Horticulturalists are trained to maintain gardens, be involved planting containers and borders, working on nurseries, perhaps even in design. But many also find themselves working within Garden Centre Retail.
The Foundation Skills competitions have been created to showcase the skills of students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), additional learning needs (ALN), or who require additional support for learning (ASL). Participants will be tested against core competencies aligned to Entry level 3 or level 1.
These competitions provide excellent opportunities for students and learners to develop their vocational skills, employability and wider skills for work, personal, social and independence skills.
Through the course of this competition, students and learners will undertake tasks that reflect the standards and skills required of a skilled or semi-skilled horticulturalist within today’s horticultural industry. Competitors could be required to complete a range of practical activities, including added-value plant displays, soft horticultural elements such as bed preparation, design and planting of a raised border, potting on shrubs and trees, seed sowing and even the effective merchandising of a display within a retail plant area.
Creativity
Attention to detail
Health and Safety
Planning
Working independently
Problem solving
Attention to detail
Interpersonal skills
Our library of endorsed local skills competition briefs ‘benchmarking assessments’ helps prepare learners to build technical skills, productivity, and mindset competencies for national competition success, including employability progression pathways.
Paired with the benchmarking tracker, educators can record progress, identifying strengths and target areas for improvement. Together, they offer a reliable, standards-led framework, creating a sustainable model for skills development that supports educators to empower learners to be competition ready.
Registrations open on Monday 2 March 2026, 9am and will close Friday 27 March 2026, midnight.
Entry Stage will be released at the end of the registration period, with a final deadline of 24 April 2025
Qualifiers will take place Tuesday 10 & Wednesday 11 June at North Warwickshire & South Leicestershire College – Nuneaton Campus
To help finalists prepare ahead of the UK Final, we will provide relevant technical training and share mindset development techniques, to support them to remain focused on achieving success.
Prepare students and apprentices by engaging with our benchmarking resources to master their skills and mindset masterclasses to build confidence and resilience on the WorldSkills UK Learning Lab.
The National Finals are scheduled to take place in Wales during the week commencing 16 November 2026.
