Horticulture & Land Management Revision — SEG Awards Occupational Qualification
Complete SEG Awards Occupational Qualification Horticulture & Land Management specification revision resources. Tailored syllabus coverage with topic breakdowns, quizzes, and practice questions.
Specification Topics
- Principles of tree surgery equipment use and maintenance
- Pest, disease and disorder identification
- Adopt good bio-security practices at work
- Forest School Programme: Delivery
- Assist with feeding and watering animals
- Assist with harvesting and preparing crops
- Assist with Identifying the Presence of, and Controlling Common Pests and Diseases
- Assist with feedstuffs for small animals
- Assist with maintaining structures and surfaces
- Assist with maintaining the health and wellbeing of animals
- Assist with maintaining the health of extensive crops
- Assist with potting up rooted cuttings, large seedlings or plugs by hand
- Assist with preparation and the monitoring of livestock outdoors
- Assist with preparing and maintaining livestock accommodation
- Assist with preparing sites and planting extensive crops
- Assist with the basic preparation and operation of a tractor
- Principles of tree surgery operations
- Principles of tree management
- Aerate turf by hand
- Forest School Programme: Learning and Development
- Assist with the care of animals
- Assist with the exercise of animals
- Assist with the handling and restraint of animals
- Assist with the maintenance and repair of hand tools
- Assist with the Maintenance of Equipment
- Assist with the Maintenance of Grass Surfaces
- Assist with the movement and handling of farm animals
- Assist with the movement and handling of small animals
- Assist with the movement of animals
- Assist with the movement, handling and accommodation of animals
- Principles of woodland establishment and management
- Animals in the wild and in society
- Forest School Programme: Planning and Preparation
- Principles of woodlands, forestry and ecology
- Assist with the preparation and maintenance of animal accommodation
- Assist with the Preparation of Growing Media
- Assist with the transport supplies of physical resources within the work area
- Build a sample brick wall
- Care for a planted area
- Care of Farm Animals
- Bed down farm animals
- Carry out basic floristry tasks
- Carry out habitat management
- Carry out habitat management work to maintain suitable coastal site conditions
- Carry out habitat management work to maintain suitable site conditions for grassland
- Selection, planting and design with hardy nursery stock for amenity and landscape purposes
- Apply fertiliser by hand to bare ground
- Forest School Programme: Practical Skills
- The interaction of soil environments and woody plants
- Carry out habitat management work to maintain suitable site conditions for heathland
- Carry out tractor operations
- Carry out habitat management work to maintain suitable site conditions for hedgerows / farmland
- Characteristics and breeds of poultry
- Carry out habitat management work to maintain suitable site conditions for moorland
- Check that a small animal is healthy
- Carry out habitat management work to maintain suitable site conditions for wetland
- Check that poultry are healthy
- Clean farm animal housing
- Carry out habitat management work to maintain suitable site conditions for woodlands
- Clean poultry accommodation by hand
- Collect and prepare produce or plant material for transport
- Collect and sort poultry eggs
- Communicating with others at work
- Condition floristry plant material
- Forest School Programme: The Woodland Environment
- Tree biomechanics and maintenance
- Assemble basic floral designs
- The principles of aerial tree surgery and ground based arboricultural operations
- Clearing horticultural and landscaping sites
- Construct a composter
- The principles of managing special trees
- Assist with animal accommodation
- Tree development and protection
- Assist in catching poultry
- Assist with catching and restraining a small animal
- Tree related damage to built structures
- The supply, planting and aftercare of woody plants
- Woody vegetation formation and physiology
- Tree inspections and statute and common law applied to trees
- Woody plant physiology
- Assist with cleaning housing for small animals
Top Exam Board Tips
- Always reference manufacturer-specific guidelines when detailing setup or maintenance tasks to demonstrate competence beyond generic knowledge.
- Use precise terminology: for instance, state ‘safe working load’ for MEWPs rather than ‘weight limit’, and ‘blade rotor’ instead of ‘cutting wheel’ for chippers.
- When addressing highway operations, explicitly cite the ‘red book’ and TSRGD to evidence regulatory awareness and secure marks for legal compliance.
- In practical assessments, narrate your actions while performing pre-use checks to ensure the assessor captures all critical points, especially for hidden checks like structural inspections.
- Always reference the UK Plant Health Guide and relevant Approved Codes of Practice when answering questions on regulatory frameworks.
- In practical assessments, systematically document the investigation process: record host, site conditions, symptom distribution, and any visible signs before drawing conclusions.
- For management plans, adopt a hierarchy of control—prioritise cultural and biological methods, with chemical controls as a last resort, and justify each choice.
- When discussing fungal colonisation, link decay progression to specific wood anatomy (e.g., simultaneous white rot, selective delignification) to demonstrate detailed knowledge.
- Use case studies to illustrate biosecurity risks and preventative actions, such as the impact of Phytophthora ramorum and the importance of Plant Passporting.
- Always reference the specific organisational bio-security policy or risk assessment when answering written questions.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Confusing routine maintenance with pre-use checks, leading to missed inspections of hydraulic hoses or safety guards on chippers and stump grinders.
- Assuming all MEWPs have identical control layouts without consulting the specific operator’s manual, resulting in incorrect operation during emergency procedures.
- Neglecting to consider environmental factors such as wind speed limits for MEWP operation and slope angles for stump grinder stability.
- Failing to recognize that highway signing requires a sequence of advance warning and works signs, not merely a single ‘tree works’ sign, risking non-compliance with Chapter 8 of the Traffic Signs Manual.
- Confusing abiotic disorders (e.g., drought stress, nutrient deficiency) with biotic pest or disease symptoms, leading to misdiagnosis and inappropriate treatment.
- Overlooking the importance of sample collection from the correct plant part and stage of infection, resulting in false-negative laboratory results.
- Misunderstanding the legal restrictions on pesticide use near watercourses or public spaces, potentially recommending non-compliant chemical controls.
- Assuming all fungal fruiting bodies indicate aggressive decay without considering the tree's defensive responses and the role of saprophytes.
Key Terminology & Definitions
- Understand the setting up procedure, safe operation and routine maintenance required by a MEWP, Understand the setting up procedure, safe operation and routine maintenance required by a brushwood chipper, Understand the setting up procedure, safe operation and routine maintenance required by a stump grinder, Understand the signing of tree operations adjacent to a highway
- Understand how the control of pests and diseases are regulated; Know how to undertake an investigation to establish the presence of a pest, disease or abiotic disorder; Know what preventative measures or remedial treatments are available; Understand how fungi colonise woody tissues; Understand about biosecurity.
- Be able to adopt organisational requirements for bio-security
- Regulation of pest and disease control
- Systematic investigation and diagnosis
- Preventative and remedial treatments
- Fungal colonisation of woody tissues
- Biosecurity in arboriculture
- 1. Be able to facilitate an ‘Introduction to Forest School programme’ according to the Forest School ethos and principles2. Be able to assess the impact of the ‘Introduction to Forest School programme’ on participants3. Be able to evaluate an introduction to Forest School Programme
- Disease and pest prevention
- Organisational hygiene standards
- Quarantine measures
- Waste disposal compliance
- Biosecurity documentation
- Select and maintain suitable equipment for feeding and watering animals, Prepare and present food and water to animals