KINGSTON Maurward has taken on a record number of agricultural apprentices.

The land-based college near Dorchester has doubled the number of students choosing to study Level 2 Agricultural Apprentices at the campus, compared to last year.

Twenty-eight students signed up this autumn for agricultural Level 2 apprentices and five at Level 3 – the highest total number at any one time at the college.

Andy Daw, who is agriculture curriculum manager at Kingston Maurward, said: “We have shown we can attract the best young talent into the farming industry this year.

“We are doing this by offering a range of quality courses giving students the chance to acquire a breadth of agricultural knowledge and attain a real depth to their practical farming experience.”

Under the agriculture scheme, apprentices combine full-time employment with one-day per week study in college and work towards achieving an NVQ2 in mixed farming.

Students can then specialise in a specific area of the industry at NVQ3 such as dairy breeding or cattle husbandry.

For those students who don’t wish to complete an NVQ, a practical-based college certificate is available.

The rise come as recent industry research from the food and grocery body IGD claimed that the farming industry needed to recruit an extra 60,000 workers during the coming decade to ensure agriculture maintained its skills base and avoids a fall in production.

The college currently has more than 200 apprentices working in a variety of vocational areas.

They include agriculture, environmental conservation, gamekeeping, butchery, plumbing, animal care, horse care, sport and outdoor education, retail, customer services, horticulture and trees an timber.

* Call the college on 01305 215215 or visit www.kmc.ac.uk

Apprentices who have qualified over the past year

AGRICULTURE

Marcus Balchin

Joseph Elford

Samuel Mills

Vicky Osborne

Joseph Swain

Jamie Leyland

Jack Arnold

Ryan-James Stevenson

Samuel Dallison

Rupert Cox

Simon Crane

Martin Speed

Richard Wareham

Stephen King

Scott Thompson

ANIMAL CARE

Hayley Assal

Chloe Hodder

Aurelia Horie

Sarah-Louise Crew

Owen Harmes

Christina Hoare

Louise Kavanagh

Shannon Pape

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Rachel Gifford

ENVIRONMENTAL

CONSERVATION

Ashley Mitchell

Alexandra Wilmot

Jenifer Wood

Charmaine Randall

Joshua Wood

Russell Goff

Mark Lee

Annabel Shipley

Stuart Welsh

FORESTRY

Edward Greatorex

Graeme Hunt

Myles Lambert

Daniel Wren

GAMEKEEPING

Marcus Bagwell

HORTICULTURE

Nathan Harding

Paul Curran

Martin Forward

Ross Logan

Gavin Barker

Tom Honnor

Steven Watson

Sharon Richards

Martin Down

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE

& SPORTS COACHING

Craig Swann

Thomas Hiney

Claire Goslin

Craig Atkins

Adam Baker

Nicole Tracey-Williams

Jack Parsons

Jennifer Guy

Max Cranage

Emily Purver

Sam Channing

Rachel Moss

PLUMBING

Ben Porteous

Todd Stratton

Lloyd Bowcher

Daniel Dorton

Ryan Stone

Christopher Clarke

Thomas Morrison

Nicholas Titheridge

Ryan Stone

Aaron Winzar

RETAIL

Sophie Blunsden

Helen-Rose Powell

Sheralyn Tidball

Jessica Wood

Adam Durrant

Hannah Lodge

Alex Lovell

Claire Jones

Matthew Theakstone

Gemma PurnellAGRICULTURE

Marcus Balchin

Joseph Elford

Samuel Mills

Vicky Osborne

Joseph Swain

Jamie Leyland

Jack Arnold

Ryan-James Stevenson

Samuel Dallison

Rupert Cox

Simon Crane

Martin Speed

Richard Wareham

Stephen King

Scott Thompson

ANIMAL CARE

Hayley Assal

Chloe Hodder

Aurelia Horie

Sarah-Louise Crew

Owen Harmes

Christina Hoare

Louise Kavanagh

Shannon Pape

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Rachel Gifford

ENVIRONMENTAL

CONSERVATION

Ashley Mitchell

Alexandra Wilmot

Jenifer Wood

Charmaine Randall

Joshua Wood

Russell Goff

Mark Lee

Annabel Shipley

Stuart Welsh

FORESTRY

Edward Greatorex

Graeme Hunt

Myles Lambert

Daniel Wren

GAMEKEEPING

Marcus Bagwell

HORTICULTURE

Nathan Harding

Paul Curran

Martin Forward

Ross Logan

Gavin Barker

Tom Honnor

Steven Watson

Sharon Richards

Martin Down

OUTDOOR ADVENTURE

& SPORTS COACHING

Craig Swann

Thomas Hiney

Claire Goslin

Craig Atkins

Adam Baker

Nicole Tracey-Williams

Jack Parsons

Jennifer Guy

Max Cranage

Emily Purver

Sam Channing

Rachel Moss

PLUMBING

Ben Porteous

Todd Stratton

Lloyd Bowcher

Daniel Dorton

Ryan Stone

Christopher Clarke

Thomas Morrison

Nicholas Titheridge

Ryan Stone

Aaron Winzar

RETAIL

Sophie Blunsden

Helen-Rose Powell

Sheralyn Tidball

Jessica Wood

Adam Durrant

Hannah Lodge

Alex Lovell

Claire Jones

Matthew Theakstone

Gemma Purnell