Royal Agricultural University excels in this year’s Knowledge Exchange Framework

2 Dec 2022

The Royal Agricultural University (RAU) has once again performed strongly in the Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF) with results highlighting the University’s strengths in CPD (Continuing Professional Development) and Graduate start-ups amongst others.

Now in its third year, Research England’s KEF looks at the performance of English Higher Education Providers (HEPs) from a range of different perspectives. Institutions are grouped into clusters, so that they can be more reasonably compared, and the RAU is in the STEM cluster – small specialist universities in medicine, science, and engineering.

The Cirencester-based university was ranked second out of the nine institutions in its cluster and was recognised and having very high or high engagement in five of the seven criteria on which it was judged.

Professor Mark Horton, the RAU’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, said: “It is really great to see how the RAU has improved its performance in Knowledge Exchange over the last year. This result reinforces the key importance that the University has in working with the agriculture and land sectors and shows the RAU is one of the leading universities in the country for the delivery of Knowledge.

“We are particularly excited that the KEF has recognised the performance of our Graduate start-up and entrepreneurship programmes. This recognition is testament to our fantastic Enterprise and Entrepreneurship programme which has just received re-approval from the IOEE for a further three years, the only small and specialist institution in the UK to have this status.

“Our enthusiastic and dedicated students are well-equipped to go out into the world and set up highly successful small companies that can make a real difference in achieving net zero and sustainable and regenerative agriculture.

“This KEF result will really help us to plan strategically for the future to ensure that the mission of the RAU, which was founded back in 1845 and was the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world, is still true to its original purpose.”

In addition to being praised for having very high engagement in CPD and Graduate start-ups, the KEF also ranked the RAU as having high engagement in working with business, working with public and third sector, local growth and regeneration, and public and community engagement.