Landscape Certificate and Landscape Technology courses - Jan Woodhouse

The certificate in landscape design: “they hadn’t figured it out”

As well as training landscape architects, the college set about training technicians who would be employed as assistants to the new profession. A one-year Certificate in Landscape Design was taught from 1969 to 1974 and then a two-year Diploma in Landscape Technology ran from 1975 into the 1980s to specifically train landscape draughts-people. As there was considerable overlap between the DipLA and CertLD in both course work and employment opportunities, those with a CertLD were able to undertake extra study and sit special exams in 1977 and 1978 to become fully qualified landscape architects. Many of those who qualified in this way went on to become respected members of the profession and active in Institute affairs. Jan Woodhouse, who got her CertLD is 1971, was one of them.
 

Jan explains how she became a landscape architect through the special exams and why there was little demand for landscape assistants.