Crop Technician Apprentice (Vines)
Redhill Farm Estate
MAIDSTONE (ME18 5LB)
Closes in 18 days (Monday 25 August 2025 at 11:59pm)
Posted on 7 August 2025
Contents
Summary
This is a fantastic opportunity to work with a boutique, award winning sustainable winery with vine to bottle production. The apprenticeship will provide exposure to variety of work with responsibility and great benefits.
- Wage
-
£14,722.50 to £23,809.50, depending on your age
National Minimum Wage
- Training course
- Crop technician (level 3)
- Hours
-
Shift patterns may differ, including 08:30am- 12:00pm and 12:30pm- 16:15pm or 08:00am- 11:45am and 12:15pm to 16:15pm. Additional hours will be required over harvest September to October.
37 hours 30 minutes a week
- Start date
-
Monday 1 September 2025
- Duration
-
2 years
- Positions available
-
2
Work
Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.
What you'll do at work
Your day-to-day tasks will vary, but could include day to day vineyard and estate management and helping out with winery activities such as:
- Pruning
- Harvesting
- Checking vine health
- General maintenance
- Assisting with the retail aspect of the vineyard
Where you'll work
337 RED HILL
WATERINGBURY
MAIDSTONE
ME18 5LB
Training
Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.
Training provider
PLUMPTON COLLEGE
Training course
Crop technician (level 3)
Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)
What you'll learn
Course contents
- Identify and mitigate risks to promote and maintain health, safety and security. (Core)
- Manage accurate paper or digital records within the workplace. (Core)
- Maintain and operate machinery and equipment in accordance with manufacturer operating instructions. (Core)
- Maximise economic sustainability by optimising plant growth when carrying out operations. (Core)
- Establish crops to ensure efficient and sustainable growth. (Core)
- Operate vehicles in accordance with manufacturer operating instructions. (Core)
- Control pests, weeds and diseases using integrated pest management. (Core)
- Apply and store pest management treatments in accordance with standard operating procedures, legislation and regulations. (Core)
- Carry out plant nutrient application or irrigation tasks required by the crop. (Core)
- Carry out harvesting and dispatch operations. (Core)
- Assess and monitor crops for quality, performance and specification requirements. (Core)
- Select harvesting techniques taking account of crop condition and quality requirements. (Core)
- Maintain biosecurity and hygiene practices in line with legislation, regulations and organisational requirements. (Core)
- Keep harvested crops in suitable conditions to maintain quality. (Core)
- Maintain soils or substrates to ensure sustainable, efficient and healthy growth. (Core)
- Sample and evaluate soil or substrate health to determine nutrition requirements. (Core)
- Comply with health and safety legislation, regulations, guidelines and procedures relevant to own role. (Core)
- Participate in learning and CPD activities. (Core)
- Manage own time to achieve tasks to schedule. (Core)
- Consider different approaches to current working practices, identifying improvements, developments and innovative ideas. (Core)
- Set and monitor machinery performance to ensure good seed or plant establishment and crop growth. (Soil based)
- Set machinery and equipment taking into account the crop, environment, soil condition and specification requirements. (Soil based)
- Maintain non-productive areas. (Soil based)
- Assess the impact of machinery on soil structure and identify potential damage in accordance with legislation. (Soil based)
- Optimise growth conditions for crops, based on the specific needs of the plant relative to the environment. (Container based)
- Maintain productive and non-productive areas. (Container based)
- Plan for and carry out the removal of waste materials following harvest or dispatch. (Container based)
- Evaluate and select different growing mediums taking into account site conditions and production requirements. (Container based)
- Identify and mitigate risks to promote and maintain health, safety and security. (Core)
- Manage accurate paper or digital records within the workplace. (Core)
- Maintain and operate machinery and equipment in accordance with manufacturer operating instructions. (Core)
- Maximise economic sustainability by optimising plant growth when carrying out operations. (Core)
- Establish crops to ensure efficient and sustainable growth. (Core)
- Operate vehicles in accordance with manufacturer operating instructions. (Core)
- Control pests, weeds and diseases using integrated pest management. (Core)
- Apply and store pest management treatments in accordance with standard operating procedures, legislation and regulations. (Core)
- Carry out plant nutrient application or irrigation tasks required by the crop. (Core)
- Carry out harvesting and dispatch operations. (Core)
- Assess and monitor crops for quality, performance and specification requirements. (Core)
- Select harvesting techniques taking account of crop condition and quality requirements. (Core)
- Maintain biosecurity and hygiene practices in line with legislation, regulations and organisational requirements. (Core)
- Keep harvested crops in suitable conditions to maintain quality. (Core)
- Maintain soils or substrates to ensure sustainable, efficient and healthy growth. (Core)
- Sample and evaluate soil or substrate health to determine nutrition requirements. (Core)
- Comply with health and safety legislation, regulations, guidelines and procedures relevant to own role. (Core)
- Participate in learning and CPD activities. (Core)
- Manage own time to achieve tasks to schedule. (Core)
- Consider different approaches to current working practices, identifying improvements, developments and innovative ideas. (Core)
Training schedule
- Training will occur in 10 weekly blocks of teaching split between the Plumpton College main campus and the College’s Rock Lodge Vineyard
- The block attended shall be for a full 5 day a week, with class sessions over 5 separate weeks
- The course with be conducted at Plumpton College
Requirements
Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.
Skills
- Communication skills
- Organisation skills
- Problem solving skills
- Number skills
- Logical
- Team working
- Non judgemental
- Physical fitness
Other requirements
We are in a rural location, due to this, having your own transport is ideal however we are a 15 minute walk from the train station and 12 minutes from bus stops.
About this employer
Covering 50 acres of land in the heart of Kent, Redhill Farm Estate is a vineyard that is cultivating seven different types of grape vines (French, German and Swiss origin grown), using varying soil for each of them. Employing modern techniques to benefit biodiversity and promote the natural ecosystem of the varieties, the focus is on the quality of the plant as much as the quality of the wine made from it. Redhill Farm Estate started life as a vineyard with a single vine, and there are now over 27,000. Using sustainable vineyard management practices, our wines express the quality nature of the grapes that are aromatic and full of character and are a true expression of the local terroir. We are based in an idyllic location embedded in a local community with various small businesses surrounding us.
https://www.redhillestate.com/?v=7885444af42e (opens in new tab)
After this apprenticeship
- The potential to develop into a fully qualified crop technician
Ask a question
The contact for this apprenticeship is:
PLUMPTON COLLEGE
The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC1000336226.
Apply now
Closes in 18 days (Monday 25 August 2025 at 11:59pm)
Sign in with your GOV.UK One Login to apply.