The oldest agricultural college in the English-speaking world, founded in 1845. A specialist public university focusing on agriculture, land management, and equine studies.
Address: Stroud Road, Cirencester, GL7 6JS, Gloucestershire, England, United Kingdom
Agriculture, Land Management, Equine Science
Domains taught:
- Agriculture, Ecology and Sustainability, Food Science, Life Sciences, Logistics, Project Management
Diplomas*:
- Bachelor, Master, MBA
Status:
- Public
Partnerships:
Deeply embedded with agricultural, equine, and rural industries. Strong links with landowners, farming businesses, and professional bodies.
Research:
Applied research in sustainable agriculture, land management, food production, equine science, and rural enterprise.
Famous Alumnis:
Captain Mark Phillips, Richard Benyon, Nicky Henderson
International recognition**:
Number of staff***:
300
Current students***:
1200
Foreign students***:
10%
Cumulative former students***:
18000
Pros
Leading specialist institution for agricultural and land-based studies, strong industry connections, beautiful historic campus.
Cons
Highly specialized, limited range of non-land-based subjects.
Best For
Students dedicated to careers in agriculture, land management, equine studies, food business, or rural enterprise, valuing practical experience and strong industry links.
Most Similar Schools Locally
- On content, Writtle University College and this institution are close, as both teach agriculture, food science and ecology and sustainability; it covers marine science as well, and is slightly larger, at about 1,500 students against roughly 1,200 here.
- Harper Adams University sits close to this institution on agriculture, food science and ecology and sustainability; it is also a public institution and also offers doctoral programmes.
- Also strong in agriculture, food science and ecology and sustainability, Scotland's Rural College makes a sensible second look at home; it covers marine science and bioinformatics as well, and is far larger, with about 5,300 students against roughly 1,200 here.
- Another national school that puts agriculture, ecology and sustainability and life sciences at the centre is Royal Veterinary College, and it covers bioinformatics and microbiology and genetics as well, and is larger, enrolling about 2,500 students against roughly 1,200 here.
- Both schools build their programmes around agriculture, food science and ecology and sustainability, and University of Reading is the one to compare first within the country, since it also offers doctoral programmes and covers data analytics and AI and machine learning as well.
Most Similar Schools Abroad
- For a study option in Norway with a comparable spread of agriculture, food science and ecology and sustainability, Norwegian University of Life Sciences is the reference point: it is far larger, with about 6,000 students against roughly 1,200 here, and is also a public institution.
- Haute École de la Province de Namur in Belgium pursues a similar profile in agriculture, food science and ecology and sustainability, and it does not run the master's and mba programmes found here and covers bioengineering and chemistry as well.
- Abroad, Olds College of Agriculture & Technology (Canada) covers agriculture, food science and ecology and sustainability in a comparable way, and it is also a public institution, and also offers certificate, diploma and graduate certificate programmes.
- For agriculture, food science and ecology and sustainability outside the home country, University of Tasmania in Australia is a natural reference; it also offers doctoral programmes and covers astroscience and marine science as well.
- Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Ambientales, based in Spain, is built around agriculture, food science and ecology and sustainability much like this institution, and it covers geotechnics and microbiology and genetics as well, and is slightly smaller, at about 900 students against roughly 1,200 here.
*our own picks (our criteria: a mix between domains, diploma delivered, reputation and size), but obviously too many criteria for an apple-to-apple ranking.
- Agriculture, Environmental Engineering, Environmental Impact, Farming, Food Safety, Sustainable Development, Sustainable Materials, Sustainable Practices
*: without any judgment of the quality, readers are strongly encouraged to check the official status of the exact diploma envisioned as many universities have a mix of recognized diplomas, not recognized, “co-delivered,” “equivalent to”, “some pathways” (…), can change over time, and can be named differently from one country to another.
**: international reputation: is based on some criteria that do not mean much in some domains or specialties (number of researchers, of scientific publications, on budget ….). Our approximate 1-4 scale:
- known locally
- known locally and internationally
- is listed in some of the world university’s classifications
- is listed among the 20 firsts in some of world university’s classifications
***: estimated numbers, based on online sources and/or feedbacks. The numbers can vary greatly depending on school organisation (ex.: school is part of a group, it employs internal staff or external consultants or has public staff without employing them …). Refer to all the links provided to have accurate and updated numbers.
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