The Royal Agricultural University celebrates turning 180 with a whole year of events!

11 March 2025

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) - the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world which was established in 1845 and has been at the forefront of agricultural education, research, and innovation ever since – is celebrating its 180th anniversary this year.

Originally established as the Royal Agricultural College with just 25 students, the institution became a university in 2013 and now has more than 1,100 students studying subjects from agriculture, land management, and equine science, to business and entrepreneurship, and cultural herita

Teresa North

Biography 

As Transformation Director Teresa’s portfolio is to provide direction and drive a portfolio of strategic projects that are critical to achieving the University’s strategic goals. Current core projects include the £5.8m Land Laboratories capital project, funded by the Office for Students; supporting a transformation phase with the RAU Students' Union; expansion of CPD and Executive Education; global online and the development of the Innovation Village.

Teresa North

Executive Transformation Director

Transcript of Careers Service video

Here at the RAU we aim to support students throughout the time of their studies, from being a first year student looking for part-time  work perhaps, to then going on to looking for a placement in their second year and then on to looking for that graduate role when they finish their studies.

We have regular CV clinics when students can just drop in on an informal basis 

We are celebrating our 180th anniversary!

2025 is a landmark year for the RAU as we turn 180.

To celebrate this historic milestone, we will be hosting a number of events throughout the year alongside our usual University calendar.

Vineyard and Cotswold Hills Wine

The Royal Agricultural University vineyard is located in Down Ampney, close to Cirencester. It was planted in 2010 in a six acre, south-facing field.

The 40 rows of vines are planted mainly with Ortega grapes with two rows each of Bacchus, Chardonnay and Seyval. The grapes are handpicked at harvest before being made into our award winning Cotswold Hills wines in Gloucestershire. 

Transcript of Enterprise video

Enterprise is really important as a fundamental skill. Students get involved from day one at the RAU with the Enterprise Programme.

At the end of last year we conducted some focus groups and from that we have launched a new enterprise offering. This will be support in three different ways.

To start off with we have Ignite Inspire, this is for all students, we will be conducting workshops, we will have guest speakers along, and this is for everyone to just offer some inspiration for them.

Graduation programme 2025

The Graduation ceremony will commence at 11:00am.

Time

 

Venue

08:30

Reception opens for ticket collection

To be confirmed

08:30

Gowns available for collection and photography

To be confirmed

10:00

Undergraduate Open Day - Wednesday 2 July 2025

Join us at our undergraduate open day on-campus to find out more about living and studying at the RAU.

You can:

  • Learn about your course of interest with our academic staff
  • Hear from current students about their experiences at the RAU
  • Meet our support services teams
  • Take a tour of our spacious Cotswold’s campus

Associate Professor Edmund Simons

Associate Professor, Cultural Heritage Institute.

Master of Studies (MSt) University of Oxford. BA (Hons) Saint David’s University College, University of Wales.

 

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