Harper Adams University

History

• Founded in 1901.
• For more information on Harper Adams' history, visit the website.

Location and transport

• Single campus location in beautiful Shropshire countryside.
• A shuttle bus is available three times a day for students living in nearby Newport to get to campus.
• Free parking for students.

Entry standards

• All applications considered on an individual basis.
• UCAS tariff points range 120–340.
• Get more information on entry requirements at Harper Adams on the website.

Student mix

• Men:Women 58:42
• Home:Overseas 88:12
• Applications to places ratio 2:5.1

Course flexibility

• Varied range of course areas, some with different specialism.
• Mixture of lectures and tutorials, practical lab sessions and field work.
• Courses studied in modules. Each course will have a mix of core subjects and options.

Teaching standards

• Very high quality teaching.
• Rated highly for industry contacts and graduate employment – 98.3% of our graduates obtained full-time employment (Destination of Leavers from HE Survey 2012).
• Rated highly by satisfied students – rated as eighth in the UK for student satisfaction in the National Student Survey.

Research standards

• For information on research at Harper Adams, visit the website.

Academic strengths

• High teaching quality and strong applied research focus.
• Placement experience and high employability of students.
• High standard of resources to support teaching, including the farm and other specialist resources in food, and land-based engineering.

Student facilities, including library and computing

• The ratio of University owned workstation to students is 1:4.
• All workstations have access to the internet.
• Most IT facilities open 13.25 hours each day of the week (7 hours each on Saturday and Sunday).
• The open-access areas are open 24/7 and 700 students access services through the University portal from their own laptops or computers 24/7.
• 41,000 books and 3,000 journals in the Bamford Library, making it one of the largest specialist land-based collections in the UK.

Students' Union

• Active Student Union.
• Many different clubs and societies available, as well as many sporting clubs and teams.
• Student Union President is a one year sabbatical position, rest of executive are first/second year students.
• Ledgendary social programme on campus.

Sport

• Excellent sport facilities including a gymnasium, heated outdoor swimming pool, rugby, cricket, football and hockey pitches, tennis courts and an all-weather sports pitch.
• Full range of sports competing in the BUCS leagues.
• Dance/fitness studio and full calendar of recreational fitness classes.

Recent/prospective new builds

• Dairy unit and further investment in the pig unit and poultry facilities.
• Regional Food Academy.
• Anaerobic digester.
• Postgraduate and professional development centre.
• Student services building.
• New farm-based teaching facilities.
• New hall of residence; new extension to student social space.
• Planned new engineering block to incorporate National Centre for Precision Farming.

Availability of part-time work

• 30–40% of students have part-time work in term time. About 90% of students work outside term-time.
• Good availability of jobs on campus in catering outlets and bar work. Opportunity to work as a student ambassador. Various job opportunities in local area.

Notable alumni

• Annie Graham, Head of Agriculture at Sainsbury’s.
• Richard Johnson, Head of John Deere UK.
• Mark Aitchison, CEO Frontier Agriculture.
• Heather Jenkins, Director, Agriculture Strategy at Waitrose.
• Helen Browning, CEO Soil Association.
• Ken Greetham, Chief Executive, Wynnstay Group Plc.
• Robin Faccenda, Faccenda poultry (sponsor of new student services building).
• Julian Sturdy, Conservative MP for York Outer.
• Cricketer Boyd Rankin.
• Former Leicester Tigers scrum half Scott Bemand .
• Matt Farmer, championship downhill mountain bike rider 1990s.