Tree work07884 274693Training01772 369694
Whether you’re planning on expanding your skill set or looking to switch careers completely, you might have your eye on chainsaw courses. At this point, one question you may ask yourself is: is tree surgeon training worth it? Before making any commitments, it’s important to know whether the money and time you put in will come back to you in the form of steady work and a better salary.
This guide gives you a clear, practical answer. We will look at typical tree surgeon course cost bands, current UK earnings, simple payback examples and the wider benefits of accredited training. We will also cover flexible payment options and common worries, so you can decide if this is a good investment for you.
To judge any tree surgeon training ROI, you need a realistic picture of what people actually earn. Across the UK, the National Careers Service gives a broad range for tree surgeons, with starters in the mid twenties and experienced staff in the mid thirties, with scope for more in senior roles. That aligns with recent salary data from Indeed, which reports an average UK tree surgeon salary of around £32,800 per year, based on hundreds of real salaries.
Industry salary trackers build out the picture further. Arbjobs’ latest review of arboriculture roles found an average salary of about £34,500 across UK arborist jobs, with higher pay in regions like London and the South East where demand and living costs are greater. Other sources, such as Jobted and Checkatrade, show a familiar pattern: starting salaries in the high teens or low twenties, experienced employees in the low to mid thirties, and business owners or high end contractors reaching £45,000 and above.
At Great Oaks, we see the same stepped progression:
If you want more detail on how those bands look in practice, our guide to what you can earn as a tree surgeon sets out typical ranges and shows how experience, extra tickets and region influence pay.
The important point is that tree surgery offers a defined career ladder. You may not start at the top, but there is a clear route into higher earning roles if you keep adding skills and experience.
Most people step into the industry through core ground-based chainsaw qualifications. At our training centre in Preston, current prices give a clear sense of what that investment looks like in practice. Our core chainsaw units sit between about £670 and £970, and the combined ground-based chainsaw operator course, which runs over five days and leads to two NPTC Level 2 certificates, is £1,351 including VAT and assessment.
For a brand new starter, that five-day package is often the most efficient way to get job ready. It brings together maintenance, cross cutting and felling small trees into one focused week, rather than spreading those units out over several shorter bookings. If you prefer to move more gradually, you can instead book individual courses to build your qualifications step by step.
If your goal is to work in the canopy, you will then add climbing and aerial units. Our current tree climbing and aerial rescue course, for example, is a five day block priced at around £1,270 including VAT and assessment. Our course covering using a chainsaw from a rope and harness sits in the same high hundreds bracket as the more advanced ground-based units. These figures should give you a solid idea of the training costs you can expect, depending on how many units you take and how quickly you want to progress.
It is also worth allowing a budget for personal protective equipment if your employer will not supply it. A good quality starter kit for chainsaw work, including boots, trousers, helmet with visor and hearing protection, gloves and a suitable jacket, is usually in the low hundreds of pounds. When you put PPE and course fees together, you have a realistic picture of what it costs to get started and can properly compare that spend with the salary figures and payback examples in the rest of this guide.
Given those costs and the earning potential above, is tree surgeon training worth it in pure financial terms?
If you are planning to work regularly with trees – whether on estates, infrastructure, utilities or development sites – the answer is usually yes. Training opens the door to jobs that are not available without recognised qualifications, and it can do this in a relatively short time.
Three ideas help to keep the decision grounded:
The total cost of initial training is in the hundreds or low thousands, not tens of thousands.
Even early roles compare well with many other outdoor jobs in terms of pay.
As you gain experience and extra units, your earnings progress into bands where the training outlay is repaid within months of full time work.
The real value, though, comes when you treat your courses as the foundation for tree surgeon training return on investment over a whole career. Each qualification moves you from trainee, to competent operator, to climber, to team leader or specialist. That is where the long-term return sits.
To see how this works in practice, it helps to compare chainsaw course cost vs salary with a few rounded examples. The actual figures will vary by role and region, but the pattern is consistent.
