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AN ADVANCED CERTIFICATE COURSE DESIGNED TO DEVELOP THE SKILLS NEEDED TO CRITICALLY READ AND EVALUATE TECHNICAL REPORTS IN ACOUSTICS.
Assessments for CCSA typically take place twice per year.
To obtain a Certificate, a candidate must: Pass a short test on underlying theory and concepts; Produce planning documentation for a soundscape assessment; Produce a competent report from a dataset from a soundscape assessment.
The course aims to provide candidates with: An understanding of the concepts, practices and terminology of soundscape; An awareness of the soundscape expectations of the UK’s four environmental regulators, and government policies and legislation to which soundscape could be relevant; Knowledge of the processes and techniques available and recommended for soundscape assessment, including data collection and analysis.
The course is structured around the principles and theory of soundscape, including human perception and contextual experience of sound.
Experimental approaches to soundscape assessment include listener tests, surveys, and focus groups, alongside psychoacoustic and sensory evaluation methods.
Applicable standards include ISO 12913-1:2014, ISO/TS 12913-2:2018, ISO/TS 12913-3:2019, ISO/TS 15666:2021.
The written report is expected to be no more than eight sides of A4.
Examination Dates include CCSA 15 May 2026 (UCL Centre) and an Autumn date TBC (Hosted at University of Salford).
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Reports are an important product of every technical process. A report represents the final product of a project and a poorly written report can undermine the work that has been completed, obscure important findings and potentially alienate stakeholders. Writing and reading reports can be a time-consuming chore for the author, the person responsible for reviewing and authorising them and the recipient.
This 3-day course provides the skills required to critically read and evaluate technical reports in acoustics. While the course is appropriate to a wide audience it is aimed primarily at those people responsible for signing off on reports for quality control (for example peer reviewing or reviewing reports from junior colleagues in consultancies) as well as those reviewing reports for compliance purposes such as senior positions in pollution control, environmental health practice or planning, and anywhere else that technical reporting is important.
The course makes considerable use of group discussion and reviewing of a wide range of real-world and mock acoustic reports to assess them for completeness, technical accuracy, presentation of content and overall evaluation.
Candidates will:
Candidates will undertake the Certificate at an Accredited Centre. Attendance at the Centre is normally two days for tuition, plus a half-day for a written assessment on the third day.
Candidates will be provided with a case study report to read and review critically. Candidates will review and mark-up the report for feedback, and answer a number of specific questions on the content of the report. The assessment is under exam conditions but is open-book, with candidates able to access appropriate reference materials.
23-25 March 2026, held at KP Acoustics Research Labs in Southampton
23-25 April 2026, Scotland (location TBC).
For further information on either course please contact education@kpacoustics.com
KP Acoustics Research Labs in Southampton
Scotland - Location TBC
THE LEADING ONE-YEAR QUALIFICATION PROVIDING SPECIALIST TRAINING AND A RECOGNISED PATHWAY TO IOA MEMBERSHIP
CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCE - TRAINING FOR SAFE AND COMPLIANT NOISE MANAGEMENT
CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCE IN PRACTICAL TRAINING IN NOISE ASSESSMENT AND STANDARDS
CERTIFICATE OF COMPETENCE FOR PRACTICAL TRAINING IN SOUND INSULATION AND ROOM ACOUSTICS
Certificate of Proficiency in Anti-Social Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 - Noise Measurements
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