Do you work for a dairy company or are you interested in joining the dairy industry? This course will equip you with the skills needed to grow and develop in your career.
The dairy industry in the UK is an exciting and vibrant place to work, supplying world class dairy products to virtually every single household in the UK — from the milk on your cereal to the cheese on your toast, the industry is worth over £6 billion and employs over 25,000 people.
The industry is changing and while traditional skills are still highly valued, the introduction of new technology, new processes and increased automation means that a wide range of skills are needed within dairy companies. Our advanced industry standard equipment and research expertise means we are at the cutting edge with these latest developments.
The programme covers all aspects of dairy technology including practical hands-on craft skills, key science principles associated with dairy and the process improvement techniques required to run an efficient modern dairy operation.
This course ensures the UK dairy industry has the very best dairy technology training in Europe, and is designed to develop well-rounded Dairy Technologists with a passion for the dairy industry.
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The course caters for a range of qualifications and applicants will be considered on an individual basis.
Applicants will need to be sponsored by a dairy company.
Overall workload
Your overall workload consists of class contact hours, independent learning and assessment activity, plus field trips. Your actual contact hours may depend on which optional modules you select, but the following information gives an indication of how much time you will need to allocate to different activities at each year of the course:
Year 1: 41% of your time is spent in teaching and learning activity
Teaching, Learning and Assessment: 339 hours
Independent Study: 811 hours
Year 2: 32% of your time is spent in teaching and learning activity
Teaching, Learning and Assessment: 294 hours
Independent Study: 906 hours
Percentage of course assessed by coursework
The balance of assessment by examination and assessment by coursework depends to some extent on the optional modules you choose. The approximate percentage of the course assessed by coursework is as follows:
Year 1
59% coursework
33% written exams
8% practical exams or presentations
Year 2
58% coursework
28% written exams
14% practical exams or presentations
Feedback is supplied via Turnitin or directly from the module tutor. The majority of submissions are made via Turnitin and feedback for coursework is provided four working weeks after the submission date. If for unforeseen reasons this is not possible, the reasons will be communicated to the students within 2 weeks and the feedback prioritised within the department.
Written feedback will be supported verbally should the student require clarification. Formative assessment feedback will be provided at the time of completion where possible, with more detailed summative feedback for reports.
Students will be able to access course timetables for the academic year in September.
Students can expect to spend 8 weeks per year on campus.
Tuition Fees
As a student at UCR, you will have two main costs to meet; your tuition fees and living costs.
All costs are met by the Dairy company sponsoring you.
Apply directly through Reaseheath
Sponsored by dairy company
September 2025
Full-time Distance Learning with 4 x 2 week practicals on UCR campus.
Here you will find useful information about the services and support available at University Centre Reaseheath. Click to expand each item:
University Centre Reaseheath is committed to providing additional financial support to those who need it. To find out about the bursary schemes available visit our additional financial support page.
For students to get the best out of their time at University Centre Reaseheath, we must both recognise that we owe obligations to each other. These obligations are set out in our UCR Student Contract. Before you accept an offer of a place at University Centre Reaseheath, it is important that you read these contract conditions. If you are going to be living in Halls of Residence, you will also need to read the Student Accommodation Licence Conditions. Both of these contracts can be found here.
Click here to view the University Centre Reaseheath Student Protection Plan.
All UCR students are given the opportunity to apply for residential accommodation. First year students are guaranteed accommodation and this offer is made to all applicants who live more than a reasonable daily travelling distance from Reaseheath (providing you have applied before the UCAS equal considerations deadline. For full details on our halls of residence visit our accommodation page.
We have a team of dedicated professionals on hand to offer you support. These include our Student Services Team, Inclusive Learning Team, Library and Learning Resources Team and the Reaseheath Careers Service. You can find more information on the support provided at Reaseheath on our support page.
University Centre Reaseheath is proud to welcome international students. For more information, please visit our international students page.
