Our Basic Tree Survey and Inspection course, accredited by Lantra, is aimed at those keen to learn how to identify hazardous trees, determine the level of risk and then decide an appropriate course of action.

Who is the course suitable for?

  • Highway inspectors
  • Forestry workers
  • Park rangers
  • Landowners
  • Anyone who holds responsibility for tree management

What you’ll achieve at the end of the course

14 July 2025

Ongoing research by the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) looking into how arable farmland in Ukraine is being affected by the conflict has been boosted by £500,000 of funding from Defra.

Since the onset of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukraine’s farmlands have suffered significant damage from Russian bombardments and other war-related activities, introducing potentially toxic elements, known as heavy metals, into the agricultural landscape, leading to the degradation of soil health.

Join us at our Clearing undergraduate open afternoon 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
  • Meet our support services teams
  • Take a tour of our spacious Cotswold’s campus and check out available accommodation

**Please note this event is only for students who have applied through Clearing to study at the RAU in September 2025.**

Can you please help us?

Nine students and a member of staff from our twinned University in Ukraine, Sumy University would like to visit the RAU in September, to learn from RAU staff and attend the 180th Graduation Ceremony. The cost of hosting the group of 10 at the RAU for four nights is approximately £4,000. This is currently outside University and grant budgets. We are seeking support from our alumni to enable this to happen.

A donation of £400 will fund one student. All donations of any size are gratefully received.

Biography 

Senior Lecturer, Real Estate and Rural Land Management.

Steve Bucknell Joined RAU in July 2025 after more than 35 years as a Chartered Surveyor in professional practice and industry.

Graduating from Reading University, Steve spent five years as a commercial property surveyor before moving ‘client-side’ to spend three years in the property department of a large retail organisation.

Steve Bucknell

Senior Lecturer, Rural Estate and Rural Land Management

BSc (Hons) Land Management, University of Reading

7 July 2025

When poet William Wordsworth wrote his ode to a daffodil “I wandered lonely as a cloud” way back in 1804, little did he realise that, more than 220 years later, the object of his words would be playing a vital role in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease.

In a novel partnership between Professor Xianmin Chang from the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) and Kevin Stephens from Welsh bioresearch company Agroceutical Products Ltd (APL), daffodils are grown in the Black Mountains in Powys to produce galantamine which is used to slow down the progress of vascula

Our Farmer-friendly Finance course, a progressive, modular training pathway tailored to the rhythm of the agricultural calendar, is aimed at farmers eager to strengthen their financial literacy and confidence. 

 

Who is the course suitable for?

Farmers keen to:

1 July 2025

The late spring and into early summer has traditionally been a period of rapid plant growth on farms in the UK with peak grass growth, oilseed rape filling its pods, and cereal crops flowering and setting grain. 

This is when the crops make the most of the long hours of sunlight for photosynthesis and the residual moisture in the soil from winter is topped up by regular rainfall to enable good plant growth. 

Steve Mfupe

There is a Swahili idiom that says, "Tembea uyaone" as you travel, you see and learn. In November 2024, this saying came to life when my long-held dream of traveling to the “islands of spices,” Unguja and Pemba, finally became a reality. I received life-changing news from Prof. Eligidius Ichumbaki that I had been selected as part of the research team on the Giving us Voice project.

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