Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer ^W^W^W^W uk.rec.gardening, I
heard Michael Saunby say...
I have recently been looking at at acourse offered by he The Insitute
of Gardening. Their web address is http://www.inst.org/garden/index.htm
they offer a course which follows the RHS general eaxam and it seems to
be well suited for what I need, however.


Have you checked if local colleges offer suitable courses? Although in
decline I expect most counties still have an agricultural/horticultural
college.

I am currently doing a National Certificate in Horticulture at
Warwickshire College (and considering going on to do a second year to
get the National Diploma). Although the NC course has no element of
work experience, there is a reasonable practical content. The ND has a
work experience module (I think it's 22 weeks).

The disadvantage of doing a full time (some colleges manage to fit it
into a 3 day week) course is that you don't have a lot of time for
earning money for large portions of the time. But, it's probably a lot
cheaper in fees than a private college. IIRC, our place does the RHS
general course as an evening class. Again, this would be cheaper than a
private college and you get more chance to interact with the tutor /
other students than doing a correspondence course.

You can find availability of courses in your area through the
Learndirect site www.learndirect.co.uk

Several of the students in my class are doing volunteer work in the
gardens at one of the local National Trust places and a few more have
got part time / holiday jobs with horticultural businesses.

What do you want to do with your qualification? If you want to go into
amenity horticulture, it may be worth contacting your local council or
checking their website to see what qualifications are required for a job
with them.

Useful associated qualifications are FIPA (pesticide use) and a chain
saw licence. A lot of employers like them but prefer not to have to pay
for your training.
--
Fenny
Fictitious Facts of the Day - from a list by Andrew Burford
#216: There are stocks of cold rice pudding and tapioca left over from
World War II - these are still used to quell the masses in schools
across Britain today.