Training

The objectives of the National Gamekeepers' Organisation include assisting gamekeepers and ensuring quality within the profession. Good training is an important route to achieving this.

The NGO works with a number of colleges which provide residential courses and apprenticeships for gamekeeping students, and you can find out more about these and about becoming a gamekeeper via the NGO Educational Trust website.

Continual professional development is an important way for existing gamekeepers to keep up to date with current best practice, changing legal requirements and improved working techniques, so our associated company, NGO Training Limited, provides a range of highly regarded short courses, mostly one day, to help keepers stay up to date and maintain excellent standards. Details of our current courses are found below.

NGO Training Ltd courses are run throughout England and Wales and the dates of upcoming courses can be found in the events section of this website.

Please head over to the events page for further information and details on how to book. 

 

The NGO offer the following courses:

LOADERS TRAINING BEST PRACTICE COURSE

The trusted NGO Shotgun Loader Training Course is now available online through the Shooting & Hunting Academy, delivering the recognised professional standards every shoot day loader should know. The course is for those who are already experienced loaders and those who complete the training will receive a certificate.

To enrol on the NGO Shotgun Loaders Training follow this link.

 

GAME MEAT HYGIENE COURSE

The National Gamekeepers' Organisations game meat hygiene course covers BOTH large and small game and is regarded as the industry standard in wild game meat handling.  This one-day course covers small and large game meat hygiene from field to larder. 

Successful candidates will be issued with a unique hunters ID number which authorises them to sell game meat to game handling establishments. This is a legal requirement for all hunters wishing to sell game to game dealers.

This course not only covers large game like wild deer and wild boar but also looks at small game such as pheasants, partridge, duck, rabbit and hare.

The course has a short multiple-choice test at the end of the day to ensure competency and is certified by the NGO.  Successful candidates will be issued a certificate through the NGO which provides you with your unique hunters ID number.

All NGO Game Meat Hygiene Courses are listed on our events page, please visit for details on how to book.

 

DEER STALKING CERTIFICATE LEVEL 1

The National Gamekeepers' Organisation Deer Stalking Certificate Level 1 (DSC1) usually takes place over two or three days.

The DSC1 is the entry level course into deer stalking and deer management and the National Gamekeepers Organisation delivers a quality training course that covers much more than is in the manual.

The course covers most aspects of deer management including identification of species and sex as well as legal requirements and firearms legislation.

The full course includes all course material, registration with Deer Management Qualifications after completion and tuition.

Candidates are also able to just attend the exam and shooting assessment for one day. They will get the course manual, DMQ (awarding body) registration and final assessment.

Our DSC1 courses are delivered by NGO approved independent training providers through the NGO assessment centre.

All DSC1 courses are listed on the NGO website events page, please visit for details on how to book.

 

WILD BOAR CERTIFICATE

The DMQ Wild Boar Certificate aims to provide stalkers with the knowledge and skills necessary to safely and humanely manage feral wild boar in the UK.

It consists of a mix of theoretical and practical elements covering ecology and behaviour, firearms choice and handling and shooting skills.

Please note that completion of the DSC1 is a requirement to obtain the Wild Boar Certificate.

There are three elements to the Wild Boar Certificate assessment. These are:

·       Theory test – a multiple-choice test covering the contents of the course

·       Identification test – in which the approximate age and sex of the animals being shown must be correctly identified

·       Shooting test – a range-based practical shooting test; a series of shots at a wild boar target in three positions, two shots prone at 100m, two shots standing or sitting or kneeling at 70m, and two standing humane dispatch shots at 10m.

Our Wild Boar Certificate courses are delivered by NGO approved independent training providers through the NGO assessment centre.

All of our Wild Boar Certificate courses are listed on the NGO website events page, please visit for details on how to book.

 

GREY SQUIRREL MANAGEMENT TRAINING

This course is for people involved in grey squirrel management whether for red squirrel conservation or for control to prevent further economic and environmental damage caused by this non-native invasive species. Accreditation will be given to participants who show proficiency in all aspects of grey squirrel management including the reasons for and methods of control.

