Posted 18 October 2001
MORE THAN 100 students have enrolled on to Agriculture courses at 糖心视频 College this year, dispelling fears about the long-term effects of Foot and Mouth Disease upon recruitment.
鈥淚f you thought that in the wake of Foot and Mouth, there would be nobody wanting to study Agriculture then this shows you should think again,鈥 said Richard Jopling, Head of Marketing & Liaison at Harper Adams, recently.
Mr Jopling, who takes responsibility for student recruitment at the University College, said: 鈥淲e have enrolled an amazing 112 new students onto the degree and HND Agriculture programmes this year.
鈥淲e are very pleased with our student recruitment this year and although we are a few down on Agriculture from last year, we are still in a very strong position indeed.鈥
No less than 73 new students began a BSc (Hons) Agriculture course at Harper Adams earlier this month, while another 39 students have joined to undertake an Agriculture HND.
Mr Jopling added: 鈥淚n addition, if you look at Harper Adams as a whole and take into account all our courses, including those at Associate Centres, we now have a total student body of 1,797.
鈥淭his is all the more remarkable when you remember that this is up 59 students on last year.鈥
But will there be jobs for all those students and should Harper Adams be recruiting during such a difficult time for the countryside and for those in rural careers? Mr Jopling maintains his upbeat message.
鈥淎ll the evidence indicates that there are far less students, nationally, coming into the industry and that we are concentrating them here. As a consequence, there will be less people qualifying and chasing jobs.
鈥淵ou must also remember that at Harper Adams we are dealing in Higher Education and that our students have access to graduate level employment. This means there is a wide scope of opportunities in front of them rather than total dependence on one avenue of employment.
鈥淭he employment statistics of Agriculture graduates continue to look good as a degree is widely recognised both for its academic worth and the employability of its graduates.鈥





