Hello here I am Annie!
Hi, Chrissie, I know a little about this, not just through CSSA but because I went on one of the chainsaw courses myself - the basic one at Oatridge college - LANTRA approved course, 2 day course I think it was. Oatridge is now part of the Scottish Agric College. The guy who did the course at Oatridge was called Alan Scott and he was very good. I assume he still does the courses but I am not sure. For years he had his own forestry business but now mainly does training. I have his business card and I assume he would do private/bespoke training but this may be even dearer. He has a mobile sawmill which was the main reason I kept his card, in case I ever wanted to get any of my trees cut up for posts/planks. If you want I can let you have his contact details - he stays in Auchtermuchty.
The course was very good and worthwhile. Safety prime concern - of yourself and other people, taking apart and basic repairs of chainsaw, blade sharpening, basic crosscuttng. If you want to be taught felling you need a more advanced course. On our course there were a couple of experienced guys who needed their ticket (and they really felt they learnt a lot too), and a couple of beginners like me. Hands on course with plenty of practical tips and instruction eg practical demonstrations of kickback, and a chainsaw each to take apart clean put together sharpen and cut with.
You may get courses a bit cheaper but not much cheaper I don't think.
The cost of the course is only the start however - if you do not have the gear already you will need to buy chainsaw leggings, chainsaw boots, hardhat/ear defenders/visor and chainsaw gloves - you have to have these to go on the course! You will find some folk who post on here who say you don't really need the safety gear, nor go on a course; some of them even still have all the parts of their body.
If you do not already have a chainsaw, the main brands eg Stihl will insist on you having a certificate to buy one. No doubt there are ways round this eg second hand purchases ( though Alan's recommendation was never to buy a 2nd hand chainsaw!)
Let me know if you want more info
Cheers,
Simon