Your first step to becoming a Chartered Forester or Chartered Arboriculturist is choosing your career path. The forestry sector offers a diverse range of roles, from forest pathologist, forest ranger or forest manager to arboriculturist, urban forester or biodiversity officer. Here you’ll find a range of resources to take your first step in choosing a forestry or arboricultural career, including ICF-accredited courses and links to case studies.
Forestry and Arboriculture Courses
ICF-accredited forestry and arboricultural courses have a given number points awarded for the level of qualification. These points may be used as part of the chartership process, along with work experience.
If you possess a qualification that is no longer taught or isn’t currently accredited, please contact the Institute. The Institute maintains an archive database of historic qualifications, which can be used to determine qualifying points awarded.
ICF-ACCREDITED COURSES – Currently Accepting new students
| Institution | Course | ICF Points |
| Bangor University |
BSc (Hons) Forestry
BSc (Hons) Forestry with placement year BSc (Hons) Conservation with Forestry with placement year |
8
8 6 |
| Harper Adams University |
MSc Forestry Management MSc Conservation and Forest Protection BSc (Hons) Countryside Management BSc (Hons) Countryside and Environment Management |
6 6 5 5 |
| National School of Forestry (University of Cumbria) |
BSc (Hons) in Forest Management BSc (Hons) in Forest Management (with placement) BSc (Hons) in Woodland Ecology and Conservation BSc (Hons) in Woodland Ecology and Conservation (with placement) FdSc Forestry |
8 8 7 7 5 |
| Myerscough College (University of Central Lancashire) |
MSc Arboriculture & Urban Forestry BSc (Hons) Arboriculture & Urban Forestry FdSc Arboriculture |
6 8 5 |
| Scottish School of Forestry (Inverness College UHI) |
BSc (Hons) Forest Management (Forestry) BSc (Hons) Forest Management (Arboriculture and Urban Forestry) BSc (Ord) Sustainable Forest Management (With Forest Conservation) BSc (Ord) Sustainable Forest Management (With Arboriculture and Urban Forestry) HND Arboriculture & Urban Forestry HND Forestry |
8/7 7 7 7 5 5 |
| University of Aberdeen | MSc Environmental and Forest Management PG Dip Environmental and Forest Management |
6 5 |
Historically ACCREDITED COURSE
The following courses are no longer accepting new students, students who have completed these courses are still able to claim the relevant ICF points for the PME process to become a Chartered Member.
| Moulton College (University of Northampton) |
FdSc Arboriculture | 5 | |||
| Sparsholt College (University of Portsmouth) |
BSc (Hons) Woodland Conservation Management FdSc Woodland Conservation Management |
6 5 |
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| Plumpton College (University of Brighton) |
FdSc Arboriculure FdSc Forestry & Woodland Management |
5 5 |
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| Pershore College (Warwickshire College) |
FdSc Arboriculture BSc (Hons) Arboriculture and Tree Management |
5 8 |
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Forestry Careers Advice
Looking for more information on arboricultural or forestry careers? Here’s a list of organisations providing useful resources:
Careers In Forestry (Royal Forestry Society)
Women in Forestry
To celebrate International Women’s Day 2020, we collaborated with Tree Sparks to produce a short documentary on women in forestry. The documentary features a number of female foresters UK-wide and hopes to encourage more women to consider our industry as a career.
