The Net Zero Strategy sets out the UK's ambition to reduce emissions from Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs sectors as part of an overall reduction across the economy of 77% by Carbon Budget 6. Nature-based solutions, like restoring peat and planting trees, are key to tackling climate change and averting its impacts. They deliver multiple benefits for climate, biodiversity and people, and can therefore play an important role in reaching net zero.

Apprenticeships provide people with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start a career in the arboriculture sector. There have been over 5.4 million apprenticeship starts since 2010, with 99.6% of the apprenticeships budget spent to support employers of all sizes to deliver high-quality apprenticeships in the 2021/22 financial year.

To support more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. This funding will not only help employers to create new apprenticeships across various sectors, including in arboriculture, but it will also cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already undergoing training, the cost of end-point assessments and any additional payments made to employers and training providers.

The below table shows apprenticeship starts and achievements for the level 2 Arborist apprenticeship standard, with a typical duration of 24 months. There have been no starts on the level 4 Arboriculturist or level 6 Professional Arboriculturist apprenticeship standards, as they are currently awaiting an appropriate end-point assessment organisation to be appointed.

Note: Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10. Annual starts and achievements measures should not be directly compared, as apprentices will not achieve in the same year in which they started. The apprenticeship typically takes around two years to complete, and learners may take a break in learning during their apprenticeship.

The level 2 Arborist standard is presently undergoing a comprehensive review led by the trailblazer group, in collaboration with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. Their collective efforts aim to improve the end-point assessment process, thereby increasing the number of apprentices who successfully attain the qualification. The revised standard is scheduled to be introduced by autumn 2023.

To encourage more starts, the department is making apprenticeships more flexible for employers in all sectors, supporting them to build a skilled workforce and develop a diverse pipeline of talent for the future. Furthermore, we have removed the limit to the number of apprentices that smaller employers can take on, making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to grow their businesses with the skilled apprentices they need. The department also provides £1,000 to employers and training providers when they take on certain younger apprentices.

The department continues to actively promote apprenticeships in schools and colleges through our Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge Programme. This free service provides resources and interventions to help better educate young people about apprenticeships by giving them up-to-date information on the options available, including apprenticeships in arboriculture sector.

We do not hold information on the number of employers and professional bodies in the arboriculture sector that are signed up to Inspiring the Future, because the programme is not government funded. To obtain comprehensive and accurate information, we recommend contacting Inspiring the Future directly via their website, which can be accessed at: https://www.inspiringthefuture.org/about/contact-us/.

Apprenticeships provide people with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start a career in the arboriculture sector. There have been over 5.4 million apprenticeship starts since 2010, with 99.6% of the apprenticeships budget spent to support employers of all sizes to deliver high-quality apprenticeships in the 2021/22 financial year.

To support more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. This funding will not only help employers to create new apprenticeships across various sectors, including in arboriculture, but it will also cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already undergoing training, the cost of end-point assessments and any additional payments made to employers and training providers.

The below table shows apprenticeship starts and achievements for the level 2 Arborist apprenticeship standard, with a typical duration of 24 months. There have been no starts on the level 4 Arboriculturist or level 6 Professional Arboriculturist apprenticeship standards, as they are currently awaiting an appropriate end-point assessment organisation to be appointed.

Note: Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10. Annual starts and achievements measures should not be directly compared, as apprentices will not achieve in the same year in which they started. The apprenticeship typically takes around two years to complete, and learners may take a break in learning during their apprenticeship.

The level 2 Arborist standard is presently undergoing a comprehensive review led by the trailblazer group, in collaboration with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. Their collective efforts aim to improve the end-point assessment process, thereby increasing the number of apprentices who successfully attain the qualification. The revised standard is scheduled to be introduced by autumn 2023.

To encourage more starts, the department is making apprenticeships more flexible for employers in all sectors, supporting them to build a skilled workforce and develop a diverse pipeline of talent for the future. Furthermore, we have removed the limit to the number of apprentices that smaller employers can take on, making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to grow their businesses with the skilled apprentices they need. The department also provides £1,000 to employers and training providers when they take on certain younger apprentices.

The department continues to actively promote apprenticeships in schools and colleges through our Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge Programme. This free service provides resources and interventions to help better educate young people about apprenticeships by giving them up-to-date information on the options available, including apprenticeships in arboriculture sector.

We do not hold information on the number of employers and professional bodies in the arboriculture sector that are signed up to Inspiring the Future, because the programme is not government funded. To obtain comprehensive and accurate information, we recommend contacting Inspiring the Future directly via their website, which can be accessed at: https://www.inspiringthefuture.org/about/contact-us/.

Apprenticeships provide people with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start a career in the arboriculture sector. There have been over 5.4 million apprenticeship starts since 2010, with 99.6% of the apprenticeships budget spent to support employers of all sizes to deliver high-quality apprenticeships in the 2021/22 financial year.

To support more employers across the country to recruit new apprentices, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. This funding will not only help employers to create new apprenticeships across various sectors, including in arboriculture, but it will also cover the ongoing costs of apprentices already undergoing training, the cost of end-point assessments and any additional payments made to employers and training providers.

