Students from the Royal Agricultural University in Cirencester have had an insight into residential housebuilding at Newland Homes' Broad Blunsdon Heights development.

Forty two students from the BSc (Hons) and MSc Real Estate courses visited the 57-home site and learned how new-build housing developments are built, including identifying and purchasing land, building homes and finally sales and marketing.

The Real Estate course is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and, typically, graduates enter employment with firms of surveyors to undertake the two-year Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) and qualify as Chartered Surveyors.

Andrew Billings, Newland Homes' Land Director and Royal Agricultural University Cirencester graduate, said: "It's always a pleasure having the next generation of surveying and building professionals on site from the Royal Agricultural University. Every year we have the opportunity to introduce the students to the realities of working for a house builder and the different paths available to them. The new homes industry holds many exciting possibilities for them after they graduate and the opportunity to shape the communities we live in."

Peter Smith, BSc (Hons) Real Estate course manager, said: "Every year we take the first year students to a Newland Homes site to throw them in the deep end of house building, which provides them with the opportunity to apply many of the things they learn from the visit later on in their studies. This will include valuation, planning and development, marketing, building construction, legal issues, and an awareness of energy efficiency and environmental sustainability."