Complete Bat Training Course (Formally BLTC)

Formerly known as the Bat Licence Training Course (BLTC) which has run since 2008, new for 2019 is the evolution of BLTC into COMPLETE BAT TRAINING - a training programme to consolidate skills and experience for those with a wide range of backgrounds in bat consultancy including those seeking bat survey licences and those wanting to update and consolidate their bat survey skills.

Places are strictly limited for this specialist training which is based around two compulsory residential field courses and a training diary of bat work experience. The course has been running successfully since 2008, with fantastic feedback, routinely visiting nine venues every year.

The course is co-written and taught by Dr Sandie Sowler, MCIEEM, FLS and Richard Crompton, CEnv, MCIEEM, FLS.

The training is based on two key elements:

A training diary or log of experience, and
Two residential field courses – one during the colder months of the year and one during the bats’ active season.

Because CBT is not a short training course we have a unique process to be able to give participants both necessary licence references which cannot be achieved through short training courses.

Sign-off for a licence reference is at the strict discretion of the trainers, both of whom hold training licences for Natural England and the Natural Resources Wales, and follows an assessment and a review of training diaries. The course has a tried and tested assessment process including a written test and one-on-one interview; to give the trainers confidence to sign off participants as competent bat surveyors. Participants of this course have been successfully signed-up for Natural England, Natural Resources Wales, and occasionally Scottish Natural Heritage (although you might also like to try our Scottish training partner Bat Ability) and Northern Irish licences.

Complete Bat Training provides the range of experience and assessment needed by those who intend to use their licence in a professional capacity; you will undertake daytime summer visits, underground hibernation surveys, tree surveys and a whole host of other activities, making this the only course to cover all of the Bat Conservation Trust’s professional training standards in an intensive training programme.

If you are interested in attending the CBT but don’t yet meet the entry requirements then our new course Introduction to Bat Licence Training may be a suitable starting point for you. Our other courses can help to gather supporting skills such as advanced techniques, mitigation and sound analysis.

Please note that CBT does not attempt to be training to become a ‘bat ecologist’, but provides the training needed to successfully achieve a Natural England Class level 1 or 2 licence and the equivalent Bat Survey Licences (with handling) in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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