Agriculture Foundation Degree in Science - FdSc

This course has been designed to help you become a successful farmer. You will learn the skills and knowledge required to develop and run adaptable, innovative, sustainable and successful business ventures within the agriculture sector.

By studying a broad spectrum of modules, you can ensure that you have the key attributes needed to go into higher level graduate roles or on to level 6 study.

Bishop Burtons commercial farm, as well as a breadth of modern equipment for field and laboratory-based research projects, have collectively seen staff and student research be published and presented by peer reviewed journals, at national and international industry conferences.

Working alongside our Higher Education Academic Lead for Agriculture, you will have the opportunity to collaborate on industry research projects as part of their work from our Centre for Agricultural Innovation.

Course Aims

* Ensure that you are capable of being at the forefront of modern agriculture and associated industries.

* Develop your understanding of the broad range of areas relating to crop and livestock production and the underpinning scientific, environmental, economic and business principles.

* Give you the capability to apply agricultural science to your practice to meet sustainability and environmental demands, provide high standards of animal welfare, high quality products and increase agricultural efficiency.

* Ensure that you are a proactive and independent graduate, able to develop your own perspectives and explore alternative solutions within the dynamic agriculture sector.

* Equip you with the vocational skills essential for entering a diverse range of employment opportunities within the agriculture sector.

* Develop your skills and knowledge as required in agriculture so that you can effectively contribute to the industry.

* Ensure that you are capable of applying business management and accounting skills within the field of agriculture, allowing you to run efficient, adaptable and profitable businesses.

Learning and Teaching Approach\
The programme is delivered with a variety of learning and teaching approaches. For all modules, there are theory lectures which aim to deliver the core content, provide the underpinning knowledge and facilitate further expansion of such concepts by the students, through independent study.

To complement the theory lectures, students have group seminars that are used to reinforce those concepts delivered theoretically. The seminars focus on delivering using a student-centred approach to enhance the independent learning that takes place outside of the classroom.

Practical sessions at Bishop Burton Farm are also incorporated into a range of modules on this programme making it extremely applied and prepares students effectively for the workplace. The academic curriculum provided by the programme is supported throughout by the extensive practical facilities offered at both the college farm.

What is the contact time?\
Contact time includes approximately 12-14 hours a week to include lectures, seminars, practical's and tutorials.

Students are also expected to carry out a significant amount of independent study in addition to contact time (approximately 25-30 hours a week). Independent study includes reading around the subject, preparing for tutorials and seminars, preparing for, and completing, module assessments and revision for examinations; forming an essential part of a student’s learning journey.

Progression

The programme is designed to enable you to progress to Level 6 study, such as the Level 6 of our BSc Precision Agriculture.

Careers\
Students graduating from this programme could follow careers in farm management, genetic technologists, trainee agronomists, machinery dealerships, livestock nutrition as well as farm advisory roles.