My RAU experience

I completed the foundation degree in Environmental Conservation and Heritage Management at the Royal Agricultural University and found both the teaching and course content to be excellent. This, and recommendations from previous students, led me to enrol on to the BSc (Hons) Countryside Management top-up.

My RAU experience

The course is a great springboard for anyone wanting to launch their career in business, especially agribusiness. It gives you a strong grounding in fundamental business practices whilst allowing you to further specialise in an area of interest. I completed my work placement within the public relations office at McLaren, which combined the theory I’d learnt with my passion for motor racing.

This course proved invaluable in preparing me for my future career progression. 

My RAU experience

I chose this course because it was important for me to study something I have a genuine interest in. I wanted to fuse my love of equestrianism (racing in particular) and agriculture with business knowledge to increase my earning potential. This course, unlike many others I looked at, met those needs exactly.

I’ve worked at Dalcour Maclaren since 2013 and absolutely love it.

On graduation, I was lucky enough to gain a place on their graduate training programme. Four years later and I work with utility clients, am involved with infrastructure projects and organising access, and deal with compensation claims.

No day is ever the same and I have the RAU to thank for setting me up for such a varied and interesting career.

As a Development Agronomist working within research and development at BASF, I am responsible for developing new pesticides for the industry. I hope to do my industry standard BASIS qualification in the near future, which will allow me to take on more of an advisory role. 

The RAU gave me the flexibility to select my modules, so I was able to develop my communication and presentation skills, and gain the confidence to go out and meet with people from across the industry.

As an Account Executive at Pinstone Communications, I work in a dynamic team on a diverse range of clients, spanning the agricultural industry. My role in the team currently sees me writing editorial and press releases, promoting and attending events, managing social and digital media campaigns, and overseeing press communications.

Studying at the RAU gave me a good depth of agricultural knowledge which has been vital in kick starting my career.

My career path

I graduated from the RAU in 2014 after completing a BSc (Hons) in Agriculture. In my final year I applied for an ACA training contract at a firm of accountants in Somerset which had a specialist agricultural team.

Whilst competing my Chartered Accountants exams I really enjoyed applying the theory I was learning to my agricultural clients. Having the agricultural knowledge I gained from my time at the RAU was invaluable in understanding my clients’ businesses.

I am a Regional Account Manager at IPF, and my key responsibility is to look after farmers who use the IPF precision farming system. IPF aims to put farmers and agronomists in charge of their land, through the use of cutting-edge land mapping software. Having completed a work placement with IPF as part of my degree, I now spend my time working with farmers from across the region to help them create plans, split their fields into management zones, and maximise efficiency.

My RAU experience

My time at the Royal Agricultural University has had an important and positive influence on my life, I’m so glad that I chose to study here for my degree. From the moment I saw the beautiful setting of the campus, and the welcoming and reassuring attitude of the staff, I felt sure that I had made the right choice – and that feeling was reinforced throughout my course.

I’m studying the BSc (Hons) Agricultural Management top-up degree at the Royal Agricultural University, having spent the previous two years completing the FdSc in Agriculture at Hartpury College.

My grandfather studied at the Royal Agricultural College in the 1950s, and went on to work as a livestock vet North Rhodesia (Zambia) before becoming a Public Relations Office for Unilever. In his spare time, he wrote articles for The Field and Farmers Weekly. We have never had a family farm. The passion for farming seems to have skipped a generation and landed with me.