Wine and Spirit Education Trust WSET

WSET founded 1969 as an educational charity by four organisations to train people in the British wine and spirits trade. The four founding companies are The Vintners Company, The Worshipful Company of Distillers, Institute of Masters of Wine and the Wine and Spirit Association of Great Britain.

Initially the WSET was setup solely to train the trade. However in 1991 the charter was changed to allow the general public to study for WSET qualification. Now globally, roughly 20-25% of people taking their courses are consumers.

Their courses fit into the National Qualification Framework and are accredited by the governments Qualification and Curriculum Authority.
The Foundation Certificate in Wine.
1 day course
Intermediate Certificate
3 day course or 8 evenings
The Professional Certificate in Spirits
3 day Course
Advanced Certificate (Level 3 in the national Framework)
5 day course
Diploma
This is a 2 year course with 120 hours contact time and another 360 hours of home study. It is a prerequisite for the Master of Wine qualification.

Their courses are run all over the world with 40% of all students coming from outside the UK.