Kent County Agricultural Society to fund land-based degree students

The Kent County Agricultural Society, Education and Farming Committee have announced a new Higher Education Scholarship Scheme. The financial assistance is open to all students who are resident in Kent at the time of their application. Successful candidates will be eligible for up to £1,000 per year and for up to three years of study.

Stuart Gibbons, Chairman, Education and Farming Committee, said “The Society currently supports a number of educational initiatives for younger students. The Living Land event in May benefits children in Primary education and there are a number of grants and awards available to young people involved in the rural sector at secondary school level. The Society continues to deliver its charitable objectives as fully as possible and this new scholarship will support a number of students through higher education studies”.

Candidates need to be between the age of 18 and 25 when they commence study in the UK for a full-time college or university degree based course within the Land-

based Sector.

The Society will choose three applications each year and students are able to use the funding towards tuition fees, accommodation, living expenses or equipment. Kevin Attwood, KCAS Chairman explained “The Society’s charitable objectives are incredibly important and each year we support many different organisations and individuals to help raise awareness within farming and the rural sector. Higher Education is hugely expensive today and awarding a sum of money that can be spent to alleviate the financial burden was important to all members of the Education and Farming Committee”.

Students can apply for a scholarship for each year of their degree course, or for the remaining years if they first apply part-way through a course and are living in Kent. Provided that the students’ academic performance is satisfactory the Society will fund them for the duration of the course up to a maximum of three years.

The Society would like the successful applicants to provide a presentation at Society Council Meetings, communicate the bursary through their social media channels and to help at the annual Kent County Show. The annual event in July has a large educational section “Why Farming Matters in Kent’ and the new scholarship students will be a valuable addition to the team.

Lucy Hegarty, Show Manager said, “The educational area at the Show is very popular with visitors and having a number of students available to chat to young people about career opportunities will be a wonderful addition. We will also provide information about their scholarship, course and academic year on our website. This will be a useful tool for other young people who are thinking about studying degree level land-based courses”.