Skip to main content

University of Reading Cookie Policy

We use cookies on reading.ac.uk to improve your experience. Find out more about our cookie policy. By continuing to use our site you accept these terms, and are happy for us to use cookies to improve your browsing experience.

Continue using the University of Reading website

  • Schools and departments
  • University of Reading Malaysia
  • Henley Business School
  • Applicants
  • Students
  • Staff
  • Alumni
Show/Hide navigation
University of Reading
Mobile search categories
  • Study and life
  • Research
  • About us
  • View courses
  • Home
  • Study and life
    • Study
    • Student life
    • Accommodation
    • Open Days and visiting
    • International and EU students
  • Research
    • Themes
    • Impact
    • Innovation and partnerships
    • Research environment
    • Get involved
  • About us
    • Business
    • Working with the community
    • Visit us
    • Strategy
    • Governance
    • Contact us
  • Applicants
  • Students
  • Staff
  • Alumni
  • Schools and departments
  • University of Reading Malaysia
  • Henley Business School
  • View courses

BSc ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE WITH PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

  • UCAS code
    F852
  • Typical offer
    BBB
  • Year of entry
    2021
  • Course duration
     4 years
  • Year of entry
    2021
  • Course duration
     4 years
View all

On our BSc Environmental Science with Professional Experience course you will broaden your scientific knowledge of the environment through a strongly practical course, and gain valuable work experience through a year-long placement.

This course studies the environment from a scientific perspective. It will enable you to explore the Earth’s natural systems and their physical, chemical and biological interactions. This knowledge can then be used to create strategies for solving the biggest issues facing the world today, including pollution and climate change. Taught by the Department of Geography and Environmental Science, the course has a strong practical basis and you will learn the essential skills needed by today’s professional environmental scientists. You will also have the chance to experience life in another country by spending a term abroad during your final year.

Our staff are actively engaged in research and will tailor their teaching to reflect changing trends and emerging technologies within the sector. You will also benefit from small class sizes, enabling staff to support you better through your studies.

Fieldwork is a major part of this degree, and you will benefit from regular local trips and lo

nger residential visits. The University of Reading’s award-winning campus is home to over a thousand different animal species and is extremely useful for learning fieldwork skills. It offers multiple habitats for study, including lakes, hay meadows and woodlands, and allows you to step straight from the classroom to the field. Meanwhile, the University's large farms provide access to hedgerow, marshland and the Thames.

During the first year you will visit Somerset to study topics such as flooding, geology and soil formation. In your second year you will be able to visit Almeria in Spain, which is the driest area in mainland Europe. Here you will visit a solar research station and examples of greenhouse horticulture, and investigate issues such as pollution and water supply. In the final year, there is an optional field trip to Iceland.

The structure of the course enables you to pursue your own interests and even allows you to study modules from other subjects, such as biological sciences or meteorology. You can decide to pick and choose options for yourself or can stick to specialist pathways in water resources and quality, conservation and sustainability, climate and palaeoclimate change, and pollution and remediation. Furthermore, you will have the option to work as an environmental consultant for a real client. You will be assigned a stretch of the River Loddon and will carry out assessments, liaise with key stakeholders, and report your findings to the Environment Agency.

During your final year you will complete a dissertation on a topic of your choice, such as water quality, carbon budgets or soil. You may have the chance to run it in conjunction with an outside society and gain experience of completing research for a major organisation. In the past, students have worked alongside Natural England and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. There is also the option to spend a term studying abroad in areas such as Svalbard in Norway and Rhode Island in the USA.

This course is accredited by the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES).

Placement

This four-year degree course includes an industry placement or a year's study at a university abroad. The placement will involve working on a project for a local company or organisations, providing you with valuable experience of professional work, as well as enabling you to develop your research, survey, data analysis and presentation skills. Our department has a dedicated member of staff in charge of placements, who can provide you with advice and support. We have numerous links with universities in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, and you may have the opportunity to study at one of them, depending on your course. Additionally, field trips will enable you to travel to a variety of locations to carry out research.

For more information about securing and completing a placement for your placement year, please visit our Important Information page.

