Horticulture operative apprenticeship, level 2 · Register title: Horticulture or landscape construction operative (ST0225), horticulture pathway
Grow the horticulture team that keeps your sites at their best
The Growth and Skills Levy covers the training and assessment, and we handle the enrolment and the paperwork. Your apprentice learns on your own sites, with a tutor who comes to you, from planting, pruning and propagation to soils, turf and plant health. They might already be on your grounds or nursery team, or be someone new you take on from school or another career.
Matrix Standard accredited
What they'll be able to do
Three milestones, ending ready for assessment
Work safely and sustainably, handle waste properly, communicate well with colleagues and the public, and understand the business they work in.
Plant trees and shrubs, cultivate and improve soils, use tools and machinery safely, including a pedestrian mower, and keep plants healthy.
Prune, propagate, maintain soft landscapes and ornamental turf, identify UK plants by their scientific names, and be ready for end point assessment.
Their learning journey
Five themes, built around your work
Working in horticulture
The industry, team working, communication, health and safety, and environmental practice.
Planting, soils and machinery
Planting and establishment, plant growth, soil science and cultivation, and tools and machinery.
Plant care and control
Vegetation control and pruning, plant health and biosecurity, propagation, and maintaining hard structures.
Soft landscapes and turf
Plant selection, seasonal displays, pruning for form, and ornamental turf and meadows.
Plant identification
Identifying UK plants by genus, species and cultivar.
Practical assessment, test and professional discussion
A practical assessment of 285 minutes, a closed-book test of 30 questions in 60 minutes, and a 60-minute professional discussion based on their portfolio. Graded fail, pass or distinction.
Every programme works the same way. They learn it, use it in your organisation, then look back at what they did and why.
Know it
Plant science, soils, plant health and biosecurity, and how to work safely and sustainably.
Show it
Planting, pruning, propagation and turf care done properly on your sites, in every season.
Live it
Safety first, pride in the work, and care for the people who use your spaces.
Who you could put forward
Someone already with you, or someone new
Your existing grounds or nursery staff
Practical people who'd benefit from the science and the qualification.
A school leaver who wants to work outdoors
Someone new you hire onto the apprenticeship. If they're under 25 you may also qualify for an incentive payment.
An apprentice with additional learning needs
Nigel Payne's team chose us for exactly this, as part of their social value commitments.
Someone changing career
An adult who wants a hands-on, outdoor career.
You're trusting us with someone from your team. Here's how we look after them.
One tutor from start to finish, who comes to your site and gets to know your ground and your team.
A one-to-one review every month, and a three-way review with you at the end of every stage. Nobody is guessing where they are or what's next.
Learning built around your season. Off-the-job time is agreed with you in hours per week before they start, and much of it happens on your own ground. No day or block release.
What your organisation gets
Sites at their best and your own supervisors
Sites kept at their best, all year
Planting, pruning and maintenance done properly, season by season.
Plant health protected
Pests, diseases and invasive species spotted and reported early, with biosecurity followed.
Your own route to supervisors
Level 2 leads on to horticulture supervisor, level 3, on your own sites.
Training and assessment are funded from the Growth and Skills Levy you already pay, up to the funding band for this standard. If you don't pay the levy, there's nothing to pay for apprentices under 25, and a 5% contribution for those aged 25 and over.
We check eligibility before you commit to anything. We complete the enrolment, the funding agreement, and the records the rules require, in the format auditors expect.
You get one named account manager, from your first conversation to your last review. If something isn't working, you go to them, and we take it seriously.
Where it leads
The next step, when they're ready
Horticulture supervisor, level 3 ›The next step into supervising a team and a site.
The honest answers
Questions people actually ask
At least 557 hours of off-the-job training across the programme. We convert that into hours per week for your season and agree it in writing before anyone starts.
Before end point assessment they need Level 3 Emergency First Aid at Work, a one-day course, and the pesticides award PA1, plus PA6 if they'll use hand-held application. We'll tell you what's needed and when, so nothing catches you out at the end. We don't deliver the pesticides awards: employers arrange PA1 and PA6, which is usually straightforward where someone on the team already holds them.
Enrolment is rolling, so yes. Autumn starts put the heaviest learning in your quietest months.
Training and assessment are funded from the Growth and Skills Levy, up to £6,000. If you don't pay the levy, there's nothing to pay for apprentices under 25, and a 5% contribution for those aged 25 and over. We'll confirm exactly what applies before you commit.
From 1 October 2026, you may receive up to £2,000 for an apprentice aged 16 to 24, an extra £1,000 if they're 16 to 18, and an extra £3,000 if they've received Universal Credit for more than six months. We'll check what applies to you before you commit.
If they move to a new employer, they can carry on their apprenticeship there. Your funding commitment from the Growth and Skills Levy ends when they leave.
Let's begin
Tell us who you'd like to back.
We'll reply within one working day. You'll know whether this programme fits them, what it costs you, and how quickly they could start. No commitment. And if we're not the right fit, we'll tell you.
Together, let's go