Deer Stalking Certificate Level 2

Throughout the assessment process the onus is on you to provide sufficient evidence that you have reached the necessary standard of competence to be awarded the Level Two Certificate.  To achieve this you are required to demonstrate that you have stalked, despatched and prepared for storage, to the required standards, at least 3 deer on separate occasions.

The Certificate requires that each of a number of "Performance Criteria" (PCs) are satisfied on at least three occasions.  Those with extensive and verifiable experience may only need to have one cull observed by an accredited witness whilst those with limited experience will probably need three. Your Assessment Centre will be able to give individual advice. 

Your advisor should ensure that a record of any advice given is included in your Assessment Centre record and he should also ask you to include the advice in your portfolio.

You will be appointed a Portfolio Assessor by your Assessment Centre.  As an independent third party they will check that the evidence is:-

• Authentic - it has been produced by you without help
• Current - it must have been produced in the three years prior to portfolio submission
• Sufficient - there is enough evidence to cover all of the elements of the Certificate
• Relevant - your evidence must match the quality requirements of the Certificate

Additional Evidence - You may include evidence in addition to your cull records, this would usually relate to your past experience. For example your own past cull/larder records or references from employers etc. However, this additional evidence should not be used to replace the standard cull records. If in doubt contact your Assessment Centre for advice. It will be up to you to identify that evidence supplied is relevant and matches the Performance Criteria. You should not submit your portfolio until you can satisfy each of the 4 points above. If your portfolio is not completed correctly the Assessor is within his rights to return it to you for further work.  You cannot 'fail' the Level Two you must simply continue gaining experience, knowledge and skills until you can demonstrate that you have reached the required standard.

The following guidance will help you in completing your portfolio.

Your Candidate Portfolio

Page 2  lays down the rules for the collection and presentation of evidence.  This is the crux of Level 2 and you must be thoroughly conversant with these rules.   This is particularly important if you produce historical evidence of competence.  You must show that your knowledge is up to date.

Page 3 the CV is designed to give the Assessor an indication of the level of experience that you have.  This will help the assessor to judge the relevance of evidence supplied in addition to Individual Cull Records.

Pages 6-28  Individual Cull Records are designed to allow you to record the culling of individual animals.  It is extremely unlikely that you will be able to demonstrate competence by not including cull records.  The cull cards include a list of the PCs for the Level 2.  An Accredited Witness must sign off each of these performance criteria at least once.   Witnesses and your Portfolio Assessor will ask additional questions about PCs further to any practical assessment and space is provided to record questions and answers next to the individual elements.

Once your Portfolio Assessor is content that you have produced enough evidence to satisfy the PCs please complete the check list on the inside front cover. The assessment process and subsequent internal and external verification may take some time.   When this is done your portfolio will be returned with confirmation of your success.  The certificate will shortly follow from DMQ.

Recognition of prior experience

The Deer Stalking Certificate is a formal qualification aimed both at those who have little or no experience of culling deer as well as those who have been involved in culling deer for some time.

For most candidates the completed Level Two Candidate Portfolio with additional witness evidence will probably provide the best route to demonstrating their ability to cull deer safely and humanely and to deal with the carcasses in a safe and hygienic manner on a minimum of 3 deer on separate occasions.

DMQ  however recognises that you may have culled many more deer than the 3 required by the Performance Criteria for the DSC Level Two and can provide verifiable evidence of the skills, knowledge and experience that you have already gained, either:

• at work (paid or voluntary)
• on government or employer-sponsored training programmes
• as a recreational activity
• by independent or self directed study.

You may not have ready access to witness assessment, or may feel that the quality of the evidence that they have already amassed is sufficient to cover some of the requirements of the qualification.

DMQ will give credit for previous experience. If the evidence is accepted this means that you do not have to have an Assessor or an Accredited Witness present for that part of the qualification.  Evidence collected in the presence of an Accredited Witness is always the strongest, but if this is not possible then the evidence can be built by:

Presenting examples of your own work such as cull records
Obtaining written statements from people who are prepared to confirm your skills in writing and if necessary, answer any queries that an assessor may have with regard to those skills

You should always consult with your advisor as to the suitability of this kind of evidence.

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