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Teacher's Guide to SRUC
SCOTLAND’S RURAL COLLEGE
Scotland’s national provider of college and university level education in the land-based sector.
WHAT IS SRUC?
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) is a small specialist Higher Education Institution. SRUC strives to help grow a natural economy fuelled by the responsible use of the world’s natural resources: people, land, energy, water, animals and plants.
SRUC focuses on solving the global challenges facing the planet, including climate change, biodiversity and access to nutritious food and clean water. By focusing on the sustainability of our natural economy, SRUC will strive to lead the way in delivering economic, social and environmental benefits for all, both locally across Scotland and the UK, and beyond.
Whether your students’ passion is for business, science, food, engineering, golf, plants, animals, sustainability, the environment, or just the great outdoors, you will find courses at SRUC tailored to meet the needs of a whole range of industries.
Issues such as environmental impact and sustainability have an effect on all our lives and are of importance whether you have ambitions to manage a golf course or a farm, run your own business or run the country.
SRUC’s courses consider the innovative science that supports land-based and rural industries, the way they interact with and support the environment around them, and the businesses that rely on them – from agriculture to veterinary, and a huge variety of relevant topics in between.
www.sruc.ac.uk/connect/about-sruc
WHERE IS SRUC?
SRUC offers campus locations spanning Scotland and delivers courses at Aberdeen (Craibstone), Elmwood (Cupar, Fife), Edinburgh (King’s Buildings), Oatridge (Broxburn, West Lothian), Barony (Dumfries), Glasgow (Queen’s Park), Ayr and Inverness, as well as online distance learning courses and apprenticeships all over Scotland.
www.sruc.ac.uk/courses-training/ campuses
WHY IS SRUC DIFFERENT?
SRUC offers courses at all post-school academic levels, from SCQF 4 to SCQF 11. They have created study pathways between many courses, so that students can join – progress – and graduate at whichever levels are most appropriate to their ability and ambition.
While a reasonably large institution, SRUC is multi-campus, meaning the student body at each location is small. This allows them to foster excellent relationships between staff and students.
As well as delivering education in many forms, SRUC has a large research division, making it one of the largest institutions of its type in Europe. SRUC is the UK’s leading research body in many of their subject areas*. They also have a large business consultancy division who turn that research into advice and advantage for business and public sector alike. At higher levels of study (Honours degree and upwards) students benefit from both these components of SRUC’s expertise.
www.sruc.ac.uk/courses-training
www.sruc.ac.uk/research
www.sruc.ac.uk/business-services
MYTHBUSTING
It’s true that SRUC offer courses at lower college levels (see page 12) which can be accessed without any/many school academic qualifications. It’s also true that they have a lot of very positive experiences with students who were not comfortable at school, finding renewed passion and enthusiasm for practical subjects that they enjoy, in a college setting. SRUC is a supportive and encouraging environment for these students, and many will progress through our study pathways onto much higher levels of qualification than they thought they would initially achieve.
SRUC should also be viewed in the context of other universities, and offer a unique higher education and degree experience (see page 8). They offer only a small degree portfolio, but with unrivalled expertise in their subject areas, comparatively small class sizes, and strong applied/practical elements to all courses, even at degree level. SRUC has very strong industry links, and real-life case studies, field trips, study tours, and the practical application of skills are embedded in all their programmes.
Historically, SRUC is an agricultural college, with over a century of heritage and experience. In today’s world, agriculture forms one element of a much bigger picture – that of sustainability, and the natural economy.
SRUC offers a number of subject areas – Agriculture, Business, Animal Science, Forestry, Conservation, Environmental Management – which will help tackle some of the most serious challenges for the future, with local, national, and global impact.
Scotland’s economy in particular is reliant on many industries directly supported by SRUC’s courses, such as the wide-ranging tourism and food and drink sectors. Scotland has pledged to become a Good Food Nation by 2025, and has pledged to reach net zero emissions by 2045.
The world is facing big challenges – SRUC offers subject areas of relevance to everyone, whether rural or urban, or based in Scotland, the UK or overseas:
• developments in the food and agriculture sector are vital to combat global hunger and food insecurity
• climate change is affecting every country on every continent; ‘green jobs’ are a growth sector
• the sustainable management of forests is required to halt land degradation and biodiversity loss
• 99% of the world’s population breathe air that exceeds WHO guideline limits and contains high levels of pollutants
• investment in renewable energy and change to current patterns of consumption and production are vital for future sustainability.
SRUC offers Further Education and Higher Education courses. For FE (‘college’) programmes, such as National Certificate (NC) students apply direct to SRUC. You also apply to SRUC, along with your employer, for Apprenticeship programmes.
Higher Education (‘university’) programmes include Higher National Certificate (HNC) and Higher National Diploma (HND) courses, so at SRUC you do have to apply through UCAS for those courses, as well as for the degree programmes.
COURSES FOR SCHOOLS
For students in S4, S5 and S6
SRUC offers a suite of courses designed for an easy transition between school and college/university, available to pupils in S4, S5 and S6. These courses have flexible delivery methods and a clear progression route for pupils, parents and teaching professionals.
Courses are usually offered by distance learning and are designed to be completed over the course of one academic year with a commitment of 3-5 hours of study per week.
You can find full details on the SRUC website. Visit www.sruc.ac.uk/teachers for more information.
WHAT ELSE CAN SRUC OFFER?
Please get in touch with us (email study@sruc.ac.uk) if you would like any display materials, prospectuses, or information about our courses.
The Marketing and Student Recruitment Team are happy to attend careers fairs (either in person or online), and to give talks to student groups. We can also put you in touch with lecturing staff at the college if you are seeking a subject expert to give a guest talk to a class or event.
We hold events for teachers and careers advisors regularly, and offer taster events for schools on-campus in a variety of subject areas.
Visit www.sruc.ac.uk/teachers for more information.