The below table shows apprenticeship starts and achievements for the level 2 Arborist apprenticeship standard, with a typical duration of 24 months. There have been no starts on the level 4 Arboriculturist or level 6 Professional Arboriculturist apprenticeship standards, as they are currently awaiting an appropriate end-point assessment organisation to be appointed.

Note: Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10. Annual starts and achievements measures should not be directly compared, as apprentices will not achieve in the same year in which they started. The apprenticeship typically takes around two years to complete, and learners may take a break in learning during their apprenticeship.

The level 2 Arborist standard is presently undergoing a comprehensive review led by the trailblazer group, in collaboration with the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education. Their collective efforts aim to improve the end-point assessment process, thereby increasing the number of apprentices who successfully attain the qualification. The revised standard is scheduled to be introduced by autumn 2023.

To encourage more starts, the department is making apprenticeships more flexible for employers in all sectors, supporting them to build a skilled workforce and develop a diverse pipeline of talent for the future. Furthermore, we have removed the limit to the number of apprentices that smaller employers can take on, making it easier for small and medium-sized enterprises to grow their businesses with the skilled apprentices they need. The department also provides £1,000 to employers and training providers when they take on certain younger apprentices.

The department continues to actively promote apprenticeships in schools and colleges through our Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge Programme. This free service provides resources and interventions to help better educate young people about apprenticeships by giving them up-to-date information on the options available, including apprenticeships in arboriculture sector.

We do not hold information on the number of employers and professional bodies in the arboriculture sector that are signed up to Inspiring the Future, because the programme is not government funded. To obtain comprehensive and accurate information, we recommend contacting Inspiring the Future directly via their website, which can be accessed at: https://www.inspiringthefuture.org/about/contact-us/.

The department wants to ensure that people get high quality, impartial advice on the full range of education, training, and career pathways, including careers in arboriculture.

Employers have designed three high-quality apprenticeship standards in arboriculture at entry level 2, level 4, and level 6, to support them to develop the skilled workforces they need. The department recognises that current numbers of apprentices who complete apprenticeships in arboriculture is low. To support more employers and learners to access apprenticeships, the department is increasing funding for apprenticeships in England to £2.7 billion by the 2024/25 financial year. Based on the same employer-led standards as apprenticeships, T Levels in Agriculture, Land Management and Production will be taught for the first time this September. This course allows students to specialise in Trees and Woodlands Management.

The department works with the Careers & Enterprise Company to support secondary schools and colleges to provide pupils with at least one meaningful interaction with employers per pupil per year, an experience of the workplace by age 16 and a further experience by age 18. There are lots of ways employers can engage with the Careers & Enterprise Company, including volunteering to work with individual schools or colleges and working with Careers Hubs on a larger local or regional scale. Industry partnerships support business and sector bodies to share up-to-date information about new pathways into their sector to education leaders and young people and increase the representation of their sector nationally. Employers can find out more via the Careers & Enterprise Company website at: https://www.careersandenterprise.co.uk/employers/.

The National Careers Service (NCS) supports both young people over 13 and adults in offering careers advice across all employment sectors. The website includes around 800 job profiles, describing what these roles entail, qualifications, and entry routes. The NCS can also work with industry to disseminate information to career leaders and careers advisers, in schools, colleges, and in the community via bulletins and newsletters.

The department also funds the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge (ASK) programme, which provides information, advice and guidance to young people in years 10 to 13 in schools, and further education colleges. At a cost of £3.2 million per year, the programme reached 680,000 young people in the 2021/22 academic year, and over 2,000 schools. It supports young people, parents and carers and teachers into understanding and applying for apprenticeships, T Levels, and Traineeships.

Employers and professional bodies in the arboriculture sector can sign up to Inspiring the Future, run by the Education and Employers charity. This free programme allows volunteers to visit state schools to talk to pupils about their jobs. This will raise the profile of various careers within the arboriculture sector. This is available at: https://www.inspiringthefuture.org.

Arboriculturalists continue to support the delivery of the England Trees Action Plan, from the delivery of tree planting in urban areas to supporting local tree and woodland strategies. We have significant ambitions to increase woodland cover in England and bring trees closer to people, and welcome the role of arboriculture, alongside agriculture, horticulture and wider forestry sectors, in enabling that.

In the process of creating the England Trees Action Plan, the Government hosted a series of workshops and round table events to engage with partners and stakeholders, specifically regarding individual amenity trees in towns and cities and urban trees. These events included representatives from the arboriculture sector and local authority tree officers.

This process provided the assessment and analysis necessary for the formulation of policies included in the England Trees Action Plan that recognise the implicit and explicit differences in how trees are managed and cared for in the context of arboriculture and forestry; The Plan states “a skilled workforce will plant and manage trees and woodlands. Trees, woodlands, forestry and arboriculture will be important sources of jobs and revenue across England”.¹

Action 1.12 of the England Trees Action Plan states that Government will: “Publish guidance for local authorities to develop their own local tree and woodland strategies”. [1] This guidance is currently being produced in partnership with the Tree Council, and further identifies the differences of management between individual amenity trees (arboriculture) and the multiplicity of impacts on them and woodland management, recognising that they are different disciplines requiring different skills and experience.

[1] The England Trees Action Plan (publishing.service.gov.uk)