Overview

This course studies the environment from a scientific perspective. It will enable you to explore the Earth’s natural systems and their physical, chemical and biological interactions. This knowledge can then be used to create strategies for solving the biggest issues facing the world today, including pollution and climate change. Taught by the Department of Geography and Environmental Science, the course has a strong practical basis and you will learn the essential skills needed by today’s professional environmental scientists. You will also have the chance to experience life in another country by spending a term abroad during your final year.

Our staff are actively engaged in research and will tailor their teaching to reflect changing trends and emerging technologies within the sector. You will also benefit from small class sizes, enabling staff to support you better through your studies.

Fieldwork is a major part of this degree, and you will benefit from regular local trips and lo

nger residential visits. The University of Reading’s award-winning campus is home to over a thousand different animal species and is extremely useful for learning fieldwork skills. It offers multiple habitats for study, including lakes, hay meadows and woodlands, and allows you to step straight from the classroom to the field. Meanwhile, the University's large farms provide access to hedgerow, marshland and the Thames.

During the first year you will visit Somerset to study topics such as flooding, geology and soil formation. In your second year you will be able to visit Almeria in Spain, which is the driest area in mainland Europe. Here you will visit a solar research station and examples of greenhouse horticulture, and investigate issues such as pollution and water supply. In the final year, there is an optional field trip to Iceland.

The structure of the course enables you to pursue your own interests and even allows you to study modules from other subjects, such as biological sciences or meteorology. You can decide to pick and choose options for yourself or can stick to specialist pathways in water resources and quality, conservation and sustainability, climate and palaeoclimate change, and pollution and remediation. Furthermore, you will have the option to work as an environmental consultant for a real client. You will be assigned a stretch of the River Loddon and will carry out assessments, liaise with key stakeholders, and report your findings to the Environment Agency.

During your final year you will complete a dissertation on a topic of your choice, such as water quality, carbon budgets or soil. You may have the chance to run it in conjunction with an outside society and gain experience of completing research for a major organisation. In the past, students have worked alongside Natural England and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. There is also the option to spend a term studying abroad in areas such as Svalbard in Norway and Rhode Island in the USA.

This course is accredited by the Institution of Environmental Sciences (IES).

Placement

This four-year degree course includes an industry placement or a year's study at a university abroad. The placement will involve working on a project for a local company or organisations, providing you with valuable experience of professional work, as well as enabling you to develop your research, survey, data analysis and presentation skills. Our department has a dedicated member of staff in charge of placements, who can provide you with advice and support. We have numerous links with universities in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, and you may have the opportunity to study at one of them, depending on your course. Additionally, field trips will enable you to travel to a variety of locations to carry out research.

For more information about securing and completing a placement for your placement year, please visit our Important Information page.

Entry requirements A Level BBB | IB 30 points overall

Select Reading as your firm choice on UCAS and we will guarantee you a place if you achieve one grade lower than the published offer.

Typical offer

BBB, including grade B in one of the following subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Environmental Studies or Geology

International Baccalaureate

30 points overall, including 5 at higher level in one of the following subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geography, Environmental Studies or Geology

BTEC Extended Diploma

DDM (Modules taken must be comparable to subject specific requirement)

Extended Project Qualification

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides to students for University study, we can now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with no component below 5.5

For information on other English language qualifications, please visit our international student pages.

Alternative entry requirements for International and EU students

For country specific entry requirements, look at entry requirements by country.

International Foundation Programme

If you are an international or EU student and do not meet the requirements for direct entry to your chosen degree you can join the University of Reading’s International Foundation Programme. Successful completion of this 1 year programme guarantees you a place on your chosen undergraduate degree. English language requirements start as low as IELTS 4.5 depending on progression degree and start date.

  • Learn more about our International Foundation programme

Pre-sessional English language programme

If you need to improve your English language score you can take a pre-sessional English course prior to entry onto your degree.

  • Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme

Structure

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3
  • Year 4

Core modules include:

  • Chemistry of the earth and environment
  • Earth structure and processes
  • Environmental science field class
  • Introduction to environmental science
  • Introduction to physics of the environment
  • Soils in the environment

Optional modules include:

  • Bones, bodies and burials: the archaeology of death
  • Mammals: diversity, behaviour and conservation
  • Biogeography and soils
  • Climatology
  • Countryside and the environment
  • Earth materials
  • Ecology: species and their interactions
  • Economics 1
  • Environment and development
  • Fundamental concepts in chemistry 1
  • Geomorphology
  • Hydrology
  • IWLP language module (details unspecified)
  • Introduction to agricultural and food systems
  • Introduction to meteorology
  • Physical processes for biologists
  • Practical field ecology
  • Practising archaeology: methods and approaches
  • The living cell
  • Weather and climate fundamentals
Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Core modules include:

  • Career and placement learning for environmental science
  • Chemistry of natural and contaminated environments
  • Environmental science field class 2
  • Excel data management and analysis
  • Soil ecology and functions
  • Transport processes in the environment

Optional modules include:

  • Birds: diversity, behaviour and conservation
  • Vertebrate zoology - structure, form and function
  • Animal behaviour
  • Biogeography and conservation
  • Energy resources
  • Evolutionary biology
  • Forecasting: practice and presentation
  • Forestry and woodlands
  • Geomorphological hazards
  • Human activity and environmental change
  • Introduction to entomology
  • Invertebrate zoology
  • Methods in ecology and environmental management
  • Nature conservation
  • Quaternary global climate change
  • Spatial data in the digital age
  • Sustainable resource management
Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Core modules include:

  • Professional experience
Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Core modules include:

  • Geography and environmental science dissertation

Optional modules include:

  • People, plants and environmental change
  • Plants, animals and climate change
  • Plants, greenspace and urban sustainability
  • Soil, atmosphere and vegetation modelling
  • Water, agriculture and irrigation
  • Applied and environmental soil microbiology
  • Aquatic environments: problems and management
  • Carbon and global change
  • Climate change and food systems
  • Conservation biology
  • Conservation and biodiversity: global and local scales
  • Contaminated land management
  • Earth systems field class
  • Environmental and ecological weed management
  • Environmental management
  • Environmental science literature project
  • Forensic zoology
  • Holocene climate change and human society
  • IWLP language module (details unspecified)
  • Rural policy and countryside planning
  • Study Abroad (40 Credits)
  • Study Abroad (50 Credits)
  • Study Abroad (60 Credits)
  • Urban biodiversity
  • Water resources
  • Wildlife in the farming environment
Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Fees

New UK/Republic of Ireland students: £9,250* per year

New international students: £20,830 per year

*UK/Republic of Ireland fee changes

UK/Republic of Ireland undergraduate tuition fees are regulated by the UK government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

EU student fees

With effect from 1 August 2021, new EU students will pay international tuition fees. For exceptions, please read the UK government's guidance for EU students.

Additional costs

Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Placement Year fees

If you spend a full year on placement – including professional and research placements and industrial experience – you'll pay a discounted tuition fee for that year.

For UK/Republic of Ireland students, the discounted fee is subject to parliamentary approval and is currently capped at £1,385.

For International students, the discount is 15% of your normal tuition fee.

For more information, please contact placements@reading.ac.uk.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

Careers

Your practical and scientific knowledge combined with teamwork, writing and presentation skills, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances will make you highly desirable to a range of employers.

As an BSc Environmental Science graduate you will be well placed to move into a variety of technical and scientific roles within areas such as environmental protection, renewable energy, sustainable transport, water, environmental consultancy and geological consultancy. Recent students have gone on to work for a range of major organisations including the Environment Agency, Sustrans, Thames Water, the Atomic Weapons Establishment, WS Atkins, Card Geotechnics and TV Energy.

Alternatively you can choose to further develop your skills by moving into research, teacher training or postgraduate studies.

I've enjoyed keeping as broad a spectrum as possible which has helped me get my placements as a farmland ecology research student. As an environmental scientist, you have the opportunity to take modules of other disciplines such as agriculture, geography and biology. It's surprising how much new subject areas can spark a new passion.

Tom Elliott

BSc Environmental Science with Professional Experience

Related Courses

  • BSc Environmental Science F851
    Full Time: 3 Years
  • BSc Environmental Management F750
    Full Time: 3 Years
  • BSc Environmental Management with Placement Year D447
    Full Time: 4 Years


View all Environment degree courses courses

Contextual offers


We make contextual offers for all our courses.

