NPTC Entry Level Three Award Skills for Working Life Horticulture (14-16 Programme)

About the course

This course is currently being reviewed. Applications will not open until a decision has been made.

This is an entry level course is for young people who are interested in working in the horticultural and gardening industry. It will provide students with the basic practical skills and knowledge they need to either gain employment or progress to further training. It will also help develop common, social and interpersonal skills and widen life experiences. The course is largely practical and students will work both in a classroom and in Croxteth Park's extensive historic park and gardens. Students will join full time learners on the course.

Parents/Schools, please note when completing the application form you must use child’s name and DOB but the parent/school email and telephone number. All official documents, interview and enrolment information will be emailed on the parent/school email provided and this could be anytime from the time of application through to September. If the email changes it is important you let us know. Failure to do so could lead to the application being withdrawn from the process.

Year 1

Year 1

Fill plant containers

Prepare and plant an area

Recognise plants

Recognise, use and care for tools used in horticulture

Weed a planted area

Entry requirements & additional information

Entry requirements

Students need to be 14 or 15 and have an interest in horticulture and gardening.

Progression

Students who successfully complete the course may wish to study full time at Myerscough or at another college.

Careers

Employment may be gained within the horticultural and gardening industry.

Special requirements

Sensible outdoor clothing, steel toe capped boots/wellingtons. You must also have an up to date tetanus vaccination.

Horticulture

Horticulture is a rapidly growing area of the economy thanks to a strong public interest in gardening, plants, sustainability and food security. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, the horticulture industry is the largest employer in the UK, supplying 18 million gardeners.

The number of garden centres continues to increase and the public demand for attractive horticultural landscapes remains strong. This means that plant growers, suppliers and managers are constantly looking for ways to improve their businesses.

Our Gold Medal winning garden at Southport Flower Show

Show Garden Success

Work experience doesn’t get much better than here at Myerscough. Our learners have helped build award-winning gardens across the country - from a Gold-Medal entry at Chelsea Flower Show to Gold and Silver Medals at Southport Flower Show! They’ve also been involved with garden builds for the BBC DIY SOS project in Blackpool and show gardens at the RHS Tatton Flower Show and Chorley Flower Show.

PlantWorld

Myerscough’s award-winning gardens are laid out across much of the western edge of the Myerscough campus. As part of our garden kingdom, horticulture students are spoilt for choice in our Plant World display glasshouses! There are bananas growing in the Tropical Zone, coffee plants and pineapples in the Edible Zone, a Mediterranean atmosphere in the Temperate Zone as well as beautiful specimen plants in the Flowering and Foliage Zones.

Myerscough College - Horticulture Glasshouses

Superb Facilities

Our horticulture students have access to some of the best facilities available. There are brand new commercial glasshouses, an extensive plant collection, fully-equipped landscape and construction workshops, a new Sportsturf education facility, a CAD suite and drawing studio and dedicated garden plots for project work.

Scholarship Programme

Every year there’s the chance for students to apply for funding to undertake overseas trips as part of their studies thanks to travel scholarships. The annual fund, from the Lancaster and Morecambe Agriculture & Horticulture Society Scholarship programme, pays significant bursaries to encourage young horticulturalists to study or explore business ideas abroad. This year, Bronwyn Jones, 19, went to Singapore to be involved as a volunteer on the ‘Gardens by the Bay’ project looking at increasing public accessibility to gardens and using innovation and technology in creating a city in the garden.

Latest news, Horticulture

Myerscough College Fellow - Christine Walkden

Christine Walkden: Honorary Fellow

"My passion for gardening was nurtured at Myerscough College and I've been getting my hands dirty ever since." Celebrity plantswoman and horticulturalist Christine was awarded an honorary fellowship and regularly works with the College and our Horticultural department.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING OUR VOCATIONAL OFFER FOR HOME EDUCATED STUDENTS FROM SEPTEMBER 2025

Tuesday 12th November 2024 update

Myerscough College is committed to providing high quality technical education across the land-based and sports sectors. Our 14-16 curriculum provision will remain in place for the 2025/26 academic year, starting September 2025, but it will need to be accessed via applications from local schools, on behalf of their pupils.

After extensive discussions with our Local Authorities (LAs) regarding the future of home education, it is clear that the government is focused on prioritising the reintegration of many home educated young people back into mainstream education. In light of this direction, we have made the strategic decision to change the Elective Home Educated (EHE) element of our 14-16 programme, in order to align with this broader educational policy.

The only change being implemented at Myerscough is the method of applying for a place and that, moving forward, Electively Home Educated applicants must be enrolled with (or linked to) a secondary school. That school can then submit an application for the programme.

This change will not impact students who are already currently attending Myerscough College through their schools.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the Home Educated support teams at your relevant local authority. They will be able to provide information about available school places for September 2025 entry. Once a suitable school has been identified you can start a dialogue with them about the option of attending Myerscough. If discussions are successful, the school can submit an application.

For information about the content of the 14-16 curriculum you can email us at 14to16@myerscough.ac.uk or call 01995 642222.

Additional support

Myerscough will arrange for copies of academic reports to be sent to educational providers in order to support and enhance the likelihood of securing a school or alternative provision placement for students.

Additionally, please access the links below to help with guidance and support during this transition period:

https://www.youngminds.org.uk/professional/resources/supporting-school-transitions/

Supporting children's transition to secondary school: guidance for parents and carers | Anna Freud