Plumpton College is located at the foot of the picturesque South Downs. The beautiful and idyllic situation offers students a perfect environment in which to study their chosen subject. The College is only six miles from Lewes, and nine miles from Brighton. Major transport routes are within easy reach, and London is only an hour away.

The College was built in 1926 and now offers a very wide range of land-based courses covering agriculture, horticulture, welding and metalsmithing, animal care & management, forestry and alboriculture, equine studies, viticulture and wine production, sports (outdoor education) and business studies. Courses in these subjects are offered from entry level through First Diploma, National Diploma and Award, Foundation Degree and Degree level. Vocational courses are provided as part of specialised Diplomas for those between 14-16.

The main College is situated in the centre of the College’s 700 hectare estate. There are excellent practical and demonstration facilities for students for their chosen area of study.

The College is close to the village of Plumpton Green where there is a local shop, post office and bus and train services. Local bus routes service the College.

Click on the relevant subject area on the left for more detail on courses

Wales Farm and Estate

The main College Farm comprising 260 Holstein cows, a modern high welfare pig unit, 700 Breeding ewes, a Sussex Suckler herd and a wide range of arable crops. Part of the farm is organic to demonstrate this type of production and to utilise areas of the South Downs which are farmed in association with the National Trust.

The College estate demonstrates a wide diversity of ecological and land use and is extensively used for conservation, land management and leisure activities as well as commercial farming.

The College also has a centre at Netherfield near Battle. This centre provides provides facilities for agricultural and conservation courses on the centre’s 90 hectare organic farm.

Equine unit

The large equine unit consists of two well equipped yards, a traditional yard of 20 boxes and an ‘American Barn’ design yard with 40 boxes. There are two indoor schools, horse walker, jump cross course and cross country course. The extensive College estate is ideal for hacking out.

Animal Care Centre

The centre has a very wide range of animals for teaching purposes, too numerous to mention all but including rabbits, chinchillas, fish, insects, reptiles, birds of prey, alpacas and wallabies. The centre includes a busy dog grooming unit. A brand new facility was opened in 2008.

Wine Centre

This specialist unit provides the practical facility for the College’s wine production courses. A brand new winery was completed in 2005, which, coupled with a new HE and science centre will ensure that the college is at the leading edge of wine and viticulture education and training. Six hectares of vines produce over 10,000 bottles of wine a year.

Horticultural Unit

The well maintained College grounds, hard landscape areas, sports turf, large glasshouses, small demonstration plots and demonstration garden centre, provide excellent demonstration and teaching facilities. New horticultural classrooms have recently been completed. The college received ‘Centre of Excellence’ accreditation for Horticultural Technology in 2005 and a new Horticultural teaching facility has been developed as a result of this achievement.

Business Management

The Rural Business Management Centre serves all full time courses as well as providing a wide range of courses designed for Rural Business as part of the College’s Centre of Vocational Excellence status in Rural Business Management.

Plumpton College at Netherfield

The College’s Centre at Netherfield, near Battle provides an extensive range of agriculture and related short courses and “Rural Pathways” provision courses.

Our Commitment to Students.

Coming to college can often involve a big change in a person’s life. There are a lot of decisions to make covering which course, full time or part time, residential or daily travel, work experience, finances as well as making new friends and adjusting to College life.

The College mission is “to provide excellent education and training”, and our commitment to you is to make your course at College as rewarding as possible. We want you to look back at your time at Plumpton as some of the ‘best days of your life’, where you achieved new qualifications, made new friends and gained the confidence and ability to embark on your chosen career.

The College greatly values its reputation for providing ‘a caring learning environment’ in which students’ individual needs are priorities. This reputation has been supported by Ofsted/ALI inspections of the College which, along with praising the College for its high success rates for students achieving qualifications, also highlighted the strong support and guidance for students from friendly, helpful and enthusiastic staff.

The Colleges friendly supportive ethos and reputation is commented on by both visitors and students and the supportive ‘ethos’ of the College has also been recognised in the achievement of Information Advice and Guidance kitemark from the Guidance Accreditation Board, and achievement of standards within the Care
Standards Act.

Support for you whilst you are at College is provided by:

Course Tutors

All students are assigned a tutor who works with you to plan your programme of study and helps you monitor your progress. The tutor will provide help and guidance on a wide range of study-related issues and help you decide your progression to either employment or further courses.

Learning Support

We are often able to offer you additional assistance with literacy, numeracy and any other learning difficulties you have. More details will be given to you at interview.

Student Services

Student Services role is to help you throughout your time at College. The dedicated team are ‘on hand’ to help you ensure that all goes smoothly and help with any problems, issues or questions whether big or small!

Additional Qualifications

On all courses, there is the opportunity to take additional qualifications. These additional training or ‘secondary learning goals’ give you the option to improve your ‘employability’. These are listed in the description for each course and will be discussed between you and your tutor.

Working with Industry

Our close links with a wide range of land-based industries, enables us to assist you in finding suitable work placements during your stay at Plumpton College. Most full-time courses involve work experience linked to the subject area. Sometimes these lead to job offers when you have finished your course. We receive a great deal of feedback from employers, which means you can be sure you are getting the most up to date and relevant training that employers are looking for.

Added Value

Employers tell us that they are always looking for a wider range of abilities and flexibility in their ‘new recruits’. To address this, all full time courses contain ‘key skills’ training to improve all students’ suitability for employment. The key skills are Information Technology, communication and application of number and are taught within with your chosen subject. There is always plenty of opportunity to top up your qualifications with a short course.

Equal Opportunities

The College encourages applications from all sections of the community and its provision is available to all those who are able to achieve the required standard and is free from barriers and restrictions which might restrict access and progression.

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Higher Education prospectus (full-time)

Further Education prospectus (full-time)

Part-time prospectus

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