Land Based Skills

Rural and Island Scotland provides a wide range of land and marine based employment opportunities covering a range of sectors.

To enable a Just Transition, the skills of Scotland rural and island the work force will need to adapt to emerging technologies and practices.

Agriculture, aquaculture, environmental conservation, equine, game and wildlife, horticulture, land-based engineering, rural skills and trees and timber, including modern apprenticeships are just some of the potential job markets.

This webpage outlines agencies that support land based skills and policy developments.

Lantra Scotland

Lantra Scotland have supported Scotland’s land-based industries for over 40 years.

As a registered charity, they put the needs of learners and industry before profit, playing their part to build a safe, sustainable and diverse workforce ready to meet the challenges of the future.

Lantra Scotland work closely with industry bodies, employers, governments and educators to provide quality training and assessments, career guidance and partnership opportunities, giving both employers and learners the skills they need to thrive.

They create bespoke training programmes for organisations and work closely with the Scottish Government to deliver high-profile projects to help shape the land based sector.

The Lantra Scotland website if full of essential information for businesses and those seeking to develop a career within the land based sector. You can access case studies and options for leaning.

More at Lantra Scotland

Skills Development Scotland

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) is the national skills body supporting the people and businesses of Scotland to develop and apply their skills.

Skills for a Changing World

The SDS strategic plan ‘Skills for a Changing World 2022-2027’ sets out a bold vision for an agile, dynamic, employer led skills and career ecosystem. You can access the plan here

Skills Action Plan for Rural Scotland

The 2017/2018 Programme for Government made a commitment to develop a skills action plan for rural Scotland.

This plan builds on the existing research ‘Understanding the Scottish rural economy’, work undertaken by the National Council for Rural Advisors in ‘A New Blueprint for Scotland’s Rural Economy’ and the report of the Agricultural Champions setting out ‘A Future Strategy for Scottish Agriculture’.

You can access the action plan at Skills Action Plan for Rural Scotland: 2019-2021

Rural Employer’ Toolkit

SDS have published a toolkit which explains the different types of apprenticeships and support available and will help employers make informed decisions to find the right
solution for their business and gain the most from their team.

Regional Skills Assessments (RSAs)

SDS produce Regional Skills Assessments (RSA) which provide a consistent evidence base to inform future investment in skills. RSAs are published annually, covering all Regional Outcome Agreement areas, City and Growth Deal Regions and Rural Scotland.

The latest release of the RSAs includes 23 reports. The full report can be found here.

RSA summary infographics for the regions, as well as for each local authority, can be found here.

Be Inspired!

This video by NatureScot showcases young people working in the Nature-Based sector, in a range of roles and with a range of experiences to share.

Universities in Scotland

Scotland is home to a diverse and internationally successful higher education sector of 19 Scottish universities.

With over 4,500 courses in more than 150 subject groupings at undergraduate and postgraduate level, there is a huge range of topics including land based skills.

You can view details of all Scotland universities (with relevant links) and download the ‘Universities Scotland’ brochure for a brief summary of what each institution has to offer at Universities in Scotland

Colleges in Scotland

Scotland’s 24 colleges operate in 13 regions across Scotland, allowing them to plan nationally and regionally, as well as deliver locally, and there are three regional strategic bodies co-ordinating approaches for colleges in the Highlands and Islands, Glasgow, and Lanarkshire regions.

A full list of colleges in Scotland, with links to their websites, can be at the Colleges Scotland website here

Industry Links

Useful links

Farmer, mentor and apprentice
(by BartCo via Canva)

Independent Commission for the Land-based Learning Review report

The Commission for the Land-based Learning Review (the Commission) was a group that was originally established in 2021 to provide independent, evidence based advice to Scottish Ministers.

The Commission’s remit was to provide Ministers with evidence-based recommendations to attract and equip more people, particularly women and young people, with the skills and knowledge needed to work in the land-based and aquaculture sectors by improving learning pathways. Their report was submitted to Scottish Ministers on 18 January 2023.

The Scottish Government published its response to the Review on 30 April 2024, which gave a commitment to publish an Implementation Plan to action the 21 recommendations which were all either accepted or accepted in principle (Recommendation 6 has been completed). This Implementation Plan sets the main Outputs, Implementing Actions, Timescales and Milestones for delivering the response to the recommendations. Delivery of these recommendations involves Scottish Government policy teams working with stakeholder organisations, which is fundamental to, and supports existing work priorities and commitments.

The recommendations, and Scottish Government’s response to them, vary in their scope and scale; ranging from specific, practical changes to being part of broader policy and delivery. For this Implementation Plan, Scottish Government have set out outputs, actions and timescales as far as possible at this time. In some cases, further exploratory or other policy development work is required, particularly in a changing policy context.

Find out more on the Scottish Government implementation plan