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 Failure to do so could lead to the application being withdrawn from the process.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

Dear Parents/Guardians,

After a thorough strategic review, the College has decided to withdraw vocational options for students who are Electively Home Educated, effective from September 2025. This decision is part of our broader plan to streamline our educational offerings and focus on providing high-quality technical education.

Please note that this change will not impact students who are attending Myerscough College through their schools. Our commitment to delivering exceptional education to school-attending students remains unchanged.

Our goal is to communicate these changes as early as possible to allow ample time for you to make any necessary adjustments.

If you have any further questions or concerns regarding this decision, please do not hesitate to contact the 14-16 Team. We are here to support you and provide any additional information you may need.

You can email us at 14to16@myerscough.ac.uk or call 01995 642222.

14-16 EHE Transition Options

Here’s a list of alternative provisions for 14-16 home-educated students, along with the steps to enrol in Year 11 while remaining connected to a school:

Preston College
CAST Wigan
Lancaster and Morcombe
Preston Vocational Centre
Tower Learning
Preston Vocational Centre

Alternatively, there is a list of colleges that provide 14-16 Provision across the country on Ed Yourself. See link - 14-16 College – Ed Yourself

Steps to apply to Myerscough for Year 11

Contact the Local Authority regarding available school places.

Once a suitable school has been sourced.

Discuss the option of Myerscough with the school.

If discussions are successful, the school can request an application form and submit.

Offers will be made based on taster sessions, pen portrait and school report.

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