What will be covered?
• Red and Grey Squirrel Ecology
• Reasons for controlling grey squirrels
• Methods of Control
• Law
• Your Squirrel Management within the Big Picture
• Safety and consideration for all involved
• Records, Monitoring
• Test of theory
• Setting up Feeding Stations: practical with assessment
• Setting up traps, dispatch: practical with assessment.

The course takes around 4 hours to complete and will be essential for those who are claiming the WS3 squirrel control grant.

All of our Lantra Grey Squirrel Management Training Courses are listed on the events page of our website.

 

NGO LANTRA NIGHT SHOOTING COURSE - ONLINE ONLY

The LANTRA Accredited Night Shooting Safety Course provides crucial, certificated training to professional and recreational pest control operatives, fox shooters, deer managers and all those involved in the control of vermin, fox and deer at night.

Following Natural England’s February 2026 CL55 guidance, the NSC is now recognised as a 'Suitable Qualification' for those seeking a night licence to shoot deer, ensuring your skills are fully current, relevant, and compliant with government guidance.

Nationally recognised and Accredited course.

Delivered by the National Gamekeepers Organisation in collaboration with leading industry experts, the Night Shooting Course is a nationally recognised assessed LANTRA Award, that delivers crucial guidance on the law surrounding night shooting and best practice training in the skills and knowledge to implement safe, effective and humane control measures in both urban and rural environments.  

With recognised third-party accreditation from LANTRA this assessed LANTRA Award provides the very latest and most up-to-date certificated training to all those who need to shoot at night.

The course covers key subjects that include:

• The origins of night shooting
• Understanding thermal imaging and night vision devices and their use in wildlife management
• Understanding technical specifications, maintenance, device set-up and zeroing
• Legislation and UK law concerning the use of thermal imaging and night vision technology for shooting at night
• Safe shooting in both urban and rural environments, considerations surrounding species identification
• Crucial best practice guidance for all professional operatives and recreational shooters involved in the dispatch of pests, predators, vermin and deer at night.  

The assessed LANTRA course is nationally available and easy to access online via a series of interactive taught modules, classes and exams. The candidate's uptake of the course is assessed via a series of multiple-choice exams and a final timed multiple-choice exam.

This easy to access, nationally available, third-party accredited ‘Night Shooting Course’ delivers the industry standard in Night Shooting and is perfect for all those involved in the dispatch of pests, fox, vermin and deer at night, and demonstrates a level of competence to landowners, employers and the police.

NGO members can access a £30 discount by using the code NGOOFF30 at point of booking.

To book or for more information click here.

 

NGO DMQ DEER NIGHT SHOOTING COURSE – IN PERSON

The purpose of this certificate is to demonstrate that practitioners in the field of deer management have the skills and knowledge to cull deer safely, humanely and legally at night.

The course is aimed at those deer managers operating in areas where night licenses are being more frequently issued to try to reduce and maintain local deer populations.

Due to the skillset involved in night shooting of deer, there will have to be a significant base knowledge for the target audience of this course. There will be a prerequisite for all candidates to this course to have completed the DSC1 to demonstrate a knowledge of deer behaviour and ecology, as well as to prove a basic aptitude and safety level with firearms.

There are three main learning outcomes to this certificate; by gaining the qualification the holders will be able to:

·       Identify and safely and humanely shoot deer at night

·       Understand the legal framework that covers the shooting of deer at night

·       Understand different methods and associated equipment used in night shooting

The NGO DMQ Deer Night Shooting Course is delivered by NGO approved independent training providers through our assessment centre.

All NGO DMQ Deer Night Shooting Courses are listed on the events page of our website

 

LANTRA AWARDS - LEVEL 2 AWARD IN RODENT MANAGEMENT

This is a short one-day course that upon successful completion of this qualification will enable you to purchase professional rodenticides.

Upon completion you will receive an Ofqual accredited certificate. Following changes to the CRRU UK Code of Best Practice, training is no longer acceptable evidence of competence for the purchase of professional rodenticide.

People who wish to gain proof of competence will now need to pass a regulated qualification such as the Lantra Awards Level 2 Award in Rodent Management.

This course is delivered face to face by NGO trainers.

All Lantra Awards Level 2 Awards in Rodent Management are listed on the events page of our website.