Training & Careers

Professional Development Awards

The Professional Development Awards (PDAs) provide specialist training for ground staff and provide an academic qualification relating to the skills of Groundsmanship.

The qualification is available as group awards in three levels; Certificate, Advanced Certificate and Diploma. Each level has a core and several optional units. The optional units are sport specific. The units have close links with other awards to enable existing students to diversify into the sports turf options. Professional Development Awards are available as single units to provide total flexibility to the learning. Thanks to generous financial assistance from the Institute of Groundsmanship all levels are now available by distance learning.

The original concept was to introduce qualifications that would be sport specific, rather than the rationalised qualifications that all ready existed. The first options were Football and Cricket but Rugby is now added to the list with a Bowls option also in development. All options have the support of the National Governing Bodies of their respective sports.

The group awards are made up be the following:

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