National Intermediate Diploma

This was the Institute of Groundsmanship’s National Intermediate Diploma (in Turfculture), being referred to as the NID, which was a qualification for a senior grounds’ person, technical position, or manager. The candidate was expected to hold the NTC and have at least 4-years relevant experience. This was in existence until about the early 2000s. If the qualification was on the RQF then it would equate to a Level 3.

The qualification was typically offered as an evening class or a distance learning course by a select few colleges, starting in September, for an academic year. The course syllabus covered the following:

Paper A
• Soils.
• Fertilisers and manures
• Plant structure.
• Plant physiology.
• Special botany of grasses and turf weeds.
• Turf weeds, pests and diseases.

Paper B
• Sportsground maintenance (natural grass and non-turf surfaces).
• Management.
• Amenity horticulture.
• Planning, construction and layout.
• Machinery and equipment.

Practical aspects of the course covered a range of tasks from which candidates would be assessed.
• Setting out, orientation and layout of sports pitches.
• Use of levelling equipment.
• Preparation and use of machinery, including tractors.
• Preparation and renovation of a grass sward.
• Calibration of distributors and sprayers.
• Irrigation equipment usage.
• Vegetative identification of grasses and weeds in turf.
• Grass seed identification.
• Answering problems encountered in sports turf construction, maintenance and management, including health and safety issues.

This qualification was assessed by means of two 3-hour written papers (of which 6 questions had to be answered on each paper) and a series of practical and oral tests over 4-hours (typically spaced out over a full day), with the latter being assessed typically at either Lilleshall or Bisham Abbey National Sports Centres. To pass the course a candidate needed a minimum of (55-60% ?) in the written papers and pass all of the practical-oral assessments.