No previous qualifications required, just an interest & enthusiasm for garden design
12 weeks of home study
& weekly online lectures
(Via Zoom)
17th November - 14th February
(3 week break for Christmas)
6pm - 8.30pm UK Time
Wednesday & Monday
No exams!
Tutor assessment only
With twice weekly live Zoom classes, the Online Fast-Tracked Diploma combines the intensive pace of the ‘In-Studio Fast-Track’ Diploma and the convenience of the ‘Online Flexible’ Diploma. This 12-week course is ideal for those students wanting to study from home and speed up their learning in a live environment.
The Level 3 Diploma in Professional Garden Design provides you with the skills and qualification to work professionally as a garden designer… without having to go back to school full-time allowing you to balance the demands of work and family life.
The skills you’ll learn can help you carry out design projects for yourself or for family and friends, prepare you for work as a designer, or enable you to pursue further studies in the subject.
This course is Ofqual Level 3 accredited and globally recognised, meaning you can work legally as a garden designer or gain enough educational credits to study a Bachelors Degree if you so choose.
For students who want all the benefits of remote online learning, but are also looking for more structure and live interaction with tutors and peers, the ‘Online Fast-Track’ course offers an ideal mix.
Because the course is delivered fully online, it means students can study from anywhere in the world without the need to travel or commute and attend a full-time course. But it also adds the valuable element of live lectures online with tutors and other students, to cover key content and enable discussions.
You will study ten dedicated Units during this Professional Diploma
This unit introduces you to the definition of Garden Design and key Garden styles. It covers the history of Garden Design and the main design principles Garden Designers work with in the present day. This unit also includes:
This Unit introduces you to a design brief and takes you through the different stages of the garden design process, giving you an understanding of the role and responsibilities of the garden designer. This unit also includes:
Within this Unit, you will learn how to measure a garden and draw it to scale. You will also learn how to start the process of developing conceptual designs for a client. This unit also includes:
This unit focuses on how you organise and fill your garden design effectively. You will have the opportunity use your creative skills by preparing and presenting your ideas working to a specific garden design brief. This unit also includes:
This Unit will help you to understand planting biology and the importance of selecting appropriate planting as part of your design. This fundamental knowledge will complement your presentation skills when developing a design and help you to communicate your initial ideas. This unit also includes:
In this Unit, you will learn how to select specific Hard Landscaping Materials to enhance your design. Increasing your knowledge of sustainable products and practices It also covers how to communicate your ideas visually to your client and how to specify your requirements to a contractor. This unit also includes:
This Unit looks at how you source your plants and the practical and aesthetic considerations to be considered when developing a planting layout to a design brief. You will also learn how to present a planting plan to a professional standard. This unit also includes:
This Unit looks specifically at sourcing furniture, lighting, water features and accessories from the huge variety available, to meet your client brief. You will learn about the main types of garden lighting and how to present this information on a Furniture, Lighting and Accessories Plan. This unit also includes:
This unit shows you everything you need to know about how to set up your own garden design business. It also helps you identify other career opportunities within Garden Design, such as working within an established garden design practice or moving on to studying for a degree. This unit also includes:
For the final unit of the course, you bring together all your newly learned skills by producing conceptual designs and a design pack to create a wonderful garden design for a new client. When complete, your work will form an asset to your developing portfolio to show future clients. This unit also includes:
This unit introduces you to the definition of Garden Design and key Garden styles. It covers the history of Garden Design and the main design principles Garden Designers work with in the present day. This unit also includes:
This Unit introduces you to a design brief and takes you through the different stages of the garden design process, giving you an understanding of the role and responsibilities of the garden designer. This unit also includes:
Within this Unit, you will learn how to measure a garden and draw it to scale. You will also learn how to start the process of developing conceptual designs for a client. This unit also includes:
This unit focuses on how you organise and fill your garden design effectively. You will have the opportunity use your creative skills by preparing and presenting your ideas working to a specific garden design brief. This unit also includes:
This Unit will help you to understand planting biology and the importance of selecting appropriate planting as part of your design. This fundamental knowledge will complement your presentation skills when developing a design and help you to communicate your initial ideas. This unit also includes:
In this Unit, you will learn how to select specific Hard Landscaping Materials to enhance your design. Increasing your knowledge of sustainable products and practices It also covers how to communicate your ideas visually to your client and how to specify your requirements to a contractor. This unit also includes:
This Unit looks at how you source your plants and the practical and aesthetic considerations to be considered when developing a planting layout to a design brief. You will also learn how to present a planting plan to a professional standard. This unit also includes:
This Unit looks specifically at sourcing furniture, lighting, water features and accessories from the huge variety available, to meet your client brief. You will learn about the main types of garden lighting and how to present this information on a Furniture, Lighting and Accessories Plan. This unit also includes:
This unit shows you everything you need to know about how to set up your own garden design business. It also helps you identify other career opportunities within Garden Design, such as working within an established garden design practice or moving on to studying for a degree. This unit also includes:
For the final unit of the course, you bring together all your newly learned skills by producing conceptual designs and a design pack to create a wonderful garden design for a new client. When complete, your work will form an asset to your developing portfolio to show future clients. This unit also includes:
A sample of work completed by our talented garden design students
The course consists of a 10-week study period that covers each of the 10 subject units in the Diploma course, one unit per week
Weekly Course Schedule
Accreditation
At the National Design Academy, we fully believe in the importance of accreditation. After all, what value is there in investing time and money into a course if it doesn’t offer a recognized qualification? The Diploma course is accredited by AIM Qualifications, an independent accrediting body for UK courses, and is recognised globally. It offers a level-3 UK qualification that allows to you work as a professional garden designer or start your own garden design business.
There are three ways for UK students to pay for their Online Fast-Track Diploma:
There are two ways for International students to pay for their Online Fast-Track Diploma:
* Monthly payments include admin fee.
All International fees in US Dollars.
Alongside a computer and an internet connection, there is also essential and recommended design equipment and resources required to complete your NDA Course, the majority are available through the online NDA Art Shop at student prices!
Once you have successfully completed the NDA Diploma in Professional Garden Design, you a will be offered a guaranteed place onto one of our online degree courses, such as BA (Hons) Design for Outdoor Living, with a generous Progression Scholarship. Degrees are awarded by our academic partner, De Montfort University Leicester (DMU), and they are studied online in the same way as your Diploma.
The Diploma in Professional Garden Design is designed to help you start your own Garden Design business. Like the Diploma course itself, you can work flexibly for your clients around your family commitments and gradually expand your business.
Many of our Diploma students start their own business and study for their degree flexibly alongside their client projects.
Hear what past and present students have to say about studying at the NDA
Our admissions team will be happy to discuss your options.
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