Harper Adams University guide: Rankings, open days, fees and accommodation
Overview
Harper Adams is one of the leading specialist universities and a jewel in the UK higher education system. If you are looking to acquire an outstanding land-based education and a future career in farming, Harper Adams has to make any shortlist of potential destinations. Located in the Shropshire countryside, it offers a very different university experience to the norm and is about as far away from the big, bright city lights as you can get. Most courses contain a placement year and it has an excellent graduate employment record - with only Imperial College London having a higher proportion of graduates who feel their career is on track 15 months after leaving. A Harper Adams student has been named Dairy Student of the Year by the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers for ten of the past 11 years. The university's dairy unit is typical of the state-of-the-art facilities from which students benefit. The rotary milking parlour with computerised cow identification has capacity for 400 cows which are milked three times a day. The university farm contains dairy, beef and pig units, two flocks of sheep, poultry facilities and hectares of arable and grassland given over to research projects.
Paying the bills
Harper Adams does not offer means-tested bursary support, preferring to focus on 'recognising talent, ambition and contribution beyond financial circumstances'. This translated into a record-breaking level of scholarship support - £600,000 - for 148 undergraduate and postgraduate students in 2023-24, awarded through academic and subject excellence prizes, industry-supported scholarships, and leadership and contribution awards. The range of financial help on offer is extensive, with grants, scholarships and travel and project awards given by organisations as diverse as the Humane Slaughter Association and the global engineering concern, JCB. The latter offers two scholarships - for students who want to pursue careers in business and engineering - that include a one-year work placement with the company and a £4,500 contribution in the year prior to the placement. Students in financial difficulty can tap into various hardship funds, which gave out a total of £54,000 in 2023-24. The university also operates a community fridge, allowing students to access fresh food at no cost. Since January 2024, it has redistributed 24,592kg of food that would otherwise have gone to waste - the equivalent of 58,552 meals. Flexible payment plans for fees and accommodation help students manage their finances, as does keeping accommodation price rises for 2025-26 to just 2%. A self-catered ensuite room now costs £5,826 for 40 weeks, while shared catered rooms start at £5,013 for 40 weeks, rising to £7,732 for a catered ensuite single room.
What's new?
Last year's opening by the Princess Royal of a new Harper Adams campus in the Station Quarter of Telford - the university's first venture away from its headquarters near Edgmond - will take the university into new markets and extend its reach among students from non-farming backgrounds. Harper Adams University Telford offers degrees and foundation degrees in robotics, automation and mechatronic engineering, and applied data science, plus a new foundation degree in digital business management. It also runs short courses to upskill local businesses and Discovery Days to develop young people's interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects. The venture is a partnership between the university, Telford College and Telford and Wrekin Council. A new BSc in agriculture with policy and environment hopes to help the agricultural industry of tomorrow by targeting future policy-makers, giving them a solid grounding in production agriculture to inform their decisions. The creation of two new academic schools by grouping existing subject specialisms should enhance Harper Adams's already excellent graduate employment record. The Harper Adams Business School will work closely with industry, while Harper Food Innovation will link food production businesses with Harper Adams academics. Hands-on courses in brewing, distilling and viticulture have already been developed.
Admissions, teaching and student support
Last year's introduction of the Access to Ag4All scheme will help students from all backgrounds gain the relevant experience and practical skills needed to help them succeed in the agricultural industry. The scheme removed the requirement for applicants for agriculture courses to have had ten weeks of practical work experience, replacing it with land-based skills training instead, in a bid to open up courses to more applicants from a non-farming background. Contextual offers are made in all subjects except veterinary medicine, reducing the standard offer by one A-level grade. They are made to applicants who have been in care or who live in the most disadvantaged areas. The university works in the local community as well as partner schools and colleges across the country to encourage applications. Students are well-supported once they enrol. Harper Adams is one of very few institutions to have mandatory sessions in induction week covering wellbeing and mental health, and it subscribes to a 24/7 student assistance programme that makes counselling available to students at any time of the day. Another unusual feature sees that wellbeing and mental health support provided to students for up to one year after graduation to help with the transition into working life. All students are expected to attend induction sessions on sexual consent and healthy relationships, drugs and alcohol, respect and being an active bystander.