Bursaries scheme to bring new talent into rural professions

A new scheme to give future rural professionals a financial boost has been announced by Harper Adams University.

Twenty students starting at the university this year with receive £1,000 bursaries under the Access to the Professions programme.

University Vice-Chancellor, Dr David Llewellyn, said: “At Harper Adams University we recognise that students can face many barriers to attending university. For some it can be disability, for others it can be challenging personal circumstances such as low household income. To help students who are looking to pursue a career in one of the professional areas of engineering, food, or rural estate and land management, we have just launched a brand new bursary scheme.

“A report published in early April by the Sector Skills Council for the land and environment sector, LANTRA, concluded that in the period 2010 to 2020 industry would need 245,000 graduates and 100,000 postgraduates and that there would be rising demand for people in skilled operations, with abilities in leadership and management, finance and even sales and marketing.

“Harper Adams already has a strong graduate employment record, currently at 96 per cent and so it was clear that additional measures were needed to broaden the pool of talent and encourage more young people to consider a career in this sector.


“The bursary scheme is being launched with this in mind and to ensure that access to a course at Harper Adams University, and the first step towards a professional career with great prospects, is open to all potential students."