SRUC response to Professor Ian Boyd's report

In February, SRUC commissioned Professor Sir Ian Boyd to carry out an independent study into future economic growth opportunities for SRUC in North-East Fife. You can read his report here. Our response is below.

Purpose and Overall Response

SRUC is grateful to Professor Sir Ian Boyd for the time, effort and insight he has brought to this report, at no cost to SRUC. Our request was to produce a report which outlined opportunities for regional economic growth and economic renewal in North East Fife, based on collaborative partnerships involving SRUC, local universities and colleges, research institutes, the local community and businesses.

The report contains a number of statements, conclusions and recommendations. This response addresses the immediate recommendations and sets out areas where SRUC is already making progress. In the report, Professor Boyd also offers a number of views outside the immediate scope of the report as prompts for future deliberations – some of these will be for others to respond to, and some will depend on a partnership approach. However, for its part, SRUC will certainly draw on the points he has made in future strategic discussions with our Board.

The tone of this response is deliberately constructive and practical. It also recognises that Elmwood, its staff, students and the communities it serves have a great deal to contribute to SRUC’s future direction. The task now is to move from uncertainty to clarity, from isolated debate to partnership, and from aspiration to a practical programme of action.

Summary Position

SRUC agrees that partnership is the best way to secure meaningful and sustainable outcomes for the communities we serve across Scotland and beyond. We also agree that Scotland is ready for a more strongly co-ordinated national approach to the natural economy, drawing together and capitalising on a wide range of skills, knowledge, innovation and research capability while allowing individual institutions to retain distinct identities.

This is not a new direction for SRUC. Our strongest examples already show how Scotland can move from research and industry partnership into practical productivity gains. SRUC’s data-driven cattle genetics work is one example of how integrated data, science, industry uptake and advisory translation can produce measurable impact. That is the model we should build from: collaborative, data enabled, industry facing and measured by real-world outcomes.

SRUC also agrees with the report’s emphasis on agility, local food systems, green skills and strategic foresight. We do not, however, accept a narrow interpretation of Elmwood solely as an FE site. SRUC is a mission-led tertiary, research-intensive institution. Its distinctive value lies in connecting Further Education, Higher Education, research, consultancy, enterprise, advisory practice and knowledge exchange within a single organisation focused on the needs of all of Scotland’s rural and natural economy. At the recent Colleges Scotland conference, Ben Macpherson, Minister for Innovation, Technology and Tertiary Education, called for stronger alignment between colleges, universities and apprenticeships, an alignment already deeply embedded in SRUC’s approach.

SRUC has previously made a commitment to retaining a presence in North East Fife. Elmwood could have been closed after Fife College left the site, given the significant dilapidations at that point. SRUC chose not to take this lower-cost route because it would have gone against our place-based tertiary strategy, which is demonstrated by our footprint across Scotland. The future of Elmwood should now be developed through partnership, positive dialogue and a wider regional proposition for skills, productivity, research, innovation and sustainable growth. In this context, SRUC has recently won funding from the SFC as part of the wider transformation of the University sector to work in partnership with The James Hutton Institute (JHI) and the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) to grow innovation and skills in the blue and green economy. Building on this initiative, we shall continue to explore further opportunities to establish a leading centre for modern production horticulture, controlled environment agriculture  and skills. Working in partnership offers, we believe, a compelling opportunity to create a new model for horticulture that links apprenticeships, research, innovation and enterprise.

We have been concerned about the negative and detrimental impact on both staff morale and student numbers at Elmwood of some recent commentary.  We are, however, hopeful that following the publication of this report a more positive and optimistic outlook will support the development and strengthening of our offering at Elmwood Campus both now and in the future.

Response to the Recommendations

The table below summarises SRUC’s response to the six recommendations and identifies the immediate commitments and timings that will follow publication of the report. Some actions depend on the willingness and authority of partners to engage. SRUC will be clear about the action it will take and where progress depends on others.

Closing Statement

SRUC welcomes Professor Boyd’s report as a very useful contribution to the future of Elmwood, North East Fife and Scotland’s natural economy. The report recognises the importance of SRUC’s role in the land-based economy and the potential of partnerships to unlock stronger outcomes to drive national priorities.

SRUC will respond by being clear about its intentions, honest about where further work is required, confident about its distinctive tertiary model, and practical about the steps that now need to be taken. The aim is not to promise a fully formed solution before the work has been done, it is to put in place the building blocks to test and secure a credible future for Elmwood. Our commitment to that remains unchanged.

Read Professor Boyd's report here

Posted by SRUC on 10/07/2026