Module Syllabi
The module syllabi have recently been updated in response to feedback. The syllabi that apply from March 2023 are available on the BBKA Website. The changes are mostly minor but please make sure that, if you are part of a study group you are aware and are using the correct syllabi. There are some changes to the way in which BBKA run written module exams. Please see the following statement from the Chair of the Examinations Board.
“BBKA Modules Update
In April 2021 the BBKA Examinations Board ran the Module exams for first time on-line with remote invigilation, using a platform called Inspera. At the time, we had 386 candidates who took altogether 500 Modules. While technology gave us an opportunity to conduct the exams in times when handwritten sessions would not have been possible, it was not without some challenges. There was a lot to learn for all of us, Inspera, the Examinations Board and of course the candidates. Since then, there have been several updates to the system, and we have also learned how best to support our candidates online and how to optimise our use of Inspera.
Over the last two Module sessions, most of the candidates chose the online option. This led to a reduction in venues for the handwritten modules across the country almost by half, with many of the venues having only one candidate. While taking the pressure from some associations in terms of costs and volunteers for invigilation, this also gave us the assurance that online Modules are well received by Module candidates.
Considering the diminishing demand for the handwritten Modules, in 2023 handwritten option will be available only in three venues across the country. One venue in south England, one in the Midlands and one in north England. We expect to have the exact locations agreed and published by the end of this year. Furthermore, in 2024 these three venues will be reduced to only one (Stoneleigh), and as of 2025, only on-line Modules will be available. The gradual transition is to give an opportunity to those candidates still wishing to take Modules as handwritten to do so by the end of 2024.”
Closing dates and applications
If you are planning to take a modular exam or the Bee Health practical assessment in 2024, please contact Jean Frost (education@hampshirebeekeepers.org.uk) and ask for an online application form to be sent to you. Click here for a full list of this year’s closing dates
- The closing date for application to take modules on 23rd March 2024 is 9th February 2024
- The closing date for application to take modules on 16th November 2024 is 30th September 2024
- The closing date for the Advanced Husbandry, General Husbandry and Honey Bee Breeding Certificate assessment is 28th February 2024
- The closing date for the Honey Bee Health Certificate assessment is 30th April 2024. Honey Bee Health assessment dates will be scheduled later in the spring
- In Hampshire, entries for the Basic Assessment should be submitted before the end of April so that assessors can be appointed. Information about the Basic Assessment will be sent to all association education officers in the New Year.
Within Hampshire Beekeepers’ Association we facilitate local training towards the Basic, General Husbandry and other Assessments for our members, often in conjunction with other local associations, and these may be listed on this website as ‘Upcoming events’ or on our page for Further Training.
Refund Policy
The Examination Board has revised the refund policy for exams as publicised in BBKA news. Candidates email receipts, the application form and documents on the BBKA Website have all been updated accordingly. The new policy is:
- Refunds will only be considered in the event of illness, injury of the candidate or sudden death of an immediate family member occurring within two (2) weeks prior to the Examination or Assessment
- The Examination Board Secretary must be informed before the commencement of the examination or assessment and full details will be submitted to the Board Secretary within two weeks of being requested
- The Board will then decide whether the Examination or Assessment fee is forfeit. This will be applied sympathetically.
Taking the BBKA Basic Assessment
Once you have completed a beginner’s course and have some experience of keeping bees for at least a year, you can take the BBKA Basic Assessment. This is a practical process with no written exams. It involves spending about an hour with a BBKA Assessor at a specified apiary that is not your own. It is customary for a group of candidates in the same area to be assessed at the same session. During the assessment you will conduct an inspection on a colony of bees and answer simple questions on honeybees and beekeeping from topics that are listed in the syllabus on the BBKA Website.
With a 96% pass rate, no-one should be discouraged from taking the BBKA Basic Assessment. Whilst the syllabus may look daunting at first glance, closer inspection will show that it merely lists the basic things which all beekeepers should know after a year or two of keeping bees.
Please go to our Members Page where you contact the HBA Education Secretary through our contact form.
Taking BBKA Assessments and Modules
Most of us declared, on leaving full time education an unspecified number of years ago, that we would never, ever take another exam. The studying, the stress, the anguish while waiting for the results – and to what end?
BBKA (British Beekeepers’ Association) has a structured set of assessments and exams. The entry-point is “The Basic“. The syllabus may look daunting at first sight, but a beekeeper with a couple of years’ experience should be able to tick most of the items quickly. Your association education secretary will help you to fill in any gaps or set up a study group. The assessment is at a local apiary (not yours) and the assessor will watch as you inspect the bees just as you would with your own, asking a few questions along the way. A short question and answer session follows. It’s a basic test of your competence, not to catch you out but to allow you to prove that you can handle bees effectively.
So far, so good. The Basic is almost intuitive and does not involve written tests. However, the next step is to embark on the BBKA Written Modules and it’s here that you are asked to return to books and studying.
Although these are regarded as “written” exams”, the are taken online nowadays.
Module 1 (Honey Bee Management) is the place to start; you could consider it to be the “Advanced Basic”. This module takes you into the nooks and crannies of fundamental beekeeping – selecting a hive, selecting an apiary site, hygiene, swarming, nuclei, drifting, robbing and so much more. Studying for Module 1 forces you to widen your knowledge so that you can start to recognise things that could wrong ahead of time and will be able to avoid problems in the apiary more often. Without having a learning target, it’s too easy to restrict knowledge to what you see on a day-to-day basis.
There are 7 Modules in all, as well as further practical examinations; the Honey Bee Health, General Husbandry, Advanced Husbandry, Microscopy, Show Judge, Honey Bee Breeding, Honey Bee Health, and – at the end of the trail, for the revered few who pass the relevant modules and assessments – the Master Beekeeper.
However, if you only take The Basic, you will have proved that you are a competent beekeeper. If you add Module 1 to that, you will have proved that you are a very competent beekeeper. Module 3 (Honey bee Pests, Diseases and Poisoning) is a hugely important one given the changes in beekeeping over recent years.
The important starting point for each module or assessment is to read and understand the syllabus. You must then invest some time to study and learn; the knowledge gained will not go amiss.
Correspondence courses are available from the BBKA website, your association education secretary will be able to help, and if you can get together with others to form a small study group you will find that the shared knowledge and encouragement pulls you through the moments of self-doubt.
So … if you remember promising to yourself many years ago that you will never take another exam, think about the benefits to yourself and to your bees about revisiting that promise. Ask your association education secretary how to make a start.
DATES FOR BBKA MODULE EXAMINATIONS
Examinations for Modules are normally held twice each year, normally in on a Saturday morning in March and in November.
Please check the BBKA Website for latest information.