Agriculture Degree
D401 - BSc Honours Degree
4 years including 9 months of work experience
Aberystwyth Agriculture Degree
Aberystwyth has a long established reputation throughout the farming world for its teaching and research in agriculture: land-based studies have been taught here for more than 120 years. Agriculture dergree courses are provided by the University's Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences which is also the home of the Farm Business Survey for Wales and the Organic Centre Wales. The University farms, which are managed commercially by the Institute, as well as being used for teaching and research in our Agriculture degrees, extend over 1,000 hectares (2500 acres) and provide an excellent resource for learning. As a student on the Aberystwyth Agriculture degree, you will also benefit from the Institute's outstanding range of expertise and resources, including world class laboratories, farms, animal houses and staff. We are the largest and best resourced land based University department in the UK.
Key Features of the Agriculture Degree
- 4 year full-time course (including 9 months work experience)
- Combination of science, production and management methods
- Visits and study tours
- Caring and supportive staff
- Location in one of the UK's leading localities for agricultural research and development
Content and Structure
Year 1
The first year of the Agriculture degree includes a general introduction to agricultural studies, including animal production systems, animal science, crop science, cereal crop management and agricultural engineering, together with an introduction to the rural economy and habitat ecology.
Years 2 and 4
In the second and fourth year of study of your Agriculture course, you have the opportunity to pursue more specialist options. Agriculture and Agriculture with Animal Science follow different pathways. While studying core topics such as livestock and crop systems, farm planning and business management and food, farming and the environment, there is an opportunity for specializing through the choice of options which include the study of animal health, reproductive physiology, animal breeding, livestock nutrition, livestock and crop mechanisation, crop environment interactions and woodland management.
A significant feature of the final year is the Honours Dissertation which provides you with an opportunity to specialize through investigating a topic of your own choice. A tour to study agriculture in a different region is also an option in the final year.
Work Experience in Agriculture
The third year of the Agriculture degree is a period of work experience which is an integral part of both courses. Its aim is to relate science and economics to current practice in industry.
The knowledge and skills gained during work experience make valuable contributions to your final-year studies and will help improve your employability on graduation. Work experience may be tailored to meet your particular requirements and cover farm management, the agricultural support sector or research and development. Each year a number of students take the opportunity to gain work experience overseas.
It may be possible to gain partial exemption based on appropriate prior work experience.
Teaching and Learning
The Agriculture degree scheme is delivered through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, projects and case studies, complemented by visits to farms, research stations and agribusinesses throughout the UK. You will be assessed through course work based on assignments, projects, essays and seminars, in addition to written examinations.
Career Opportunities related to your Agriculture degree
Graduates from our Agriculture degree courses have made successful careers in many areas of agriculture and agricultural-related industries, including farm management, advisory agencies, agricultural financing, food processing and production, and farm supply companies. Some have also diversified into industries and organisations unrelated to agriculture, because the skills developed through your studies and work experience are readily transferable to many graduate employment situations.