Take the next step


How to apply

Come to an Open Day

Get a prospectus

Ask us a question

Chat to our students

mask
Close
CHOOSE A SUBJECT
2020
2021
Undergraduates
Postgraduates
Undergraduates
Postgraduates

Subjects A-B

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Science
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Architectural Engineering
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Building and Surveying
  • Business and Management, Accounting and Finance

Subjects C-E

  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Classical Studies
  • Climate Science
  • Computer Science
  • Construction Management
  • Consumer Behaviour and Marketing
  • Creative Writing
  • Drama
  • Ecology
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environment

Subjects F-G

  • Film & Television
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Foundation programmes
  • French
  • Geography
  • German
  • Graphic Communication and Design

Subjects H-M

  • Healthcare
  • History
  • International Development
  • International Foundation Programme (IFP)
  • International Relations
  • Italian
  • Languages and Cultures
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Marketing
  • Mathematics
  • Medical Sciences
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Museum Studies

Subjects N-T

  • Nutrition
  • Pharmacology
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate Studies
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Psychology
  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Spanish
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Surveying and Construction
  • Teaching
  • Theatre

Subjects U-Z

  • Wildlife Conservation
  • Zoology

Subjects A-C

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Sciences
  • Archaeology
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Business (Post-Experience)
  • Business and Management (Pre-Experience)
  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Ancient History
  • Climate Science
  • Computer Science
  • Construction Management and Engineering
  • Consumer Behaviour
  • Creative Enterprise

Subjects D-G

  • Data Science
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Energy and Environmental Engineering
  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environmental Science
  • Film, Theatre and Television
  • Finance
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Geography and Environmental Science
  • Graphic Design

Subjects H-P

  • Healthcare
  • History
  • Information Management and Digital Business
  • Information Technology
  • International Development and Applied Economics
  • Languages and Cultures
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Management
  • Medieval History
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Microbiology
  • Nutritional Sciences
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Project Management
  • Psychology
  • Public Policy

Subjects Q-Z

  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Social Policy
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Strategic Studies
  • Teaching
  • Theatre
  • Typography and Graphic Communication
  • War and Peace Studies
  • Zoology

Subjects A-B

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Science
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Architectural Engineering
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Building and Surveying
  • Business and Management, Accounting and Finance

Subjects C-E

  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Classical Studies
  • Climate Science
  • Computer Science
  • Construction Management
  • Consumer Behaviour and Marketing
  • Creative Writing
  • Drama
  • Ecology
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environment

Subjects F-G

  • Film & Television
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Foundation programmes
  • French
  • Geography
  • German
  • Graphic Communication and Design

Subjects H-M

  • Healthcare
  • History
  • International Development
  • International Foundation Programme (IFP)
  • International Relations
  • Italian
  • Languages and Cultures
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Marketing
  • Mathematics
  • Medical Sciences
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Museum Studies

Subjects N-T

  • Nutrition
  • Pharmacology
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate Studies
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Psychology
  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Spanish
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Surveying and Construction
  • Teaching
  • Theatre

Subjects U-Z

  • Wildlife Conservation
  • Zoology

Subjects A-C

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Sciences
  • Archaeology
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Business (Post-Experience)
  • Business and Management (Pre-Experience)
  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Ancient History
  • Climate Science
  • Computer Science
  • Construction Management and Engineering
  • Consumer Behaviour
  • Creative Enterprise

Subjects D-G

  • Data Science
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Energy and Environmental Engineering
  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environmental Science
  • Film, Theatre and Television
  • Finance
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Geography and Environmental Science
  • Graphic Design

Subjects H-P

  • Healthcare
  • History
  • Information Management and Digital Business
  • Information Technology
  • International Development and Applied Economics
  • Languages and Cultures
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Management
  • Medieval History
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Microbiology
  • Nutritional Sciences
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Project Management
  • Psychology
  • Public Policy

Subjects Q-Z

  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Social Policy
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Strategic Studies
  • Teaching
  • Theatre
  • Typography and Graphic Communication
  • War and Peace Studies
  • Zoology

Ready for more?

How to apply
Visit an Open Day
Get a prospectus
View courses
  • Charitable status 
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies
  • Terms of use
  • Sitemap

© University of Reading