Advanced Bushcraft Award - Level 3

Overview

This immersive course welcomes both newcomers and those with prior experience, offering a structured and in-depth introduction to bushcraft and outdoor living. It sits alongside our wider work in wildlife tracking and ethnobotany, recognising bushcraft as a core skill that underpins and complements both. Together, these disciplines build true confidence outdoors—helping you feel at home and capable in the natural world.

We believe that bushcraft is a natural science — a field that explores the relationships between people, wildlife, and environment through direct, lived experience. It provides the essential grounding for all outdoor pursuits, developing the awareness, capability, and resilience needed to move confidently in wilder places. Whether your interests lie in tracking, ethnobotany, ecology, conservation, or outdoor education, bushcraft forms the foundation upon which those skills can grow.

Course Content

Throughout the course, students develop hands-on expertise with essential tools, learning both their effective use and proper maintenance. Fire skills are explored in detail, covering methods from traditional friction techniques to safe fire management in outdoor settings. Carving and cordage skills are introduced, while sustainable harvesting and minimal impact approaches encourage respect for the natural environment. Participants learn to identify plants and trees and understand their practical uses, discover edible wild foods, and interpret mammal tracks and other signs within the landscape. The principles of shelters are taught, enabling students to assess their appropriateness. The course also covers knots and rope work, emphasises the importance of water safety and purification, and provides guidance on recognising and responding to heat and cold-related injuries. By the end of the programme, students emerge with a thorough and confident understanding of bushcraft, equipped to thrive safely and comfortably in the natural world.

The course is intentionally intensive. Each technique is demonstrated to a high standard, with time for guided practice to ensure that participants can refine and consolidate their skills. Over the years, it has earned a strong reputation for its depth and rigour, attracting students from across the UK and Europe. The programme runs over a five-day training block followed by a two-day assessment, with time in between for independent practice and consolidation.

This programme requires the student to be living in the outdoors and managing themselves, the environment and the camp and resources. With this in mind you are also expected to help out around the site with tasks such as bringing in water, washing up and collecting firewood.

This course is an ideal programme to progress to the Certificate in Applied Bushcraft.

Fees

The cost of this course is £750 per person

Details

This programme is run under license by Phil Brooke with John Rhyder being responsible for the quality assurance. This is still a Woodcraft School course and the certification will still come via Woodcraft School and the NCFE. The main difference will be that the booking and financial arrangements will be made directly with Phil Brooke.

Phil is an excellent instructor who John has personally been training for this role for over many years. The programme is still a Woodcraft School course and if we didn’t think Phil capable of delivering a programme equal to what has gone before we would not grant the license. Any courses that Phil runs will be licensed to him exclusively so rest assured this isn’t a quality diluting franchise system. All of these programmes will therefore still be found on our Woodcraft School website alongside the ones John will lead.

Course Dates

This course in run under license on our behalf by Phil Brooke dates and further details are available at the link below.

INFORMATION & BOOKING HERE

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Certification

The original NCFE‑accredited woodcraft courses were created by Woodcraft School and John Rhyder, in partnership with Plumpton College.
These were the first of their kind and remain the origin from which later courses have emerged. The history of this development can be read here.
Other providers now offer NCFE awards developed independently to meet their own aims. As these are customised qualifications, they naturally differ from ours. Our qualifications remain singular in their provenance, depth, and integrity, and we believe they represent the highest level available.

The award level is set at level 3 by using national benchmarks. Successful candidates will receive the Advanced Bushcraft Award from the NCFE who we will be using to underscore the quality of this programme.

Levels

The level of our programmes implies the degree of work needed to be done by the student to achieve certification. Our awards are set at level 3 and 4 this does not imply that levels below these benchmarks are needed prior to joining a course. Guidelines as to the complexity of the levels can be found here.

Assessment

The assessment process varies from subject to subject and includes question and answer sessions, practical demonstrations, observation and short written question papers. The bulk of the assessment takes place in the final two day block.

If you have any questions or would like more information about this course, please feel free to contact us for an informal chat.

COURSE REVIEWS

It’s been a massive challenge and I have absolutely loved it (sorry if my face didn’t always show that). It’s a brilliant course and you were fantastic teachers, I’m very grateful.

Chrissy Baxter

Thanks everyone for a fantastic experience. Thank you to you John and Gav and Chris and Evan for sharing your wisdom and knowledge with us and making it so much fun.

Jim Todd

Thank you everyone for a wonderful experience. Absolute blast meeting you all and feeling very inspired. Thank you John for well taught, life-enriching knowledge and skills I can carry forwards and share with others now too.

Tom Young

Precious time in a beautiful woodland with the most friendliest group, while learning useful fun skills from great teachers, challenging oneself and feeling proooud and happy! So much more to learn and try and practise and enjoy.

Steffi Guenther

What an amazing Course, great for beginners and more advanced students. Was blown away regarding the knowledge that our instructor John shared with us, from bushcraft to woodcraft, plant and tree ID and much much more. I went away wanting more, its been the best course I’ve ever taken.

Carl Bacon

It’s been the most exhausting, intense and exhilarating experience. Lots of sore muscles and a head so full of information it’s going to take me a couple of days to get it all into some sort of order. Lots of practical and theoretical homework now until assessment and accreditation in August……. off now to practice bow drill – my Nemesis!

Mary P

This course is pretty amazing. I went in as a total newbie, slightly nervous of what was to come, but looking for an adventure, and a way to open up my understanding and appreciation of the Natural World. It’s no overstatement to say that I came away with a wealth of knowledge and more of a feeling of belonging to the wild places. I no longer feel like a stranger in the Woods or Forests, but more a part of them.

