Practical qualification FAQs

There's a wide range of books and other learning resources which support the studies of those learning horticulture. RHS Qualifications does not recommend or endorse any specific learning resources and instead encourages students to seek guidance from their tutors on which resources best support the qualification they're enrolled on.

Our libraries offer postal loans which you may find beneficial - read more about the services our libraries provide.

The centre you choose to study with will be responsible for registering you for the qualification.

All units within the practical qualification are mandatory. Please be aware that all not all our approved centres are able to offer the practical qualification due to resource limitations.

A range of methods will be used to assess this qualification. They include formative assessment of skills by tutors at RHS Centres, and a range of summative short answer tests as well as direct observation by RHS Assessors. All assessments must be conducted in accordance with the RHS requirements. Please contact your approved centre for more information.

All our practical qualifications must be studied at an RHS approved centre. We currently only have approved centres in the UK and Ireland.

Find your nearest centre

Special considerations and access arrangements are implemented to ensure fairness and support a candidate who has been disadvantaged by temporary illness, injury or adverse circumstances which arose at, or near, the time of assessment.

They must be applied for by the approved centre, on behalf of the candidate, where the assessment is taking place.

There are a number of steps involved in processing practical results. This includes reviewing some sample work submitted by the centre. Once we receive all the samples requested, results are published within 25 working days. 

Results must be obtained from the approved centre where you studied. RHS Qualifications are unable to provide you with your results. DO NOT contact RHS Qualifications to obtain your results. You will only be referred back to your centre.

You can download your results online using the RHS qualifications candidate web-portal. When your centre registered you for the qualification you should have automatically received an email with log-in details. Please contact your approved centre if you don’t appear to have received any log-in details. If required, you will also be able to print your results from the web-portal.

You will be awarded a certificate upon successful completion of all units and the approved centre meeting the necessary external verification activities.

Certificates are dispatched within 30 working days of publishing the results.

All certificates are posted directly to the centre where you completed the practical assessments and it is their responsibility to issue the certificates to you.