Courses

Gardens, parks and other green spaces play an important part in all our lives, providing 'outdoor rooms' in the modern home and oases of calm in busy towns and cities. Training in horticulture has become increasing relevant to lifestyle and offers a growing range of interesting and challenging career opportunities.


Oatridge is justifiably proud of its reputation for quality teaching, based on many years experience of meeting employers' needs for well-trained, highly skilled individuals.

Roses

The College provides full-time and part-time courses and a well-balanced mix of theory classes and practical, hands-on experience. The Oatridge campus is set on its own estate in the delightful West Lothian countryside and has a wide range of facilities for training, such as formal landscape plantings, streamside and woodland gardens, as well as a variety of turfed areas, including sports fields and a nine-hole golf course.

Perennial Sea show garden     

Well-equipped workshops and a production area with potting shed, large glasshouse, polythene and net tunnels, open ground and container nurseries, propagation unit and sales area, offer ideal settings for technical and practical work. Horticultural technology and garden design are catered for with both computer and drawing suites.

Students have the opportunity during their course to visit local nurseries, garden centres, and Botanical gardens and gain experience in the College's satellite, specialist Suntrap Garden at Gogar. They also regularly take part in community and other gardening construction projects.

Progressing further

Full-Time

Successful completion of the Certificate in Horticulture and Garden Design may allow the student to progress to the Higher National Certificate (HNC) in either Horticulture or Landscape Management. Both courses are available at Oatridge.

On successful completion of an HNC course, students may then study for a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Horticulture at another Scottish College or an HND in Plantmanship, at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. Students who gain an HND may then progress to the 3rd year of a BSc in Horticulture.

Part-Time

Successful completion of SVQ2 allows students to move on to SVQ3.

Career opportunities :

  • Parks Departments
  • Local Authorities
  • Landscaping Companies
  • Commercial Nurseries
  • Garden Centres and Retail Outlets
  • Self-Employed Business