Royal Agricultural University

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) has been at the forefront of agricultural education and a key contributor to the land-based sector for 175 years. Today, we have more than 1,100 students studying agriculture, business, environment, equine science, farm management, food, real estate and rural land management.

We are based in Cirencester, Gloucestershire and pride ourself on our links with industry and all courses are designed to meet the demands of the employment market for land-based expertise, both in the UK and worldwide.

Our vision is to become the leading specialist University providing a fresh perspective for the land agri-food and rural enterprise sectors.

The four cornerstones of our strategy are:

• To grow and diversify our student community by providing an outstanding student experience and excellent employment outcomes. Our innovative programmes will be informed by the evolving needs of industry and designed for learners at all stages of life, delivered via traditional and online learning platforms
• To establish a Knowledge Hub that will help industry navigate change and uncertainty making it possible to tackle big challenges more effectively delivering societal benefit and impact. The Hub will provide a focus to pioneer farmer-led innovation, act as an accelerator of rural enterprise and become a centre for thought leadership for the informed development of evidence-based policy and strategic thinking
• To become a sustainable, efficient, organisation that can fund a continuing investment in our physical, digital and human infrastructure ensuring a continually improving and excellent experience for both our students and our staff
• Strategic and sustainable partnership working - partnerships with land-based colleges and schools will diversify our student community and extend the reach of the learning opportunities we offer.

Developing more sustainable partnerships with industry and research-leading institutions will provide a wider perspective, ensure that what we teach is relevant, improve student employment outcomes and enable sustainability-oriented innovation.

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) has been at the forefront of agricultural education and a key contributor to the land-based sector for more than 175 years. We pride ourselves in combining knowledge and industry connections with an innovative, forward-thinking approach.