans, which will define how apprentices are measured and tested against the new standards.

The Government’s Trailblazer Apprenticeships programme, developed following a Government review in 2012 of the existing apprenticeships offering, aims to ensure that apprenticeships are employer-led and tailored to the needs of industry. Following the success of Trailblazer 1 and 2, which covered larger corporate businesses, Trailblazer 3 has involved employers across many sectors, including the arboriculture, forestry, horticulture and landscape sector. The new Arboriculture and Forestry Apprenticeship Standards received the Government’s green light in the autumn of 2015, and in June 2017 Horticulture and Landscape successfully passed scrutiny.

Offered at two levels – Supervisor and Operative – and covering two disciplines –Horticulture and Landscape Construction, the new apprenticeships will serve a wide range of businesses, large and small, operating in landscape construction and grounds maintenance in the private, public and commercial sectors. There are now over 500 starters on the horticulture / landscape operative apprenticeship.

Those companies who meet the threshold for the new Apprenticeship Levy will also be keen to take advantage of an initiative that they are helping to fund and believe the new Horticulture and Landscape Apprenticeships will now deliver the skills their businesses need.

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