Welcome to the Rural Skills Centre!

The Rural Skills Centre is a training centre which not only supports students at the university, but offers professional courses to businesses and outreach programmes. It is about five minutes’ drive from the university, so it is really accessible for students. The centre has been running for about 15 years. It was first set up to support students in developing their skills and preparing them for work placements and work beyond their university years. Over time it has developed so that now not only does it cater for our students but also for many local and regional businesses as well as supporting the Colleges’ outreach programmes. It is a fun and lively centre, focussing on practical skills and activities.

So what’s it all about?

The Rural skills Centre offers a dedicated off campus training centre with access to the College farms.

• Equipped with modern equipment, the Rural Skills Centre gives you access to practical and vocational courses during your education at the College.
• The Centre will assist with and advise you on how to get the training courses you will need to meet legal requirements of today’s modern farming and land based sector.
• We cater for a wide range of ability and a wide range of courses is available to supplement your existing experience.
• All courses lead to certification, either from the College or from recognised awarding bodies. Courses are aimed to compliment the academic studies which are being undertaken by students at the university.
• University students are given up to £200 of vouchers to spend at the Rural Skills Centre, and after that money is used, reduced rates for training are available.
• The Centre is registered as a Lantra Approved Training Centre.

What exactly can we do?

We offer an inclusive selection of courses covering a wide range of subject areas from driving a forklift truck or tractor to fly fishing or building a strained wire fence. We support school and college taster visit by offering samples of these practical courses to enhance learning and hands-on experience. Our friendly staff have a wide range of experience and are here to help and advise you with your training needs. Have a look at the list below, which details the areas of learning you could be involved in:

• Crops and pesticides - Crop protection and pesticide application, etc.
• Estate Management - Dry stone walling, brick and block, fence building
• Forestry - Various chainsaw courses
• Health and Safety - First aid, manual handling, etc.
• Heritage - Black Smithing, stone masonry, lime works, etc.
• Livestock - Cattle handling, poultry courses, etc.
• Machinery - Various machine operation courses such as combine harvesters and mowers
• Pest Control
• Recreational - Willow arches, hazel hurdle making, etc.
• Vehicles - Driving, tractors, forklifts, ATV (quad bikes)
• Workshop - Welding, abrasive wheels, etc.

Outreach and Community

We are heavily involved in outreach project work, delivering or providing facilities for training programmes which include:

• Gloucestershire re-integration service
• Coln House School Fairford – running workshops for alternative curriculum subjects
• South Cotswold Challenge - a 14-19 learning initiative
• The Churn Project - A Neighbourhood Learning in Deprived Communities programme in Cirencester.
• The Princes Trust “Get In To” programme, delivering training and work experience programmes to 18-25 year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds.