HND Wildlife and Conservation Management

Course overview

This course is designed to develop your ecological and environmental knowledge and make sure you have a solid understanding of the principles of conservation and wildlife management.

You'll develop core skills around working with geographic information systems and data handling. You'll also study ethical and professional issues relating to current codes of practice.

Read the Wildlife and Conservation Management course guide for more information or watch our Introductory video.

Virtual Experience

Take a look around the SRUC Virtual Experience for lots of great student videos and examples of what it’s like to study our courses, along with campus and facility tours.

SRUC holds open days regularly. Visit our listings page for details of our up-coming events.

Entry requirements

Two Highers (CC) in a relevant subject.

National 5 (A-C) or equivalent pass in English and Maths

Alternative entry qualifications (eg a related National Certificate) are also accepted.

Mature applicants looking for a change in career will be assessed individually — contact the college to find out more.

What you'll learn

You'll learn about all aspects of the countryside, including nature, conservation and wildlife as well as ecology, recreation, access and visitor management.

The course also includes practical experiences and examples through visits to reserves, country parks and wildlife sites.

Visits and residential trips are an integral part of the course.

Example modules include:

Ecological Surveying
Ecological Management of Ecosystems
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Tourism: Sustainability and Rural Communities
Wildlife Management

Meet the lecturer

Catherine Seeds

Programme/Team Leader – Wildlife and Conservation Management (Ayr and Barony Campus)

Cath has been with SRUC for 9 years both as a teacher and programme lead.

When teaching, her focus is on biodiversity conservation, habitat management, marine ecology, community projects and conservation site management. Cath is interested in how emerging technology can improve the research and work in conservation, especially in the fields of remote sensing, drones and GIS in support of landscape scale conservation.

Teaching is a wonderfully rewarding role and Cath enjoys supporting students on their journey through the programme and on into industry to have fulfilling careers.

View Catherine's Pure profile

Ian Lewis

Ian is based at Oatridge and occasionally our Ayr campus. Before teaching at SRUC he studied Countryside Management at Oatridge and spent six years rangering with Historic Environment Scotland.

Ian is mostly interested in Heritage and Interpretation, communicating and inspiring engagement in nature, but also biology, and wildlife identification.

View Ian's Pure profile

Fees and funding

Eligible full-time students studying HND Wildlife and Conservation Management should apply to SAAS for fees and funding. A student loan is also available to help students with living costs.

If you do not apply, you will have to pay your fees yourself and if you have studied at HNC/D/degree level before SAAS may not pay your fees.

More information about funding your course

Find out more about your payment options for this course in our fees and funding section

Fees & funding

Other possible routes to funding

Care experienced bursary: There are a number of bursaries available to care-experienced students studying full time. Find out more from our student funding teams at: registryfunding@SRUC.ac.uk
Discretionary fund
- SAAS student bursary
- Care Experienced Accommodation Grant
- Childcare
- Going further bursary
- RUK bursary (for students from outside Scotland)
- The Gregor Thomas Royan Lamb Bursary for Future Farmers
- Centenary bursary
- Change your path bursary