University Centre Sparsholt

University Centre Sparsholt University Centre Sparsholt is the higher education arm of leading land-based college, Sparsholt Col

The University of Portsmouth and Sparsholt College, Hampshire, were delighted to announce the creation of ‘University Centre Sparsholt’ in December 2016. This is the new name for the College’s Higher Education programmes, which are validated by the University of Portsmouth. Sparsholt College has been offering Higher Education since the late 1970s and has worked with the University of Portsmouth, i

ts validating university, since the early 1980s. The designation of university centre allows the College to convey more clearly the quality and standards associated with these courses and differentiates them as university level programmes which was further consolidated by its achievement of a TEF Silver award in the summer. The new designation reinforces the relationship between these two highly reputable institutions – Sparsholt as a leading institution for land-based education and the University of Portsmouth which has its own world-class ranking.

Well done to all our BSc Third Years! 🤗Our annual Research Conference was a fantastic success, with inspiring guest spea...
05/06/2026

Well done to all our BSc Third Years! 🤗

Our annual Research Conference was a fantastic success, with inspiring guest speakers who truly captured our students’ attention. We’re incredibly grateful for their time and contributions.
Events like this highlight the value of research and give us a chance to celebrate the hard work and achievements of our students.

🥇Winning Poster: Kelly Caulton with her research on The impacts of urbanisation on fungal fruiting body abundance and soil properties🍄
🥈Runner Up: Hope Laake with her research on A survey investigating the causes of cataracts in captive pinnipeds in the UK, with a behavioural study focusing on enclosure usage, UV enclosure and husbandry practises with Weymouth Sea Life centres' Harbour seals (Phoca vitulina)

Well done to all who attended, and we look forward to seeing where this research can take you!

BIAZA Love Your Zoo!Next month is Pride month, and we have been celebrating the incredible diversity of our campus commu...
29/05/2026

BIAZA Love Your Zoo!

Next month is Pride month, and we have been celebrating the incredible diversity of our campus community 🌈

We are proud to have a thriving and welcoming network, be it in our staff or our students, which strengthens our ability to provide expert education, inspire action, and conserve the environment 🌳

It's in our nature.

Highlighting project success for Love Your Zoo 2026 🔦Our work in breeding the endangered heath tiger beetle (Cicindela s...
28/05/2026

Highlighting project success for Love Your Zoo 2026 🔦

Our work in breeding the endangered heath tiger beetle (Cicindela sylvatica), in collaboration with the Species Recovery Trust, is just one of the 1236 ongoing conservation projects which have been taking place across BIAZA zoos and aquariums 🌱

Our team have been working hard for many years to help restore this large, charismatic, and predatory beetle. Last year, we even gained BIAZA recognition for the project - a big win for this thoroughly underrepresented species 🪲

We recently welcomed Rhino Ark UK for a guest talk, where our HE and Access Animal Management students had the opportuni...
28/05/2026

We recently welcomed Rhino Ark UK for a guest talk, where our HE and Access Animal Management students had the opportunity to learn more about the charity’s important work. They showed great enthusiasm and interest throughout the session.🦏

Rhino Ark UK is the sister organisation of Rhino Ark Kenya, supporting vital conservation efforts across East Africa. Their UK team collaborates closely with colleagues in Kenya to submit grant applications, organise fundraising events, and raise awareness of their mission.

Feeling inspired? There’s still time to apply to study with us this September through UCAS Extra!

28/05/2026

Love Your Zoo!

Today we're highlighting some of our animals that have inspired our team throughout their careers 🐢

We have an incredible diversity of animals, from our beautiful red panda (Ailurus fulgens) that are part of an international Ex-situ conservation Programme, to our critically endangered, armour-clad radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata). 🦤

Thanks to these animals, it is well and truly in our nature to protect, care for, and teach the next generation of conservationists 🌱

Before the Reading Break, our Access to HE Animal Management students enjoyed an exciting visit to Marwell Zoo, where th...
27/05/2026

Before the Reading Break, our Access to HE Animal Management students enjoyed an exciting visit to Marwell Zoo, where they were given an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour. Highlights of the day included observing giraffe, tiger, and caracara training sessions up close.🦒

Thanks to our strong industry connections, we’re proud to offer students a wide range of valuable opportunities to learn, grow, and develop their skills.🌱

Ready to discover where life at UCS could take you? There’s still time to apply through UCAS Extra!

🌱 It's BIAZA Love Your Zoo week! 🦥Every year, we celebrate the work our zoos and aquariums do as they contribute to cons...
26/05/2026

🌱 It's BIAZA Love Your Zoo week! 🦥

Every year, we celebrate the work our zoos and aquariums do as they contribute to conservation, science, and education. For this year's campaign, we look at all the things 'In our Nature' within the zoo (and college) environment. 🌍

Follow along throughout the week as we highlight our Animal Health, Welfare, and Research Centre (AHWRC) and some of the individuals who work tirelessly for the zoo and conservation industry! 🐒

Sloths: what are they eating? 🦥On our recent theme of highlighting research, we have another paper to showcase! A joint ...
14/05/2026

Sloths: what are they eating? 🦥

On our recent theme of highlighting research, we have another paper to showcase! A joint study between lecturers, students, and the SEA LIFE nutrition team, it explores the lack of research around the folivorous (leaf eating) Linnaeus' two-toed sloth (Choloepus didactylus). Diets were compared between multiple zoological collections to discover if there were any significant differences between the nutrient composition of captive diets.

The paper found that there were differences in nutrient composition and amount of food provided between collections, concluding that it would be useful to use the results of this study to help inform the development of husbandry guidelines for this species to better their captive wellbeing in the future.

You can read the paper here: https://doi.org/10.19227/jzar.v14i1.944

Species Spotlight: The four-lined girdled lizard 🔦Today, we are highlighting one of our more underrepresented species fr...
13/05/2026

Species Spotlight: The four-lined girdled lizard 🔦

Today, we are highlighting one of our more underrepresented species from the Animal Health, Welfare, and Research Centre (AHWRC), the four-lined girdled lizard (Zonosaurus quadrilineatus).

This fascinating lizard is native to south-western Madagascar, which makes them the perfect tenant for our specialist 'Madagascar room' which they share alongside radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata) and Tantara, our Oustalet's chameleon (Furcifer oustaleti) 🐢

Identified as being 'vulnerable' on the IUCN red list of threatened species, having a specialist facility to house them, where they are professionally cared for and can demonstrate natural behaviours, means we can safeguard the species with an insurance population in captivity in the event of further wild decline.

For our students, it is a fantastic opportunity to work with this lesser-known species 🎓

Diets and nutrition of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) 🐙In a collaboration between University Centre Sparsholt (UC...
12/05/2026

Diets and nutrition of the common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) 🐙

In a collaboration between University Centre Sparsholt (UCS) and SEA LIFE - a new paper on the nutritional insights of captive octopus has been published in the Journal of Zoo and Aquarium Research (JZAR).

Aquatic invertebrates are notorious for having limited research published about them. Octopus have had some prior research on their diets in aquaculture, but this study paves the way for further research in a zoological setting. A great read and a great study which consulted various collections around the country and used our very own nutritional analysis equipment here at UCS.

You can read the paper here: https://doi.org/10.19227/jzar.v14i1.985

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Sparsholt
SO212NF

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