Field Skills Identification Certificate in Pontefract

The Field Identification Skills Certificate (FISC) demonstrates your botanical skill level on a scale of 1 (beginner) to 5 (professional) with 6 being awarded in exceptional cases whereas a level 7 is considered to be impossible to assess. The FISC is recognised within the ecological and botanical industry as the standard tool for assessing botanical survey skills.

Overview of the day

This is a 1 day assessment open to all skill levels. There are 3 elements to a FISC and on the day you will undertake:

• Lab Test 1 - identify 10 plant specimens without the aid of ID books or guides
• Lab Test 2 - identify 20 plant specimens with the aid of ID books and guides
• Field Test - identify as many plant species as possible within approximately 2 hours on location at a site of botanical interest. Your recordings will be compared to those of our FISC Assessor who may also be leading the course.

You will receive feedback following the lab tests and field tests. A provisional FISC level will also be issued within 1 month of taking a UES FISC although official results can only be issued by the BSBI following their moderation process; usually in November.

More information can be found on the BSBI website: https://bsbi.org/field-skills

Bookings

On booking a place you will receive a course agenda via email, including a list of what to bring with you on the day and further details on how the FISC will be run.

Please note you will need your own transport to get from the lab tests venue to the field test site. Usually, candidates choose to leave from the field test site rather than returning to the lab test venue.

About the assessors

The FISC Assessors for UES are Toby Hart BSc MCIEEM PIEMA and Tom Kenwright BSc MSc ACIEEM. With decades of combined botanical experience, Toby and Tom have devoted their professional careers to the study of all things botanical and are delighted to be working with the BSBI in delivering the highly valued Field Identification Skills Certificate.

Data Protection

Any information collected through the booking process and during the FISC is required to manage your FISC assessment and certification, both the BSBI and UES are joint Data Controllers for your data to fulfil this purpose. Please see our organisations’ Privacy Policies for further details of how your data will be handled and stored. You can request to see the data we hold, request its removal or update your contact preferences at any time by contacting us. To do so, email BSBI on [email protected] or UES on [email protected]

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