[5] The university provides undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to students from over 45 countries in the course areas of Agriculture, Business, Cultural Heritage, Environment, Equine, and Land & Property.

Construction of the main building, in Victorian Tudor style, began in April 1845 and was designed by S. W. Daukes and John R. Hamilton, and built by Thomas Bridges of Cirencester.

In 2011, an old sheep shed at the front of the farm complex was turned into the 'John Oldacre Rural Innovation Centre' a building designed for the training of students and members of the public in vocational skills such as rough-terrain forklift truck driving, blacksmithing, chainsaw and welding course, etc.

[17] The JORIC was officially opened in March 2014 by Sir John Beddington and the site was visited in November 2013 by Prince Charles.

The university has a range of sports facilities on campus, including a gym, an all-weather pitch, and squash and tennis courts.

[21] The university library holds around 40,000 print volumes, nearly 1,000 current journal subscriptions, more than 40,000 e-books and a growing number of full-text databases.

In April 2023, the university was criticised by animal rights activists after students tied a dead fox to the roof of a car during a charity event.

[24] Similarly, on 29 March 2023 it was reported by Channel 4 News that the Royal Agricultural College Beagles were allegedly hare-coursing - an act that has been illegal since 2005.