You book a focused week of training that gives you the core ground-based units and assessment you need.
Training cost: around £1,150 for a week, including VAT and assessment
New role: full time trainee tree surgeon
Typical starting salary in that role: roughly £20,000 to £22,000 per year, based on current UK data
That works out at something like £1,650 to £1,800 per month before tax. In simple terms, your full week of training is worth well under a month of gross pay. Even once you allow for tax and living costs, many people find that their initial course fees are effectively covered within the first two to four months of full time work.
After that, every payslip at that level is a return on the training investment.
You already work in general grounds maintenance on about £20,000 per year and decide to add core chainsaw units.
Training cost: perhaps £700 to £900 for one or two key units
Salary after training: a ground-based tree surgery role at around £25,000 per year
The increase is about £5,000 per year, or just over £400 per month before tax. At that rate, the extra income repays your course fees within two or three months. From there on, the uplift is pure tree surgeon training ROI, and your CV is much stronger for future applications.
You are an experienced ground worker earning around £26,000 and you decide to invest in climbing and aerial rescue training, plus using a saw from a rope and harness.
Additional training cost: say £2,000 for a combined package
Target salary after training: £33,000 or more as a competent climber or lead climber, which sits well within current market ranges
That uplift of roughly £7,000 per year is close to £580 per month before tax. At that point, your extra training can effectively pay for itself in three to four months of work in the new role. The rest of the year, and the years that follow, are your return.
Across all three scenarios, the pattern is clear. Course costs are quickly outweighed by the income that accredited roles can generate once you are on the tools.
Financially, tree surgeon training ROI can be strong. Yet there are wider benefits that matter just as much when you look at your long-term career.
One is job security and demand. Industry salary reviews show that arborist and tree surgery pay has risen in recent years, with a steady need for skilled staff across the UK and particularly in higher paying regions.
Employers want people who can arrive on site with recognised certificates, fit into a professional team and work safely around valuable assets and live services. Training is a direct route into that group.
Another is safety and confidence. HSE guidance makes it clear that anyone using a chainsaw on or in a tree should have appropriate training and a recognised certificate of competence, or be closely supervised while in training.
Good courses give you a clear, repeatable method for planning work, managing tension and compression, controlling risk and communicating with your crew. That makes your day safer and more efficient.
There is also a long-term maintenance piece. Forestry industry schemes that follow HSE advice recommend regular refresher training for professional chainsaw users, with five years as a common interval, so that people stay aligned with current good practice.
Seen as part of your overall arborist training courses plan, these refreshers keep your skills sharp and your CV credible.
The way training is delivered matters too. We focus on small group sizes so you spend more time on the saw or in the tree, get more direct feedback and feel comfortable asking questions. That kind of contact time increases the value of every pound you invest in training.
Finally, there is the work itself. For many people, tree surgery offers varied, practical, outdoor work with visible results, from keeping infrastructure safe to improving green spaces. When your training has given you the skills and confidence to handle complex jobs, you get to enjoy that variety while building a robust, recognisable profession.
Getting the most from your investment is not just about bargain hunting on fees. It is about choosing a path that fits your starting point and your goals.
For complete beginners who are interested in becoming a tree surgeon, the usual first step is a focused block of ground-based chainsaw courses, taken at a centre that understands real site conditions. That training prepares you for entry level roles where you can learn how a professional crew works and decide whether you want to move into climbing.
If you already work in grounds maintenance, landscaping or estates, your first step may be more targeted. You might only need core units that match your duties and your employer’s responsibilities under HSE guidance, at least to begin with. Our guide to the qualifications you need explains how individual units fit together and which combinations unlock particular types of work.
As you progress, you can focus on the route that suits you:
Stay as a skilled ground worker supporting climbers
Develop into a lead climber and crew leader
Move towards inspection, surveying or management roles once you have enough site experience
Our overview on how to build a career as a tree surgeon looks at these pathways in more detail.
