Aberdeen and North of Scotland College of Agriculture (NOSCA) was founded at meeting of the Board of Governors in 1904. Those present were local agriculturalists, council representatives from across Aberdeen and shire, as well as agriculture staff of the University of Aberdeen. Their formation was soon ratified by the Scotch Education Department.
NOSCA was housed in the Laboratories and classrooms of Marischal College in its early days, with courses taught primarily by university agriculture staff. The BSc degree courses in Agriculture were conferred by the University.
Craibstone Estate was initially leased by the college as a site for experiments and field work in 1908. The land was purchased from the Board of Trustees for Alexander Scott’s Hospital in 1912.
In 1969, the School of Agriculture was built on the corner of the University of Aberdeen’s campus at 581 King Street. The building housed classrooms, lecture theatres, laboratories and a library. The College's offices were located at 41½ Union Street near the centre of Aberdeen. These buildings would comprise NOSCA and SAC Aberdeen’s premises until the completion of the Ferguson Building at Craibstone in 1999. The old school of agriculture remained with the university and has since been renamed the MacRobert Building.
In 1990, the College became part of the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC).
Oatridge Agricultural College was a further education institution specialising in agriculture and rural skills training. It was formed in 1967 when Ecclesmachan was chosen as the site of Scotland's first local authority residential college for further education in agriculture. Originally courses were taught in temporary accommodation on the farm site. In 1974, the main building with workshops and accommodation was officially opened by HRH Prince Philip. The new buildings provided facilities for courses in agriculture, agricultural engineering, green keeping, horse care and forestry.
In 2012, the College became part of Scotland's Rural College (SRUC).
The Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) was a higher education and research institution specialising in agriculture. It was formed in 1990 as a merger between the three regional Scottish Colleges of Agriculture (North, East and West). SAC was the largest institution of its type in the UK, and one of the largest in Europe. It ran for 22 years until SRUC was formed in 2012.
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) was formed in 2012 following the merger of SAC (Scottish Agricultural College) with Barony, Elmwood and Oatridge Colleges. SRUC comprises three Divisions: SRUC Education, SAC Research and SAC Consulting. SRUC carries out teaching and research in Agriculture and Business Management, Animal and Equine studies, Environment and Countryside, Engineering, Science and Technology, Horticulture and Landscape and Sport and Tourism. In addition to the six campuses, SRUC consists of a number of research centres and consultancy offices across Scotland and the North of England, as well as six farms and eight veterinary disease surveillance centres.
James T Steele ("later OBE" according to the donor) was awarded the medals as a student with The University of Edinburgh and EESCA. The medals were awarded between the years 1906 - 1910. Six of the medals were awarded from The University of Edinburgh (Agriculture, Law and landlord tenant, Agricultural entomology, Elementary zoology, Forestry and Plant physiology) and four from EESCA (Handicraft, Agricultural zoology, Agricultural chemistry and Veterinary Science) The donor also handed in a wooden box with 121 glass slides with various specimens from the natural world, she believes this box belonged to the grandfather.
The West of Scotland Agricultural College (WSAC) was formed in 1899, following the merger of the agricultural department of the Glasgow and the West of Scotland Technical College and the Scottish Dairy Institute.
WSAC was the first agricultural college in Scotland. In 1900, the College was based in Blythswood Square, Glasgow and leased Holmes Farm in Kilmarnock where practical work was undertaken. In 1927, the estate of Auchincruive, Ayr, was gifted to the College by the late John Hannah of Girvan Mains. It originally offered lectures and demonstration work in the science and practice of agriculture including; dairying, chemistry, botany, book-keeping and veterinary science. In 1974, the Blythswood square site was closed.
In 1990, the College became part of the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC)..