The Royal Agricultural University has teamed up with the neighbouring Bathurst Estate to provides students with valuable experience.

The estate is close to the Cirencester campus and Lord Allen Bathurst is a former student and one of the university's vice-presidents.

The partnership will provide students with access to 15,000 acres of farmland, forestry, environmentally managed land, real estate, heritage properties and a range of rural enterprises.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Joanna Price said: "The University has been at the forefront of the land-based sector for 175 years and remains committed to continually enhancing the learning experience for its students.

"This is why we are delighted to announce this exciting partnership with the Bathurst Estate which provides a new and innovative approach to the delivery of practical teaching.

"The traditional approach taken by land-based institutions like ours has been to rely heavily on facilities provided by their own farms."

She continued: "This can limit the students' learning experience at a time of unprecedented change in the way we produce food, manage land, our natural resources and sustain rural economies into the future.

"This collaboration provides a wealth of additional opportunities on our doorstep for students to gain applied practical experience of innovative and sustainable approaches to managing the land, producing food in an economically sustainable way, while protecting the environment, supporting the rural economy and enhancing the local community."

Lord Bathurst welcomed the partnership which he believes will provide experience in practical land management issues.

He said: "The estate will gain from the students' freer blue-sky thinking and a can-do approach and attitude to tackling some of the traditional problems found in the landed sector."