Course Aim

The Foundation Degree in Agriculture and Rural Studies offered by CAFRE replaced the Higher National Diploma in Agriculture and the existing Foundation Degree in Rural and Countryside Management.

The course aims to help students develop the production, management, and marketing skills required to work in the agricultural industry.  It also aims to provide a route into the conservation and land management industries for people with an agricultural background.  Successful students will be prepared for employment in production agriculture as well as in conservation and land management.

Course content

The course has two pathways; Agriculture and Countryside Management.

Students must complete 240 credits worth of modules, comprising compulsory core modules and optional modules.

Year 1 (120 credits)

Animal Science
Arable Crop Science
Introduction to business management
Grass Systems
Livestock Husbandry, Health and Welfare
Principles of Mechanisation
Countryside management
Enterprise Management
Environmental Studies
Rural Development
Estate management

Year 2 (60 credits)

Work Placement
Plus distance learning modules

Year 3 (60 credits)

Crop Production Systems
Sustainable enterprise Management
Environmental Management
Farm buildings and Mechanisation
Human Resource Management
Research methods
Introduction to Organic Production
Improving business opportunities

Placement

Students will normally be required to take a full year out on work-based learning.  Students will take 40 credits of work based learning experience at level 5, and while on placement can elect to take up to another 20 credits at level 5 through distance learning from the following modules: “Human Resource Management”, “Introduction to Organics”, or “Research Methods”.

Students would then return to CAFRE in the autumn semester of their final year, completing in late January.  This would allow them the option of entering the workforce at this point, which would be just prior to the main growing season and could give them an employment advantage.

Entry requirements

All applicants should normally have 100 UCAS points, preferably with a science subject, at A2 level plus four appropriate GCSEs or equivalent including English and Mathematics at Grade C or above. Biology and chemistry are the preferred science subject at A2 level. However, A level science subjects could include geography and / or technology if a Grade C or higher has been achieved in Double Award Science at GCSE.

Because of the vocational nature of this course, prospective students should also have a background in farming or rural enterprise before entry.  

These entry requirements also apply to applicants from the Republic of Ireland.

This course can also be studied on a part-time basis through direct application to CAFRE.

Scholarships

A number of scholarships, each worth £1,000 are available to students studying on the full-time Foundation Degree.

Careers

The course has been developed to meet industry needs, with a particular emphasis on developing initiative and the flexibility to adapt to different employment situations.  There are opportunities in farming and enterprise management as well as marketing, sales, contracting and consultancy.  In addition, students following the rural studies pathway can pursue roles in land management and conservation.