Basic Tree Surveying and Inspection at Tortworth Court, January 2022.
Sarah Jackson, Training Coordinator
Last autumn we asked our members for their views on the training we provide, which courses they would consider attending and what other topics/CPD opportunities they would like to see. We also opened up the survey to non-members, and with more than 200 respondents these results will help us to plan and develop our training provision for the next three years.
Pre-pandemic, we were increasing our course provision, broadening our reach and delivering an expanding portfolio on a range of topics. In 2020 and 2021, we worked hard to migrate the courses we could to an online delivery platform and attempted, where we could, to deliver face-to-face courses. As classroom courses started up again, it was important for us to understand the requirements of our training delegates and to ascertain if online courses were here to stay.
Summarised below are the top-line results, along with our current plans for this year, as well as the more popular topics for future consideration.
Who responded to the survey?
A total of 203 respondents – 71% members and 29% non-members – covering all parts of the UK with worldwide representation from Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Italy, Kurdistan Region and New Zealand. Work sectors included consultancy, local authority, contractors, students, education, research/policy, nursery, ground staff and volunteers.
Which courses were respondents most interested in attending and in which format?
The course with the greatest number of respondents interested in attending online was Arboricultural Knowledge with 96 respondents; half of these indicated they would also attend it as a face to face.
Tree Pests, Diseases and Disorders online came a close second at 94 respondents and 70 would attend in person.
The ratios are similar for the remaining AA courses, where 60–80 respondents preferred an online delivery for BS5837: Tree Surveying and Categorisation; Report Writing; The AA Risk Assessment; Getting to Grips with Subsidence; and Subsidence Investigation Workshop. With lower numbers supporting classroom courses, we will continue to deliver the above courses online.
Fewer respondents were in favour of the online option for Basic Tree Survey and Inspection. The BTI course has been working 2022 well online, but we have already started to reintroduce it as an in-person course.
The most popular face-to face course that respondents wanted to see running again was the Professional Tree Inspection (PTI) at 72%, with Valuing and Managing Veteran Trees and the VETcert exams also popular.
We have already started to deliver the PTI with a few courses already scheduled throughout the year, and more in the pipeline. We are aiming to start to deliver the VETcert exams in the summer – more information on these and various vet tree courses will be given in the next edition of ARB Magazine.
Are you interested in an online or classroom course?
Which areas would respondents travel to for an in-person course?
We gave respondents a list of areas that have been previously used to host courses, as well as room to suggest other areas. We know that there are gaps, often due to a lack of suitable venues and/or travelling distance for our trainers. The most popular areas were: Gloucestershire, Surrey, Staffordshire, Hertfordshire, Warwickshire, Derbyshire, Avon, Suffolk and Somerset.
To address this, we would like to increase our course delivery here at the Malthouse, and as distancing precautions are lifted, this will become a more viable option. We have scheduled a PTI, ITI and BTI in Staffordshire as it has a good reach for the Midlands, and we have confirmed an ITI in Hertfordshire and a PTI in Suffolk.
The most popular places that respondents might travel to for a course were North Yorkshire and Pembrokeshire whilst there is a clear requirement for courses in Scotland, Dublin and Belfast. To address this, we have already started to schedule courses in Wales and Preston. We will be looking at our provision in Ireland this year. If there is trainer based in Northern and/or Republic of Ireland that can deliver Lantra’s PTI and BTI, please contact me.
Whilst we would love to be able to deliver a classroom course in every city, we are restricted by suitable venues and the location of our trainers. It is an aim of the AA to expand our pool of trainers and to deliver courses near to our trainers’ locations, reducing our carbon footprint. We are working on both, but it will take time and we hope that each year we can build on our reach and increase our team. Watch out for an update on our newly appointed trainers in the next edition.
eLearning courses
More than 100 respondents indicated that they were interested in enrolling on the eLearning courses Trees and Planning (England) and BS3998 British Standard for Tree Work. Well, we’re waiting for you! To enrol, visit www.trees.org.uk/eLearning
Other suggestions for eLearning
The most popular suggestions were: BS5837: Tree Surveying and Categorisation and Tree Pests and Diseases (both are available as a live online course); Trees and Planning (Scotland); and Basic Arboriculture. We will look at the latter courses and add them into the mix of course development, along with a tree identification course, and Trees and Planning (RoI). Another suggestion was a series of short courses on the Technical Guides.
Other suggestions for CPD opportunities
This question prompted a plethora of suggested topics, from ecology to cyber security awareness; from tree planting and climate change to working in a 3D environment. All great ideas that will take us time to go through, seek expert advice and assess their viability.
Any other comments
And finally, we asked for your comments – here are a few:
Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond to the survey – it really is appreciated. Whilst we can’t wave a magic wand and produce all the courses in all the areas that everyone would like to see, we are committed to doing our best and delivering a varied range of courses in a mix of formats.
Finally, congratulations to student member, Felix, who was the winner of the survey draw and wins a place on an AA course!
For more information on training courses, please visit www.trees.org.uk/Training
This article was taken from Issue 196 Spring 2022 of the ARB Magazine, which is available to view free to members by simply logging in to the website and viewing your profile area.