Sometimes a technical hitch throws up an opportunity. This Spring, the BALI Chalk Fund team scheduled an Online College Forum and invited its network of college heads, tutors and training providers within the landscape, horticulture and garden design community to join them for open discussions. The forum aimed to create a platform for trainers and tutors to share ideas, discuss their programmes and explore mutual challenges, learning from each other. The first session was planned for March 2026, but with some college staff unable to connect, a second forum was organised for April.
Across the two online events, 23 course leaders and experts from 14 colleges and organisations within the training sector tackled topics across the curriculum, skills, recruitment and talked over issues effecting academic and vocational training across the sector.
Broader Discussion Points
Qualifications and Curriculum
- Qualification upheaval is a concern with T level reforms removing local flexibility and forcing colleges to seek enrichment to meet local employer needs
- City and Guilds qualifications are outdated, and the introduction of V levels will add extra confusion to the equivalence and comparison of courses and structure
Sustainability and BNG
- Sustainable planting and naturalistic design are growing areas where younger student generations are driving the interest
- Non-accredited training providers have more flexibility to add emerging course content on elements such as BNG, ecology and AI
Skills Gaps
- There is still a palpable gap in course content for business-ready skills like surveying, costing, tendering, client management and enterprise – all of heightened importance for those looking to start up their own businesses and embrace self-employment
- Potential for a self-certified/internal college certified non-accredited way to gain these more practical skills and provide evidence basis for students’ CVs
- Scotland’s new Modern Apprenticeship framework does go some way to include a dedicated metaskills unit
AI in UK landscapes
- The landscape sector is more highly protected as an “AI-resilient” industry through its labour-intensive, outdoor and physical skillset requirement
- AI tools are already embedded in design software such as SketchUp and Vectorworks, with a fear that student work could become less visually and creatively less unique and more homogenised
- But client demand for personal, hand-crafted design remains strong
Recruitment Challenges
- The most pressing shared challenge remains the recruitment of 16-18 year olds, largely affected by students and parents’ perceptions of the sectors as a low-achiever pathway
- Parental and school bias is a significant barrier with school career services focused on university pathways and retaining students in sixth forms.
- Strategies shared that showed promise included inviting careers advisors to land-based colleges and junior apprenticeships for 14-16 year olds, as well as the introduction of vocational GCSEs from 2027
- Other suggests to support recruitment included National Trust work experience partnerships, BALI event involvement and stronger, bolder storytelling on college websites to encourage entrants
- Career changers are a growing and vital part of each year’s intake.
- Recruitment patterns vary significantly by location – e.g agricultural, farming or horticultural communities. The local and rural industry mix and focus should help shape course design and its marketing
Next Steps and Actions
To support colleges and give clarity to those considering their landscape pathways, the BALI Chalk team agreed to prepare a Qualification Comparison matrix with BALI Go Landscape.
Whilst there is the next face-to-face annual College Forum confirmed for 17 September 2026 at GroundsFest, the groups were keen to keep the conversation flowing. There is a new Discord channel set up for the college course leaders and training providers – get in touch with the BALI Chalk Communications team for your invite link.
The College Forum in September will also facilitate an online dial-in for those who are unable to attend.