Horticulture | Oldham College

What will I learn on my apprenticeship?

Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship in Horticulture (Framework)

Level 2 Horticulture/Landscape Operative (Standard)

Horticulture is a major UK industry. This apprenticeship covers a range of occupations and suits anyone wanting to work outdoors in gardens and park settings.

Horticulture and Landscape Operatives can be employed to work in public parks and gardens, green spaces and historic gardens, private gardens and estates or in production nurseries and retail outlets. Many businesses will be specialised in their activities, such as grounds maintenance (soft-landscape) or landscape construction (hard-landscape).

Soft- landscaping includes the establishment and maintenance of plants and cultivated areas. Hard-landscaping includes establishment of hard surfaces and structures in addition to the establishment of plants in cultivated areas.

The following qualifications are embedded within the Standard and must be achieved prior to gateway and End Point Assessment (EPA):

Level 3 Award in Emergency First Aid at Work

Level 2 Principles of Safe Handling and Application of Pesticides Guidance OR Level 2 Award in the Safe Use of Pesticides.

How will I be assessed?

The apprentice will be assessed through a variety of assessment methods as agreed with their assessor to ensure that the knowledge and skills they learn are applied consistently in their role.

The apprentice will demonstrate their evidence by building an online portfolio mapped towards the learning outcomes of the agreed units. Types of evidence will include written assignments, observation, and may also include questions and answers, professional discussion, witness testimonies and the examination of work products.

The assessor is looking to confirm the integration of theory into practice in line with the qualification assessment criteria. This will be quality assured to ensure is authentic, sufficient and valid before quality assurance from the external awarding organisation.

End Point Assessment (EPA) - Demonstrating Learning

The final EPA consists of 3 components in the sequence as follows:

Online Knowledge Assessment: The online knowledge assessment is a multiple choice test consisting of 40 questions each with 4 response options. The assessment must be completed within 1 hour under controlled conditions.
Synoptic Practical Assessments: The synoptic practical assessment consists of 3 practical tasks to be completed in controlled conditions with responses to verbal knowledge questions posed by an assessor. These activities will be time bound and take no more than 6 hours.
Professional Discussion: The professional discussion is based on seasonal elements and portfolio evidence selected from the final year of the apprenticeship. The discussion is between the apprentice and the assessor for 1 hour under controlled conditions.

What will my apprenticeship lead to?

Progression routes can include into roles such as gardener, grounds maintenance worker, landscaper, greenkeeper and horticulture production worker.

Cost of my apprenticeship

Contribution Rules

16-18 Where the employer has under 50 employees and they are not a levy paying employer the learner is fully funded by the government, this rule also applies to 19-24 year old who are Care Leavers or in possession of an Educational Healthcare Plan
16-18 Where the employer has 50 or more employees and they are not a levy payer there will be a 5% charge with the government paying the remaining 95%. The 5% contribution will be invoiced as per the table above.
16-18 Where the employer is a levy payer, 100% of the funding will be claimed from their digital account on a monthly basis where the payments are scheduled according to the length of the learner's programme
19+ All employers that are not a levy payers there will be a 5% charge with the government paying the remaining 95%. The 5% contribution will be invoiced as per the table above.
19+ Where the employer is a levy payer, 100% of the funding will be claimed from their digital account on a monthly basis where the payments are scheduled according to the length of the learner's programme

Incentives

16-18 The employer will receive £1,000 incentive, 50% at 90 days following enrolment and 50% at 365 days following enrolment assuming the student is still employed and active on the Apprenticeship. The employer will need to invoice the college for this at that time and confirm their eligibility to make the claims at that point. This applies to Apprenticeship Frameworks only and not new Standards.
19-24 Where an employer has an Apprentice under the age of 25 where their earnings are below £43,000 per year the employer does not have to pay National Insurance Contributions (NIC's). Correct at the time of publication, check the HMRC section on gov.uk website

How to apply

You can apply for this programme via the Apply Now button, at the top.

If this course area is available as an apprenticeship, this will show under 'Study Option' on the right-hand side, just below the Apply Now button. You can view all of our apprenticeship vacanices and subjects by clicking the 'Apprenticeships' in the top menu.