Search for chainsaw courses anywhere in the UK and you will see the same phrase again and again: “NPTC approved training centre”. It appears in page titles and course descriptions across the industry. There is one problem with it. No such approval exists.
If you are choosing a course, or booking training for your operatives, understanding what is actually approved, and by whom, is the most useful check you can make before you spend any money. This guide explains how the system really works. And if you simply want a course backed by the approval that does exist, our chainsaw and arboriculture courses page shows dates and prices.
Who NPTC actually are
NPTC stands for the National Proficiency Tests Council. It was the specialist body for land-based qualifications until 2004, when it became part of the City & Guilds Group. Today NPTC is the brand City & Guilds uses for its land-based qualifications: the certificates of competence held by chainsaw operators and tree surgeons across the UK.
That distinction matters. The qualification on your certificate is awarded by City & Guilds. NPTC is the name on the qualification. It approves nobody and accredits nothing, because it is not an awarding organisation in its own right. City & Guilds is.
The only approval that exists
For NPTC certificates of competence, City & Guilds approves two things: assessment centres, and the individual assessors who work within them, each for specific qualifications. Training is not on the list.
An approved assessment centre is approved, qualification by qualification, to carry out the independent assessments that lead to City & Guilds NPTC certificates of competence. The approval comes with obligations. City & Guilds quality assures the centre’s assessment decisions, checks its records and holds it to the standard over time, and the approval can be withdrawn if the centre falls short. It is a credential with scrutiny behind it, which is exactly what makes it worth something.
There is no equivalent for the training. In the City & Guilds NPTC system there is no such thing as approval to deliver training. Anyone can advertise a chainsaw course tomorrow. What stands between a qualification and a piece of paper is the independent assessment at the end of the course, and the approved assessment centre behind that assessment.
So what does “NPTC approved training centre” mean?
Nothing. The phrase is wrong twice over. NPTC does not approve anybody, and in the City & Guilds system nobody approves training centres. Only assessment centres hold an approval.
The same goes for “NPTC accredited courses” and “NPTC approved training provider”. Neither status exists. In this system the credential always belongs to two things: the qualification, which City & Guilds awards, and the assessment centre, which City & Guilds approves.
To be fair, most providers who use these phrases are not trying to mislead anyone. The wording gets copied from website to website because it sounds official and because it is what people type into Google. But everyone who works with these qualifications knows there is no such approval.
What to check before you book
- Ask who awards the certificate. The answer should be City & Guilds. That is the name that carries the weight, backed by the NPTC brand the industry recognises.
- Ask who carries out the assessment. Then ask whether the centre behind it is a City & Guilds approved assessment centre.
- Ask how training and assessment are kept separate. They are different processes held to different standards, even when one company delivers both.
- Be wary of a provider describing its training as NPTC approved or NPTC accredited. There is no such approval. Ask who granted it, and for what. The honest answer always comes back to City & Guilds, and to assessment.
Where Great Oaks stands
Great Oaks is a City & Guilds approved assessment centre. That is the approval that exists for these qualifications, and it is the one we hold. We deliver the training and we carry out the independent assessment that leads to City & Guilds NPTC certificates of competence.
The two roles stay separate. The training gets you ready. The assessment is a stand-alone process carried out against City & Guilds standards, and our assessment decisions are quality assured by City & Guilds. That is the part a centre is approved to do, and it is where the qualification is earned.
If you are comparing providers, put the questions above to every one of them. If you would like to train and be assessed with us, see our chainsaw and arboriculture courses. If you are an employer arranging assessments, our guide to choosing an assessor for NPTC qualifications covers scope, independence and verification in detail.
Quick answers
What does “NPTC approved” actually mean?
Where a real status sits behind the phrase, it is City & Guilds approval of an assessment centre or of an individual assessor. NPTC itself approves nothing. If the phrase is attached to training, a course or a training centre, no City & Guilds approval of any kind sits behind it.
Is NPTC the same as City & Guilds?
NPTC has been part of the City & Guilds Group since 2004. NPTC is the brand on the land-based qualifications; City & Guilds is the awarding organisation that grants them, and the only body that approves centres for them.
Are chainsaw courses accredited?
Not in the City & Guilds NPTC system. There, the qualification is awarded by City & Guilds and the assessment centre is approved by City & Guilds. The course itself is preparation for the independent assessment, and nobody approves or accredits it.
What is a City & Guilds approved assessment centre?
A centre that City & Guilds has approved, qualification by qualification, to carry out the independent assessments for its certificates of competence, and that City & Guilds quality assures on an ongoing basis. It is the approval that exists for these qualifications.
