Shropshire Farming Talk: Work of rural property professionals is hugely important

At Harper Adams, our suite of land and property degree courses have been answering this call from industry for more than three decades.

We’ve also successfully introduced a new route in the past decade: working with companies to upskill their employees as Rural Chartered Surveyor Degree Apprentices.

In early September each year, we welcome the latest cohort of these Apprentices onto campus, to show them round, talk about their courses – and to start teaching them.

A few weeks later, we have our Graduation ceremony – and I get to watch the Apprentices who have now completed their courses graduate.

We are now in our seventh year of this innovative programme, producing land and property professionals the industry tells us are so vitally needed.

So what, exactly, is a Degree Apprentice – and what does their apprenticeship mean for both them, and for Harper Adams?

An event later this month is set to explain everything, with insights from the apprentices, from their employers, and from leading industry voices.

Some people might feel a full-time degree course is not the right choice for them at that point in their life – and some, of course, want to start their career and working life as soon as possible.

By becoming an Apprentice, they get the opportunity to combine their working life with a route to an industry-recognised qualification – as our course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS.)

For businesses, employing an Apprentice offers them the option to look further than traditional graduate roles - and to bring more people into the industry.

Our upcoming event – on October 22 – explains all of this.

Apprentices at two employers will be talking about what the course has meant to them – and then their employers will explore what both the course, and their Apprentice, has meant for their business.

I will be speaking, alongside my colleague Carol Rogers, our Apprenticeship Manager, about how we have changed and refined our course over the past seven years, listening to our students and their employers.

Jeremy Moody, Secretary of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) and Farmers Weekly Lifetime Award 2024 winner, will also be speaking. Jeremy – whose award was announced earlier this month – will give an overarching perspective from the sector.

Meanwhile senior Harper Adams staff, including our Director of Business Development and Knowledge Exchange Al Dawes and Becky Payne, the Head of the new Harper Adams Business School, will set the day in context and talk about how people can get involved.

If you are an employer in the rural property sector and are wondering if taking on an Apprentice may be right for you, come along – it promises to be a fascinating afternoon.

Find out more – and book your place – at harper.ac.uk/realmapp24 

by Dr Mark Simcock is Land and Property Course Manager at Harper Adams University