To apply for entry on to any of our Sustainable Horticulture and Food Production (SHFP) programmes please complete and return to us the application form below. We are currently accepting applications for entry in September 2012 and will continue to do so until all places are filled.
If you have any questions about these programmes please contact us by emailing shfp@schumachercollege.org.uk
To be accepted on to any of the SHFP postgraduate courses you will be expected to have a 2:2 Honours degree or equivalent in an environmental, geographical or biological subject. Applicants with an unrelated degree are also encouraged to apply if they have a Level 3 qualification in horticulture and/or relevant experience. In certain circumstances applicants with extensive direct experience but lacking a first degree will be considered for entry.
Access to Plant Sciences course
For students that do not have a relevant life sciences degree and/or horticultural experience, we are offering a one-week unaccredited Access to Plant Sciences course at the College in August 2012. The course will be an intensive theoretical programme in the principles of plant sciences, including physiology, morphology, growth and development and the principles of plant chemistry and tailored to the learning needs of attending students. The course will be non-residential (a variety of accommodation is available locally) and will cost £200 per student.
Students must be able to converse and write fluently in English. All applicants who do not hold a GCSE (Grade C or above) in English Language, must provide evidence of their English language ability in the form of a professional English qualification, or a TOEFL or IELTS Certificate to the correct level (taken in the last two years). Your local British Council office offers the English Language Testing Service (IELTS) plus, in some instances, English language tuition.
The University entry standards for English language are as follows:
IELTS
6.5 overall with minimum 5.5 for each component: reading, writing, listening and speaking.
TOEFL iBT
90 overall with minimum for each component: listnening 21; reading 22; speaking 23; and writing 22.
Pearson Test of English (PTE)
61 overall with minimum score of 51 across all four components.
Other equivalent English language qualifications may be accepted. Please contact the College for further information.
If you require a Tier 4 General Student Visa, you must be able to verify your English competence through a secure English language test (SELT), unless you meet any of the UK Border Agency’s exemptions. Accepted SELTs are published on the UK Border Agency’s website along with further guidance for students about Tier 4. The level required is B2 as set by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). We require original or certified copies of certificates, or we can download results if you supply with your application your username and password to your test score report, if applicable.
To be exempt from this SELT requirement, you would need to have obtained a qualification equivalent to a UK degree in a majority English-speaking country, or have studied in the UK recently as a child student. For further information you are advised to contact UKCISA or Plymouth University’s own International Student Advisory Service, ISAS. If you contact ISAS please ensure you explain that you are applying to a programme of Schumacher College.
Plymouth University offers an English language support service for all students for whom English is a second language. This service is provided by the English Language Centre, based in the Cookworthy building on the University of Plymouth’s city centre campus. Language support is delivered through one-to-one tutorials, free English classes, workshops tailored for particular groups of students and e-mail. It is also possible for English Language Centre staff to visit the College to tutor students, individually or in groups, by prior arrangement.
This course is such an amazing experience, and so much better than I thought, that I have to keep pinching myself.
MA student, Economics for Transition
Schumacher College is simply one of the finest teaching and learning environments to be found anywhere in the World.
David Abram, author of The Spell of the Sensuous
Schumacher is a very special place – as we try and figure out what on earth we’re going to do with this unraveling planet, it’s become a thinktank for hope, a battery for positive vision.
Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org
Unfortunately this week has made me realise how mediocre the University experience is compared to Schumacher College.
Visiting University student
*Click here to download an application form *
Please note: This form must be completed, signed and hard copies sent as directed on the form. We do not accept electronic or faxed applications.
Important: On 1 April 2009 changes to the UK’s Immigration Law came into effect. Please ensure that you have a legitimate right of entry into the UK.
For further information about Immigration Law, please visit the UK Border Agency website
The application form details the documentation you need to send with your application. This includes:
Before submitting the application form, please make sure you have familiarised yourself with how the College works. You can get more information from other pages of the website including about the college.
Click here to see the term dates for the academic year 2012/13
The College will shortlist applicants for interview. You may be asked to come to the College for an interview, or to conduct a telephone or Skype interview if you are not geographically well placed to come to the College. Subject to interview, we will select our MSc/PG Diploma or PG Certificate students and offer places.
We will promptly acknowledge receipt of all applications by email. We will contact applicants to either arrange an interview or advise that their application will not be progressed further. We aim to do this within two to three weeks of receipt of an application.
The below fees are for the MSc SHFP programme. Fees for the PG Certificate programme are on the PG Certificate SHFP page and fees for the PG Diploma programme are on the PG Diploma SHFP page
Fees are made up of tuition fees and food/accommodation:
These fees reflect the very unique and bespoke nature of our courses.
We do not offer any discounts on our fees for Plymouth University alumni.
Click here for more information on how we set our course fees
We do have a bursary fund available to help cover tuition and accomodation fees.
However, if you are interested in this course and cannot cover the fees above, please do contact us on shfp@schumachercollege.org.uk to discuss your situation further.
There are 11 weeks residency during the taught components of the Core Modules, with 10 weeks at the College and one week at CAT in Wales. Students may opt to live either in the College, on a fully residential basis during the residential periods, or they may choose to live locally. In the latter case, the College charges a fee to cover all meals and beverages taken at the College.
If you choose to be fully residential, you will have a private room in the Schumacher College complex, the main building of which is an historic and atmospheric old building – The Old Postern – on the beautiful Dartington Hall Estate.
All our food, which is vegetarian, largely organic and locally-sourced, is prepared freshly by our in-house chefs and members of the College community for every meal.
For all programmes, fees are due in two instalments in September and January. A deposit of £500 is requested from students who accept an offer of a place, in order to secure their place on to their chosen programme. This is deducted from fees payable in September.
Details of how to pay these fees are sent to students when they are formally accepted on to their chosen programme.
Students will need to budget for travel, books not held in the library, specialist research or University materials, clothing, stationery and other additional items and services (e.g. photocopying) that fall outside of course fees.
Once a student is formally accepted, their application details are scrutinised by Plymouth University Registry who conduct a fee assessment in order to determine the student’s fee status. A student will fall under one of three categories: UK, EU, or International. The fee status depends upon a number of factors including where the student has been living during the past three years. Students who are UK nationals and have lived in the UK for their entire life would normally be classified as a UK student. However, students should be aware that even if they are a EU national by birth, it does not necessarily follow that their fee status will be UK or EU. More detailed information on the regulations may be found at www.ukcisa.org.uk.
The Plymouth University produces a signposting document for students looking to secure funding for postgraduate study. Click here to access this document
Another good information source on all matters pertaining to international students is UKCISA
Schumacher College does not have Federal Aid Accreditation. This would be a requirement of the Federal Student Aid (FSA) programme for any US student applying for a loan in order to help fund their studies for this programme. Therefore, any US student needing a loan in order to take up a place on this course should not apply to the FSA programme.
