Fascinated by bats? Want to gain your bat survey licence? Then this course is for you! From total newbie to licensed bat worker is the aim of this course!
The next intake begins on 21st September 2026 at 7:00 pm with an introductory webinar to get you started. You can book any time before then and start your studies straight away.
Most of this course is held online, so you can study in the comfort of your own home. You will need to get 100 hours of bat surveying experience to gain your licence, but also a lot of background training too. We help and advise on how to get experience in your local area.
This course is not currently suitable for anyone seeking their Welsh or Scottish Licences, as both require more contact time with your referee (Scotland: at least 10 visits; Wales: a whole survey season). If you have an English Licence, it may be easier to get a Welsh or Scottish licence afterwards.
If you are still interested, then read on…
Course Outline
The aim of the course is to start you from the beginning if you have never done any training and take you through to gaining your first bat licence. As part of working towards your licence, you will need to have 100 hours of relevant bat survey experience, which you will obtain separately.
Stage 1 – Beginner
We start with an Introductory Webinar to prepare you for the course, and where you can ask questions to clarify anything you are not sure of.
You will complete the Bat Ecology and Surveying course that covers the basics of bat biology, legislation, bat conservation, bat diseases, survey techniques, and bat ID. This course is available face to face (subject to availability) or online – choosing the face-to-face course may cause delays as there are only a few courses with limited spaces each year. You will also have a webinar on how to get experience.
Once you have done the Bat Ecology and Surveying course you will be ready to offer your services to get some experience – for this you would contact your local ecological consultancies (survey season is May to September) and your local bat group. You will need to go out and get a variety of survey experience to build up your 100 hours experience for your licence, this should include at least 7 internal building inspections.
You will record these on a Bat Experience Log. Please download your own copy of our template before using it. CLICK HERE to get the Bat Experience Log template.
Meanwhile you have three additional self-study courses on architectural terms, health and safety and legislation for bat workers to work through.
In order to assess your progress each self-study course will have a short quiz at the end and you will receive a separate certificate for each of these courses. For each of the self-study courses you will need to get 70% or more to pass. You will also receive a certificate for your Bat Ecology and Surveying course.
Stage 2 – Intermediate
Once you have some experience (we only offer a very few hours of actual experience – it is up to you to go out and get your own experience) you can progress to our Intermediate courses:
- Surveying Trees for Bats which is an important aspect of your bat work, and
- Bats and Developments which covers all about what to do if you have bats on site and mitigation. The Bats and Developments course can also be taken at the advanced stage if you wish after you have your licence.
- Bats and Lighting – as many developments and other schemes increase lighting and this impacts on bats we have included this useful course here.
All of these courses are online.
We are also including our Bat Sound Analysis Webinar – an introduction to using software to analyse bat calls. This course is delivered via live webinar, and there are two courses available per year.
There will also be a webinar on how to write reports.
There will be one assignment to complete. This Report Writing Assignment involves creating a report of your findings on a bat survey and what you found and recommended. This needs to be submitted prior to your final Revise and Assess course as part of your assessment.
All of the courses mentioned so far are also available as stand-alone courses and for each one you will receive a separate Certificate. Let us know if you already have some training and we can work out a program for you.
Stage 3 – Assessment
Once you have completed all the Beginner and Intermediate stages AND you have your 100 hours of survey experience, you will be able to come on our Bat Revise and Assess course. Getting the experience hours you need will depend on your commitment to getting survey experience, but as the survey season is limited to May to September, you may take 2 seasons to get to this point. Please note that you will be expected to have paid the full course fee before booking your Bat Revise and Assess.
This Bat Revise and Assess course is a field course, where you work with the licenced person who will be one of your signatories for your licence, to demonstrate how you conduct surveys. If you have also managed to get handling experience during your bat experience then we can also assess you for your Level 2 bat licence where we assess you on the use of endoscopes.
After the field day you will be assessed individually in the form of an exam and a verbal exam where your tutor will thoroughly check your knowledge about bats. If you are not sure about anything this is your opportunity to learn something new. If the tutor feels you need to do more study then the written or verbal exams will be repeated until the tutor is satisfied that you know all about bats. You will not be signed off for your licence until the tutor is satisfied that you will make a really good bat worker with a sound knowledge of bats and adequate experience.
What some of our students say about the course:
“Thank you for a great course! It has been a great experience!” BW
“It’s been a great course and I am excited to get my bat licence.” PR
Read our BLOG on how to get a bat licence HERE.
YOU CAN ONLY BOOK THIS COURSE BY CONTACTING US FIRST – please email [email protected]
This course is not currently suitable for anyone going for their Welsh or Scottish Licences as both require more contact time with your referee (Scotland – at least 10 visits, Wales – a whole survey season). If you live in Wales or Scotland you can still go for the English licence and it may then be easier to get your Welsh or Scottish licence.
Who is the Tutor?
Sue Searle BSc, PGDip, MCIEEM, Principal Ecologist here at Ecology Training UK has had a bat licence since 2004 and holds up to Level 4 with Natural England and also holds a Welsh and Scottish Bat licence. Sue has been teaching bat courses for over a decade and has successfully helped hundreds of people gain their bat licence.
Sue will be on hand to help you whenever you need it.
Contact her on: [email protected] or 07818073660.
Meeting your fellow students
The group will get to know each other during the Course Introduction webinar at the beginning of the course and can stay in touch via email or a WhatsApp group. They will also meet on the field course and other webinars.
Next course
The next intake begins on 21st September 2026 with the Introductory Webinar from 7 pm – 8 pm; however, you can start the self-study elements as soon as you book. You have up to 24 months to complete the course.
Price: £1,750 including VAT (£1458.33 excluding VAT)
An interest-free instalment option is available over 12 months. Pay a £250 deposit and 12 monthly instalments of £125. Click the ‘Book Now’ button for more information.
Prerequisites: This course is for anyone interested in gaining a bat survey licence. We do NOT require any previous qualifications, just a passion for bats and their conservation! Ideal for working around a full-time job or looking after a family.
