VETcert update
Time to celebrate our success as VETcert enters a new phase

Emma Gilmartin, Senior Technical Officer
VETcert has now reached the end of a period of funding support from the Trees Call to Action Fund (TCAF).
In 2022, the funding granted to the Ancient Tree Forum (ATF) and the Arboricultural Association aimed to ‘pump-prime’ the scheme. Since then, the ATF has provided 14 training courses and 10 webinars as a preparation pathway to nine exam events provided by the Association.
In March, I invigilated our last funded exam at Calke Abbey in Derbyshire and was pleased to award passes to seven consulting and two practising candidates. Well done to the latest cohort – I really enjoy seeing your triumphant posts on social media!
We now have a total of 71 VETcert specialists in the UK. That’s an amazing number of individual accomplishments, and a fantastic overall achievement for the project and the VETcert team. How great to have the largest pool in Europe of certified specialists ready and able to take care of our oldest and most important trees.
For consultants and practitioners hoping to sit VETcert exams, please note the procedure for securing an exam place. You must first provide the necessary evidence of your appropriate experience and/or qualifications, as explained at www.vetcert.eu or on our website. Once we’ve received and approved your prerequisites, we will inform you of new dates as they are arranged and open for booking.
Please see www.trees.org.uk/VETcert for more information.
Blue skies over Calke Abbey during the latest round of VETcert exams.
This article was taken from Issue 209 Summer 2025 of the ARB Magazine, which is available to view free to members by simply logging in to the website and viewing your profile area.