Oaklands College Rugby Programme: Developing Stars of the Future

Oaklands is one of the few colleges in the country to have a formal link with a Premiership Rugby Club, providing students with a unique opportunity to get a taste of life as a professional player.

In a unique partnership between Saracens and the College in St Albans, the Rugby Programme is a full-time course, which allows learners the opportunity to train each day, study a Level 3 National BTEC Qualification and play for the college team.

The team has a growing reputation up and down the country, competing regularly with top schools and other colleges linked to premiership rugby clubs. The college programme is also proud to have been able to produce a regular stream of international, divisional and county players.

The learners' academic programme is tailored specifically around training/playing to allow optimal opportunities in the gym, out on the field and time to travel to away games. The forthcoming season will see games in Gloucester, Leeds, Manchester, Worcester, Northampton as well as more local fixtures.

A real emphasis of the training programme is on skill development, game play and strength & conditioning. Players train on a daily basis and are required to have a professional approach to their training and development.

Each player's competitive programme will be worked out individually and will consist of a mix of college 1st XV or 2nd XV games, junior club games, representative games or even opportunities for the Saracens Academy or A Team. Players will be managed by the club's academy staff, Dave Hesketh and Matt Davies who will supervise their conditioning, technical & tactical development and competitive programmes.

The players will spend half of their time improving their rugby skills on the training field, and the rest of their week in lessons as they continue their education. The academic programme offers learners a BTEC National Diploma (equivalent to 3 A-Levels) or Certificate (equivalent to 2 A-Levels) in Sport Performance & Excellence. In addition to this, students will undertake further study in Key Skills, Drug Awareness, Sports Leadership, First Aid in Sport and Nutrition.

Students will also undertake their RFU Level 1 Coaching Award and will take a Sports Leader Award to help facilitate possible community work at local schools / clubs.

As an exit route, learners are encouraged to move on to higher education, when appropriate, where they can continue to study and play rugby. Previous students have taken up university places at Durham, Loughborough, Bath, St Mary's Twickenham, Nottingham and Bedford to name a few. In addition some elite players have taken up professional playing contracts with the club.

For more details about the course please click here.

If you are interested in applying for the next academic year and you are currently in Year 11 or 16-17 years old, please download the attached application form or email for further details. We will also be holding open evenings to come and find out more about the course - for dates please email Dave Hesketh.

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