Throughout, the key is to treat your qualifications as building blocks. Take what you need to reach the next role, use the higher income to fund further training when you are ready and keep your long-term tree surgeon training ROI in mind. Whether you are local to our NPTC training centre in Preston or travelling in, the principle is the same.
Even if the numbers make sense, paying for everything in one go can still feel daunting. The good news is that you have options.
Many people start by taking one or two courses at a time, then moving into a paid role before booking more advanced units. Others secure employer funding or sponsorship, especially where an organisation needs in house chainsaw competence and wants to grow its own people.
Apprenticeship-style routes can also help. The National Careers Service highlights apprenticeships as a way to earn while you learn, combining on the job experience with formal assessment and structured training. For some, that mix offers the best balance between cash flow, experience and progression.
On top of this, we make it easier to manage the cost of training by allowing you to spread the cost with Klarna. Instead of paying the full fee upfront, you can split it into instalments, which often means you are already earning at your new rate while you are still completing the last payments on the course that made that possible.
Viewed like this, your training spend becomes less of a single “bill” and more of a controlled business investment in your future earnings.
“What if I am not sure about working at height?”
You do not have to commit on day one. You can build strong tree surgeon qualifications through ground-based units alone, then decide later whether climbing is right for you. Those ground-based tickets are valuable in their own right and open up paid work from the start.
“Can I start earning before I complete every qualification?”
Yes. Core chainsaw units are usually enough to move into an entry level role where you work under supervision and continue to learn. As your responsibilities grow, you add further units, so your income helps pay for your next step.
“Do I need a full package, or just a few units?”
It depends on how you will use the skills. If you mainly need to fell and process small trees on sites you already manage, a focused set of ground-based units may be enough. If your goal is a full career with climbing and aerial work, you will eventually want a broader package. Matching training to your planned work is one of the easiest ways to improve your tree surgeon training ROI.
“How often will I need refreshers?”
Professional chainsaw users are expected to keep their skills current, and industry schemes aligned with HSE guidance recommend refresher training at intervals of around five years. Home | Forestry England+1 This keeps you working to best practice and helps when employers, clients or auditors check staff competence.
“What if I want to move into inspections or consultancy later?”
Hands on experience as a tree surgeon, backed by recognised certificates, is a strong foundation for later roles in surveying, inspections or management. The time and money you invest now will still be paying you back when you step into those positions.
Taken together, the numbers and the wider benefits point the same way. If you want regular work with trees, are ready to keep learning and plan to stay in the sector, tree surgeon training is worth it.
You are investing hundreds or low thousands of pounds to enter a profession where average earnings sit in the high twenties to low thirties, with realistic potential to go higher as your skills grow. That investment can often be repaid within the first few months of full time work, and it continues to generate value for as long as you stay in the industry.
If you are ready to move from research into action, the next step is simple. Explore our upcoming chainsaw courses, look at dates that fit your schedule and get in touch with us to talk through the best training plan for your goals.
Our Training Centre in Preston is ideally placed for learners across Lancashire and the North West.
We regularly train candidates from:
Preston
Blackpool
Chorley
Lancaster
Blackburn
Southport
Courses take place in real woodland environments and are led by instructors with years of field and teaching experience.
Great Oaks Tree Services & Training Academy is based in Kirkham, near Preston, and delivers NPTC chainsaw courses to learners across the North West. Whether you’re searching for chainsaw training in Lancashire or need certification near Preston, we’re your trusted training provider.
01772 369694 ✉️ training@greatoakstreeservices.co.uk
01772 369694 ✉️ training@greatoakstreeservices.co.uk
Careers
Climbing, grounds maintenance and utility work.Climbing, grounds and utility work.
Arboricultural Association Approved Contractor.
Last minuteAvailability
Starts Monday 19 October 2026
3 days plus 1 for assessment
£9671 place
Entry requirements: Ground Based Chainsaw Operator and Tree Climbing and Aerial Rescue
Book this date, Using a Chainsaw from a Rope and HarnessOr call the training office on 01772 369694
