WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) has partnered with the 2025 International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day (IWCBD) campaign, offering 18 free beer qualifications to participants.
Photograph: Nicci Peet
The WSET Level 1 Award in Beer is a globally recognised qualification for anyone interested in learning the basics about lagers, ales, sours and more. Through a short and interactive course, students learn the foundations of beer production, styles, service, food pairing, and tasting.
All participants in any brew days signed up to the main IWCBD 2025 campaign are eligible to register for a chance to be offered one of the places. Eighteen names will be drawn at random.
The award has a minimum requirement of six hours of guided learning with a WSET course provider, including a 45-minute exam. This is a fully guided course, meaning there are no private study requirements.
As the IWCBD education partner, WSET will create a custom online course for the Level 1 Award in Beer exclusively for 18 global IWCBD participants across all regions. It’s likely the course will take place in May, with guidance from an expert educator alongside networking opportunities.Participants will gain a globally recognised qualification once they’ve passed their exam.
The initiative reflects WSET’s ongoing commitment to making drinks education accessible and affordable for all. Through its wider partnerships programme, it collaborates with nearly 50 different organisations on a range of projects and bursaries. These support individuals and under-represented communities facing challenges and financial hardship around the world.
The opportunity to access professional development and new qualifications is a critical aspect of getting more women into beer roles, including brewing and leadership.
A lasting legacy
“With women significantly under-represented across the beer industry, offering qualifications in such an accessible way is a fantastic step forward,” said Rachel Auty, founder of the Women On Tap community interest company and leader of IWCBD 2025.
“This initiative will help women develop their interest in beer and, I hope, inspire many to advance — or even start — their careers in the field.
“I’m incredibly grateful to WSET for their support. From the outset, I was determined to ensure this campaign left a lasting legacy for women in beer, and this initiative is a brilliant way to achieve that.”
Natalya Watson, certified beer educator at WSET, added: “As a long-time participant and supporter of International Women’s Collaboration Brew Day, I’m thrilled that WSET has become an education partner.
“WSET is a big believer in making our qualifications accessible to all. We look forward to offering places to 18 women from around the world to join an exclusive online Level 1 Award in Beer course.
“Taking part in this initiative will allow them to improve their product knowledge and tasting skills, enable them to gain a globally recognised qualification, and provide an opportunity to grow their network of industry colleagues.”
How it works
- All official IWCBD projects should aim to collect contact email addresses from everyone participating in their brew day.
- The IWCBD team will send an online form, to be sent on to their participants.
- Each individual participant can choose whether or not they would like to sign up for the chance of being offered one of 18 places on the WSET Level 1 Award in Beer.
- All sign-ups’ data will be shared with the WSET team, who will select people at random to be offered places.
- The 18 WSET Level 1 Award qualifications will be offered completely free of charge.
- The qualifications are open only to IWCBD 2025 participants.
For more details on IWCBD and how to sign up or get involved in an existing 2025 project, visit iwcbd.org.
