Oatridge College 

By metropolitan standards Oatridge College is small, with just 400 full-time and 2,500 part-time students, but its role is seen as vital in helping to sustain the fragile rural economy of Scotland and beyond. It has diversified and developed to become Scotland’s premier landbased College, providing the knowledge and skills required in a broad range of rural industries, from agriculture and horticulture, through environment and conservation, to landbased engineering, greenkeeping, landscaping, animal care and increasingly, equine studies. It also houses indoor and outdoor riding schools, with stabling for 50 horses and support facilities, and is perhaps unique in the UK, having its own pay-and-play nine-hole golf course. It is in the heart of the country, but well served by the motorway network and less than a 60-minute drive from most of Scotland’s major cities.