General Booking FAQs

General Booking Questions

How do I find Biodiversity courses available to book now?

Our full catalogue of courses can be viewed here. All courses that are currently live and available to book now can be viewed here, where you can filter by centre/category/region/etc as required.

What if the course I want to do has no dates available to book or is “out of stock”?

If the course you are interested in is not available to book or is listed as “out of stock” please email [e-mail] for more details.

We can add you to a waiting list to be notified when it is available to book, or if we get a cancellation on a fully booked course.

Why does the course I want to book say “Sorry this course booking is closed”?

Booking for our Biodiversity online courses and our in-person courses at Field Studies Council centres close two days before the course start date. Booking closes four days before the course start date for in-person courses at external venues.

This is to allow time for the administration and course co-ordination teams to finalise preparations.

Are Biodiversity courses suitable for under-18s?

Our Biodiversity courses are designed for adults. Our tutors are therefore not required to complete a DBS check, so for this reason we cannot allow under-18s to attend. This applies to both in-person and online courses.

Many of our Field Studies Council centres run courses and projects for young people and families. You can contact your closest centre directly to ask about their planned events.

We also have various publications available which may be of interest, useful for identification purposes when out and about.

Can I book a course on behalf of someone else?

Courses can be booked online for yourself, and/or for a friend, family member, colleague or employee as required. When you checkout on the website, there is an option to add “Course Attendee Details”. Please add the details of the person/s who will be going on the course at that point.

Booking information emails are only sent to you as the lead booker/purchaser, and we ask that you forward on all of the emails to the attendee as required.

If you are purchasing an online course the attendee will receive emails from the online learning platform a few days before the course start date, and then will receive reminders and course updates for the duration of the course.

Why am I not receiving emails about my course?

Booking confirmations and other course information emails are sent to the person who booked the course as the lead booker. We ask that they forward these emails to the course attendees as required. For in-person courses: The name supplied as the “Course Attendee Details” at checkout will be the one on the attendee list sent to the tutor and venue and that person will be expected on the day. For online courses: The name and email address supplied as the “Course Attendee Details” at checkout, will be the ones used to set up an account on Moodle to participate in the course. This should happen a day or so before the course is due to start. At that point you will start to receive emails and notifications directly from the learning platform (Moodle). If you have not received log in details and instructions (or the course hasn’t appeared on your existing dashboard if you have done an online course with us before) by 9:30am on the course start date, please do not hesitate to get in touch on [e-mail]

Can I book a course using a purchase order number?

We would encourage everyone to book our Biodiversity courses online using a card payment. However, for groups of 10 and over, or in limited circumstances, you can book using a PO number for inclusion on an invoice, by emailing us on [e-mail] . We will let you know what details we require in our reply. We will need the PO number before we can make the booking, and course places cannot be reserved before booking. Once the manual booking has been processed, we will send an invoice (for payment by bank transfer) to the lead booker and any finance contact provided.

Can I buy a course as a gift?

We think our courses make great gifts for nature enthusiasts! When you find a suitable course, and go to check out on the website, there is an option to add “Course Attendee Details”. Please add your gift recipient’s details at that point.

Booking information emails are only sent to you as the lead booker/purchaser. This should prevent any surprises being spoiled.

We ask that you forward all course information emails to the attendee once it is appropriate to do so. These emails include details that the attendee will need to know.

If you are purchasing an online course, the attendee will receive emails from the online learning platform (Moodle) a few days before the course start date, so please be aware that your gift recipient will be made aware of the course at that time.

If the course that you book turns out not to be suitable, you can transfer your funds from one course booking to another, provided that neither course has started and the new course has availability. This is only possible up to 14 days before the course start date (or if you are still within your 14 day cooling off period). You can do this by emailing [e-mail].

Please see our cancellation policy at the start of this FAQ document for more details.

How do I know whether the course is the right skill level?

Recommended existing skill levels for attendees are shown on each course information page on the website. These are intended as guidance only, and to prevent the disappointment caused by attending a course that turns out to be too difficult or too easy.

More details can be found here.

It is intended that learners can progress through Introductory > Beginner > Intermediate > Advanced courses in their chosen subject area (or “framework”).

Are there any discounts or funding available?

Some Biodiversity courses are eligible for discounts and subsidised funding, including a student discount. Eligibility information can be found in the “Bursaries and Subsidies” tab on each course information page.

More detailed information about the bursaries and subsidies available for Biodiversity courses can be found here.

Information on discounts for group bookings can be found here.

To have the chance to receive our early bird discounts of up to 25%, please sign up to the Biodiversity Newsletter.

Is there a way to be notified when new courses are made available on the website?

To be the first to hear about new courses and Biodiversity Programme events, and have the chance to receive our early bird discounts of up to 25%, please sign up to the Biodiversity Newsletter.

Can I book a large group onto a Biodiversity course?

We offer group discounts for bookings of 10 or more people on existing, scheduled Biodiversity courses.

We also offer on-demand runs of existing courses at a time and place to suit you and your team, and a bespoke course development service for more specific training requirements not already covered by our full course catalogue.

More details can be found here, or by emailing [e-mail].