The 18-year-old son of The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh is heading to the Royal Agricultural University (RAU), Buckingham Palace has announced.
James, who takes his father’s secondary title, The Earl of Wessex, will be studying for a Bachelor of Science in rural land and property management at the university, based in Cirencester, Gloucestershire – not far from Highgrove and Gatcombe in the west of England.
His sister, Lady Louise, 22, graduated from St Andrews this summer, having read English and International Relations; she is now heading on a gap year.
The Palace has not commented on what A-Levels James studied at private boarding school, Radley College, based in Oxfordshire, beforehand, or the grades he achieved. However, the university’s website shows you must obtain 104 UCAS points across three A-Levels, or BCC.
Most university courses in the UK require a set number of points to be admitted to the course, with each letter grade worth a set number of points: the top grade of an A* would earn 56 points, where an C would equal 32 points.
The course is described as covering ‘the fundamentals of rural professional practice as well as planning and development, law, valuation, building construction and management’ and is accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It features a work experience placement of 444 hours for hands-on experience with an industry organisation, as well as a full placement year option, extending the course to four years.
The university owns farmland surrounding the campus and it is just one of three British universities to still maintain their own beagle pack, which was previously used for hunting until the ban in 2004. The other universities are of course Oxford and Cambridge.
The RAU (Derek Harper, CC BY-SA 2.0 wikimedia commons)
The RAU was the first agricultural college in the English-speaking world and its president is James’ uncle, King Charles III. He has held this role since 1982, though many Monarchs have been patron over the years, dating back to Queen Victoria.
Notable alumni from the RAU include various MPs and politicians, racehorse trainers, professional international-level sportspeople like rugby-player Tim Payne, hockey player Lisa Wooding and cricketer Nigel Gadsby, and TV’s Jonathan Dimbleby – along with Diana, Princess of Wales’ father.
On the website, the RAU notes that graduates enter employment in rural practice surveying, as well as potential fit within land and property consultancy, estate management, town and country planning, and residential sales and lettings.
What makes this interesting is that James appears to be heading in a direction that would be very beneficial to the Royal Family. He will gain deep understanding of the backbone of many of his family’s houses, a discipline that governs Sandringham, Balmoral and the Duchy of Lancaster and that of Cornwall.
While still only 18, and with plenty of scope to go into the private sector, James could yet have a role working as part of the Royal Family – while not actually being a working Royal.