Mark Lawless

From the first day of arrival to the assessment the course was outstanding. What a privilege to learn with masters of their craft and feel their enthusiasm (which is infectious!). As a beginner, I found the course very accessible and felt very much part of a team straight away. There were high standards, and with ample time to practice skills and seek guidance from John & Phil, I felt the structure of the course really worked for me.

Luke Newman

The knowledge and wealth of experience were second to none. Every day was a fun and humorous atmosphere. I enjoyed the beautiful location. For what the course offered it was well worth the price. I would highly recommend Woodcraft School. Once again a huge thank you to yourselves and to all the team for accommodating my religious,dietary and physical needs. I could not have expected more…10/10.

Ali Aziz

I must admit I felt like a complete ‘grommit’ on this course, but due to the excellent patience, delivery & teaching methodology employed by the course instructors I never felt too uncomfortable with my own incompetence. This course although tough (for me) has only served to enlighten rather than dissuade me in regards to my bushcraft endeavours going forward. Great course, great instructors, I can’t recommend this course enough!

John Aldcroft

The course syllabus is all the course detail, I can say that all and more were delivered in the most inspiring structure, having studied and practiced Bushcraft for many years I took the decision to take an accredited course and the benefits of this can not be underestimated, you leave with a study period pre assessment and this is great incentive to further study and of course in turn further develop your knowledge as well as the obvious benefits of accreditation should you wish to teach or develop a career around bushcraft.

Alan Linee

There really is something for everyone here, from carving and plant and tree ID to water purification and making fire. Also there’s a distinct lack of ‘my knife is bigger than your knife’ machismo that can sometimes occur which is very refreshing. The location of the course itself is lovely, in a woodland with streams and an abundance of birds and mammals. I wish I could do Woodcraft School courses all year round!

Jess Rickenback

I decided to do this course after looking around for something that would refresh any skills I already had and provide lots of new ones. I also wanted something that carried an external accreditation which would hopefully show a well thought out course with a structured quality procedure. That is exactly what you get here. The course would suit anyone from those with lots of prior experience to someone who is looking for a new challenge.

Matt Williams

Awesome course! I learned so much whilst having huge amounts of fun in a lovely woods. I even enjoyed the assessments! On site facilities were great. The group were fab too … And weren’t into bushcraft just for a knife collection! Lots of people from different walks of life sharing an interest in the natural world, outdoor activities and a desire to improve their own skills. I had a fabulous learning holiday and would do it all again!

Louise Anderson

First class tuition, location and bunch of coursemates. Definitely not a course for anyone looking to just turn up and assume you’ll pass. The training and assessment are both full on and you have to put the hours in if you want to succeed (particularly for a beginner like me!). But doing so is fantastic and well worth the effort.

Scotty Batty

If you are looking to take an awareness of bushcraft and the reasons why we do it to a deeper level, then look no further than John and his courses. Make no mistake, it will be challenging, (especially if the weather is anything like it was when I did it!), but the reward and sense of satisfaction on completing it is worth more than anything else you would get for the money.

Lee Dawson

This course busts some of the commonly held survivalist perceptions and in their place develops countryside skills and a knowledge base that will enable the individual to live comfortably and with confidence away from the amenities of the urban world. The problem is that it is like a drug; the more you get, the more you want! This is the 4th course I have done with the Woodcraft School. Each time I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience and come away feeling more knowledgable and full-filled.

Fred Dupuy

I thoroughly enjoyed the course and felt that the instructors were very professional and taught to a high standard. I met lots of interesting people from all walks of life and were there for so many different reasons. My knowledge before the course was limited and now I feel more confident in teaching and bringing my experiences across to the youngsters I teach. The camp was well set up and the food was of a very high standard.

Paul Goldsmith

This course was really well taught by knowledgeable, experienced and engaging staff, with plenty of time built in to develop the new skills we were taught with help and humour at hand. It was intense, exhausting and inspiring. It’s opened my eyes to a new world of bushcraft and given me a fresh view of our precious woodlands. I know there’s a lifetime of exploration ahead of me!

Elizabeth Denyer

The Advanced Bushcraft NCFE L3 was a fabulous course. The content was well delivered in a clear and concise way, with plenty of time to practice skills and be tutored along the way. The setting was perfect in a beautiful and varied forest where there is an abundance of wildlife, tree & plant species, including a rare opportunity to go badger spotting. Overall the course was inspiring and highly recommended, the Woodcraft School really walks their talk in bushcraft.

Holly Willmott

Educational emotional and fun. The course was inspirational, both emotionally and practically . Both instructors, John and Nick have fantastic presentational skills, with pupil to instructor ratio just right. I would highly recommend this course for inspiration and learning in the outdoor environment with nature.

Marc Lloyd Griffiths

I have learnt an array of new skills, and understanding of plants, trees, wildlife and ecology, this is tribute to your professionalism and the belief you have in the subject and your teaching abilities.You have given me a platform from which I can build on and further my skills and knowledge. The location of the course was second to none, and the food that was prepared for us was first class.

Hefin Hamer

The course exceeded all expectations. The setting was beautiful the teaching was excellent and the food was first class. Could not of asked for more, except to maybe to stay longer and do it all over again. Thank you very much to the whole team for an insight into this magical world.

Peter Holland

It isn’t very often that you can say “I’m really looking forward to an assessment!”. That was most certainly the case with this course. I have taken quite a few outdoor training and assessment courses over the years and this beat them all without exception – a stunning woodland setting, a very high standard of teaching, enjoyable and interesting topics throughout and of course – excellent food!

Advanced Bushcraft Award – Level 3