BASIS members are being encouraged to kickstart the new points year at Cereals this June.

The points available at the event will go a long way to helping BASIS members meet their annual quota, which can be set as high as 50 points.

BASIS professional registers and accounts manager Michele Williams explained that up to 13 BASIS CPD points will be available throughout the two-day event.

These can be collected in the following ways:

  • Two points per day of attendance (register and scan your card at BASIS stand 248);
  • Four points for completing the BASIS Knowledge Trail each day;
  • One additional point for completing the Slug Trail (between the UK Water Companies (323) and De Sangosse stands (324).

“There’s a huge range of ways members can collect points throughout the year, but I’d recommend starting early. So, Cereals is the perfect occasion to kickstart your points collection,” said Williams.

Here, the team will be available to help with points collection and provide guidance on training courses, qualifications and schemes.

“We’ll also give visitors a flavour of what’s to come in our new soil quality courses, which are due to start this autumn,” Williams said.

“The two new soils courses will be set at different levels to cater for a variety of candidates. The Foundation in Soils qualification will help farmers and advisers understand the relationship between physical structure, as well as biological and chemical processes.

“Whereas the Quality of Soils course will provide further insight into improving the resilience of farming systems through increased understanding of the soil ecosystem.”

New BASIS soils courses

Foundation in Soils

  • Level four (higher education) certificate accredited by Harper Adams University;
  • Four to five day short-course;
  • 1.5 hour examination time;
  • 25 question multiple choice paper;
  • Five question short answer paper.

Quality of Soils

  • Level six (graduate) certificate accredited by Harper Adams University;
  • Five-day short-course;
  • 2.5 hour examination time;
  • Six to 10 short answer questions;
  • VIVA examination to assess applied knowledge and understanding in a practical context.