City and Guilds 0039-31 Aerial Tree Pruning: what the handbook says

This page reports what the official source says. It is not legal advice: ask the office named here. The pages used are the City and Guilds NPTC handbook for the award, the NPTC scheme page, the City and Guilds 2026 fees list and the Lantra Awards specification. The award is the Level 3 pruning certificate of competence for work in the crown. The guide on chainsaw and tree work tickets by country gives the short summary. This page adds the handbook detail.

At a glance

Item	What the official source says
Awarding body	City and Guilds, under the NPTC name
Title	Level 3 Certificate of Competence in Aerial Tree Pruning
City and Guilds number	0039-31
Ofqual number	603/7358/1
Guided learning hours	16, with a total qualification time of 20 (handbook version 1.6, December 2025)
Age	16 or over
Grading	Met or not met
Unit	302, Aerial tree pruning
Status in the 2026 list	Open to certification, registration expiry December 31, 2027, certification expiry December 31, 2030

What the handbook says it covers

The handbook says the award is for people who use chainsaws as part of their work in arboriculture, forestry or other industries. Its cover list runs: risk assessment, emergency planning, legislation, industry best practice, tree condition and working at height assessment, pruning techniques, tools and aerial pruning. It names the Level 3 Certificate of Competence in Aerial Tree Rigging as an example of a next step. It is not part of an apprenticeship framework.

Entry requirements

The handbook says candidates must have achieved four awards, or equivalent versions: 0039-20, Chainsaw Maintenance and Cross-Cutting, 0039-21, Felling Small Trees up to 380mm, 0039-22, Climbing Trees and Aerial Rescue, and 0039-23, Using a Chainsaw from a Rope and Harness. The minimum age is 16. The utility arboriculture aerial pruning handbook, 0038-33, lists the same four awards among its entry requirements.

Assessment

The handbook describes one assessment type: a one to one practical assessment with oral questioning by an approved City and Guilds NPTC assessor. Grading is met or not met. The handbook says the practical observation and oral questioning should take between 3 and 4 hours. Candidates have to finish within 24 months of the date of initial registration, and registration is valid for two years. The unit text says assessors must hold a current First Aid at Work certificate. It strongly recommends that candidates hold an Emergency First Aid certificate.

What the unit text lists

The unit has one learning outcome with four criteria: hazards, risks, controls, emergency procedures and industry requirements; tree condition and working at height assessment; pruning techniques and tools; and aerial pruning. The industry guides it names are the Arboricultural Association technical guides 1, 2 and 5 (tree climbing and aerial rescue, use of tools in a tree, and mobile elevating work platforms in tree work) and the tree work recommendations in BS 3998. Its environmental list names damage to retained trees, contamination of watercourses and wildlife disturbance, with the answers the handbook gives for each: containing spills, spill mats, a work sequence that limits damage to retained trees, and wildlife checks before work.

The handbook sets out the basic principles of target pruning as simulating the tree's natural ability to shed branches, leaving the branch bark ridge and collar intact, allowing a full doughnut of callus wood to form and allowing a protection boundary to develop inside the collar. It lists the pole set, hand saw, secateurs, hand loppers and chainsaw with a stated advantage and disadvantage for each. For re-pollarding it names extra safeguards: supplementary anchor points because of weak branch unions, alternative cuts such as the V cut and holding cut because of tension and compression in the timber, and a false anchor to help movement.

The assessed work is a crown reduction and a crown thinning to an agreed specification. For the reduction the handbook lists sequence of operations, route in the crown, communication with ground staff, choice of branches and tools, reducing to suitable growth points, leaving a balanced crown, staying within the tolerance of the species, accuracy and position of final cuts, avoiding damage to retained parts and surroundings, and leaving no cut branches hanging in the tree. For the thinning it adds uniform removal of branches, removal of dead, dying, diseased, crossing and rubbing material, and keeping the general size and shape. The climb is assessed against the Arboricultural Association guide 1, and a mobile elevating work platform, if used, against guide 5.

The Lantra Awards pruning award

Lantra Awards has its own Level 3 Award in Carry Out Aerial Tree Pruning, Ofqual number 600/5712/9. Its specification gives 21 guided learning hours and a total qualification time of 23, with one mandatory unit. The operational start date is September 1, 2025. It names two prerequisites: the Lantra Level 3 Award in Access a Tree Using a Rope and Harness and Aerial Rescue, and either the Lantra Level 3 Award in Aerial Cutting of Trees with a Chainsaw Using Free-fall Techniques or the Lantra Level 3 Award in Use of a Chainsaw from a Mobile Elevated Work Platform. It is graded pass or fail.