The Lingfield Instructor Group

On this page you will find information about the following:

When Can I enrol?  :  How it Works  :  Tutor Support   :   Email courses  : Shared Courses  :  Course Length  :  Age  :  Time restrictions  :

All Lingfield course material is written in easy to read everyday language making it suitable for a variety of learning abilities, and from weekly rider to experienced owner or groom.  Our flexible open learning programme fits with perfectly with todays busy life style.  Horse courses for all at prices you can afford.

• You may enrol on our courses at any time. Do this on line or by post if you prefer.
  
• Work at your own speed and in your own time - no end of term deadlines, no stress.
• There is no rush or hassle.

This is how it works:

• When you receive your first Study Pack (long courses) or Section (short courses) or are sent the access email, you simply confirm you have received the first part of your course material, read it through, make your own notes, do any extra research you feel might be necessary, answer the assignment questions at the end of the Pack or Section.
  
• You do not send in the assignment, you keep it on file for future reference by yourself or your course tutor.
• When you are ready, after the required elsapsed time, you send and email/note to the office for your next Pack or Section.
• You will find an answer guidance sheet (AGS) with this next, and with all subsequent Packs or Sections.  This AGS provides help and shows you how you should have answered the previous assignments.
• If you get stuck with any question or have a queries about anything in the course, just email your tutor for help.
• For tips on how to fit your studies in with a busy life and other questions check the Frequently Asked Questions

That is really all there is to it.

• You continue to work through the course like this until you reach the final Study Pack or Section.
• Send in the final section with the required administration fee if you would like your tutor to check your work. Your tutor will issue a Lingfield Equine Certificate if the work is successfully completed.

If the tutor feels any of your work is borderline it will be returned with helpful advice and tips on how to improve that part of the assignment, you then repeat that part and send it in again.  When successfully completed, the certificate is issued. 

• If in UK or Eire and enrolled on an individual long course, when about three quarters of the way through your course, you may decide you also want to sit the BHS Horse Owners Certificate exam on course completion.  If so, you will have been asked to send your tutor some assignments and we will at this stage try to find a local person to oversee the BHS exam for you in your own home.

The Lingfield equine care and management courses are based on the theory required for the BHS professional Stages examinations. They are excellent for those embarking on horse ownership, or for those wishing to expand their existing knowledge. They make an ideal stepping stone for those making a change of career. The Level 1 has one very short practical session which must be overseen by a local qualified instructor of your choice.

The specialist courses provide more detailed in depth information for those with a specific interest in a chosen subject such as feeding or behaviour or those hoping to run their own livery yard.

Tutor support

Tutor support is available free for every student throughout their course by telephone, post or e-mail. We like to be on first name terms with all our students and welcome your contact be it for help and advice or just a quick chat to tell us about your new horse. However, you have as much or as little contact as you wish.

Full Tutor Support

If you struggle with reading or writing but feel you would like to take the Level 1 course, we try to help you get going on the course.  Sometimes with the help of a tutor and maybe with the help of someone at home as well, you might feel more able to work on this sort of course.  Prior to starting the course and on receipt of the first Set Work, your tutor will be happy to discuss with you (and/or your helper), ways to help you work on the course material. You may if you wish send the first Set Work into your tutor for assessment and help.  It doesn't matter if your spelling is not so good, neither does it matter if your writing is a bit difficult to read.    Your tutor will do his or her best to asses the work to establish how much you have learnt and to ensure you are working as expected.  The fee for this is £46 payable on enrolment at the time of chosing your course.

Shared Courses

Family members may share a course. See the Fees page for more information

How long will ‘Long’ a course take?

When you enrol, we don’t send you the whole course in one big file and then just leave you to get on with it. This we feel, is like you paying for a rather expensive book!  Although this would be an easy and economical way to run the courses, our Study Packs provide you with easily absorbed bite sized chunks of information, and your regular contact with us helps to keep you motivated.

Levels 1 & 2 Long courses contain 250 hours of study time each.  This is divided into 7 Study Packs per course.  (Level 3 has 10). Students with a busy life who are juggling work, family and horses etc, seem to work at the rate of approximately one Study Pack a month. It should be easy therefore, to complete Level 1 in about 6/7 months months.  Some people however, work more quickly than this, whilst others take a good deal longer. In the end however, how long it takes you depends on your input, the more work you put in and the more research you do, the more you get out of it.

How long will a 'short' course take?

The short courses provided between 23 and 40 hours of lecture material.  Most people with a busy life, work and family could probably complete a course quite easily within 2-3 months.

Are there any time restrictrictions to course completion? I don't have a lot of time for studying.

No not really.  You can take as long as you like and you can also take a break from your work whenever you wish and take it up again some months later.  As long as you contact us every two years to advise you still wish to contine with the course we will keep it running.  If you leave it longer than 2 yrs we charge a reinstatement fee to set it running again. After 3 years of no contact however, we assume the course has been terminated by the student.  It is easy enough to drop us a line now and again though, just to tell us you are still keen to continue eventually.

Completion time restrictions do often apply with funded courses and grants though, so you do need to be aware of that if your course fee is being paid by someone else.

Time Restrictions:

We do have a minimum time restriction on the long courses.  We will not send a complete individual Level 1 or 2 course out to a student in less than 3 months.  Packs and sections will be sent one at a time and only with the required minimum gap.

With all courses there is a minimum time between one course file being confirmed as received and opened by the student, and the next being requested. The required time lapse is to ensure every students benefits from their course by undertaking the required research and note taking.  This is normally fixed at a 10 or 7 day gap between requests for further course files. It is important to confirm receipt if you wish to work quickly through the course.

There are absolutely no exceptions to the above time restrictions rules.

Minimum ages & language

Long courses = 12 Yrs (less if sharing). We currently have students from 10 - 68.
Short courses and Intermediate Diploma programmes = 16 Yrs.
Students may be UK or overseas based, but must be English speaking & writing to a reasonable standard.

I have more questions but cannot find the answer here.

Try the Frequently Asked Questions page (FAQ)

Prospectus

Full details of the courses and terms and conditions will be found in the Prospectus and on this web site.