Bursary scheme backs students wanting to study BSc Regenerative Food & Farming

Following the success of last year’s bursary scheme which supports students through their first year of study on our leading-edge undergraduate programme in Regenerative Farming at Schumacher College, we are pleased to be able to offer it again to new students joining us in 2023.

Students from England can already apply for a £6,000 student finance loan to join the new undergraduate BSc in Regenerative Food and Farming. Our full tuition fees are £9,000 in line with other comparable undergraduate courses. To address this difference, we are pleased to announce we have secured funding to continue our scheme supporting new students from England, and those already on the scheme, with a bursary of £3,000 towards their tuition fees for the 2023-24 academic year. This means our tuition fees are effectively almost 35% lower than most university fees in the UK, helping students graduate with a lower debt and consequently giving them more chance of succeeding in the farming sector.

We believe that widespread adoption of regenerative ecological approaches to farming and food production can play a vital role in our collective attempts to curb runaway climate change. Appropriate accredited training in how to reform our food systems, from improving soil health to increasing biodiversity, needs to happen as soon as possible and should be truly accessible to people from all walks of life.

These bursaries add to an existing suite of measures we’ve brought in recently to make studying at Schumacher College and Dartington Arts School more accessible to a much wider range of people. These include a reduction in our postgraduate tuition fees, an increase in the number of scholarship awards offered to exceptional candidates, and more bursaries offered to students in need.

The BSc Regenerative Food and Farming began with its first cohort of students in September 2022 and our students have embedded themselves into our learning community really well in this time, with positive feedback about the course. It is one of the first degrees in the UK to teach students exclusively nature-friendly approaches to farming through a blend of practical, hands-on learning, and theoretical exploration of the science behind the latest agroecological innovations.

Alongside this we have also just launched a new farming incubator programme which will support students and graduates as a steppingstone to land access, inviting pitches from students, alumni and the wider local community to practice and experiment with agroecological techniques on the Dartington estate. Seven acres of land have been earmarked for the project so far which kicks off in spring this year. The incubator has been set up with funds from an Esmée Fairbairn Foundation grant, with the aim of providing a viable model of resilient local food production and continuing to establish Dartington and the local area as a centre for sustainable food excellence.

With our undergraduate degree, and other measures such as the incubator, our Master’s in Regenerative Farming and related courses, we want to help students go on to bring about real, positive and much-needed change in the global agriculture sector. We hope the continued bursary funding will give undergraduate students the support they need to come and study with us from September 2023. Applications are invited via UCAS for these 25 places on a first come first served basis. Applications received by 25 January will be given priority.