It’s time to explore our campus to find out about studying at Brinsbury College.
Why choose this course?
- It demonstrates practical competence — PA6 assesses your ability to use a knapsack sprayer safely and effectively.
- It complements PA1 — PA1 covers the underpinning knowledge, while PA6 focuses on practical application.
- It can support employment in grounds maintenance, landscaping, agriculture, horticulture, and amenity work where pesticide application is required.
- It promotes safe pesticide use — including correct application techniques, calibration, PPE, environmental protection, and avoiding contamination or drift.
- It provides recognised certification that can help demonstrate competence to employers and clients.
- It can broaden your skills if you already work in land-based or grounds-maintenance roles.
Further information
The PA6 course is generally for people who need to use a knapsack sprayer to apply pesticides professionally.
It is suitable for people working in areas such as:
- Grounds maintenance
- Gardening and landscaping
- Agriculture and horticulture
- Sports turf and golf courses
- Parks and amenity areas
- Forestry and land management
- Local authority or commercial maintenance
It is particularly useful for anyone whose job involves weed, pest or disease control using a knapsack sprayer and who needs to demonstrate practical competence in using the equipment safely.
- How to safely operate a knapsack sprayer.
- How to calibrate equipment and apply the correct amount of product
- How to prepare and handle pesticides safely
- How to select the correct nozzle, pressure and application technique
- How to minimise spray drift and environmental contamination.
- How to use appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment).
- How to deal with spills, leaks and waste safely
- How to carry out equipment checks, cleaning and maintenance.
- How to apply pesticides effectively while protecting people, animals, crops and the environment.
- How to demonstrate the practical competence required for the PA6 assessment.
Common options include:
- PA6A – allows you to demonstrate competence using a hand-held lance or other application equipment in addition to the knapsack.
- PA2 – tractor-mounted or trailed boom sprayer application.
- PA3 – application of pesticides using fogging machines.
- PA4 – application using granular applicators.
- PA6G – application of granules using handheld equipment.
If you’re working towards a career in grounds maintenance, landscaping or horticulture, PA6 can be a useful foundation, and you can add other PA qualifications depending on the equipment and work you intend to carry out.
You will learn by being shown and practising, then demonstrate your skills in a practical assessment.
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