EFRA inquiry on agricultural education and careers – NFU response

In the NFU's response, the main recommendation is that a coordinated campaign is needed:

• to raise awareness of the career opportunities in agriculture and horticulture and the huge range of job roles available from production technician to agronomist, and;
• to change public perception and to highlight that a vibrant UK farming sector is vital to the economy and food security.

The recent report from the Independent Labour Review made the same recommendation. The NFU is waiting on the Government's reply to the Review Panel’s report.

Other recommendations the NFU made to help encourage careers in farming include:

• Increasing the links between food and farming and the school curriculum to improve awareness of agriculture throughout the educational system.
• Monitoring the new T Level vocational qualification in agriculture to ensure that the curriculum is balanced, taking account of demand for a mixed farming element and micro accreditation for students who may not complete the full programme.
• Taking steps to free up funds locked in the apprenticeship levy and made available to a greater proportion of the workforce.
• Ensuring adequate funding is provided to agricultural colleges to enable them to recruit and retain teaching staff.
• Developing connections between the college network and New Entrant Schemes to support the development of business and entrepreneurial skills of ambitious farmers wishing to develop businesses.
• Ensuring steps are taken to optimise visits of school children to farms funded by ED1 educational access payments by redistributing visit allowance from under-utilised areas to high demand areas.

NFU members can log in and read the full response to the call for evidence at: NFU response to EFRA call for evidence on education and careers in land based sectors

The deadline to submit views to the EFRA Committee is now closed. 

A summary of the NFU's submission to the inquiry will be published on this page in due course.

The Efra Committee has launched a call for evidence on it's enquiry that will examine the entry routes into farming and the wide range of career opportunities that exist in the agricultural and horticultural sectors across the UK.

The inquiry seeks to assess the following areas:

• How the understanding and awareness of career opportunities in land-based sectors can be improved 
• The accessibility and effectiveness of the education system such as T levels and apprenticeships
• What more can be done to facilitate new entrants into the career, including those from non-rural backgrounds and those considering a career change
• Whether colleges offering land-based education have the appropriate facilities and funding to enable effective teaching (eg. access to farmland)
• The role of schools, colleges, universities, and local and central government in promoting and supporting careers in land-based sector
• Suggestions of new ideas and suggestions on how children and young adults can see the career opportunities in land-based sectors first-hand

NFU welcomes inquiry launch

NFU President Minette Batters welcomed the launch of the inquiry, saying that she is “delighted” that the Efra Committee are taking a keen interest in the area.

She added: “The land based sector offers many exciting and rewarding career opportunities both for new entrants as well as those looking to retrain.

“We look forward to preparing our submission for the committee including highlighting some of the fantastic opportunities our Education team offer to schools across the country.”

Commenting on the launch of the inquiry, EFRA Committee chair Sir Robert Goodwill MP said that the UK’s agricultural and horticultural sectors “offer a wide range of rewarding careers” for many individuals across the country. He added however, that it is “vital” that the career pathways to jobs into the sector are “fit for purpose”.

Have your say

Views could be submitted to the Efra Committee up until 3 November 2023. NFU members could also contribute to our response via e-mail. 

The full details of the consultation can be found at: UK Parliament | Call for Evidence – Education and Careers in Land-based Sectors