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Full Time: 4 Years | including a placement year
With our BSc Physical Geography with professional Experience course you will study processes that shape the ecological world around us. Learn through a mixture of engaging field classes and technical training in laboratory skills, with plenty of support from our academics.
Field classes are one of the most popular aspects of this degree and include trips to Naples, the island of Crete, and Almeria in Spain. Students love the chance to get out there and complete field-based research.
Field classes are subsidised but additional costs are involved. You will be guaranteed a place on at least one field trip. We are also developing additional field trips to Iceland, Africa and Latin America.
The award-winning Whiteknights campus is incredibly beautiful and diverse, offering you the chance to carry out some experiments and tests on-site.
By your final year, you will be able to specialise in the areas that are interesting and important to you. Previous students have studied climate change and water pollution, for example. You will have the support and expertise of world renowned academics from other departments and can work on real research projects.
Placement
This four-year degree course includes a professional placement which provides you with opportunities to work with partner organisations on research projects. Recent examples include Thames Water, the Environment Agency, Reading Borough Council, the Earth Trust, Reading Buses and West Berkshire Wildlife Group.
You will benefit from the links that members of staff have with industry and with external organisations such as NGOs, local authorities, and government departments. Most recently, a final-year student undertook field work for her dissertation at the Environmental Studies Centre in Cyprus, benefiting from the expertise and facilities available in a challenging and exciting environment overseas.
Our Department enjoys active links with approved partner universities in Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA. In the autumn term of your final year, you will have the chance to study abroad for a term – either in the Netherlands (Groningen), Denmark (Aarhus), or Norway (University of Bergen or Svalbard). All classes are conducted in English and bursaries are available to help with travel and accommodation costs.
For more information about securing and completing a placement for your placement year, please visit our Important Information page.
For more information, please visit the Department of Geography and Environmental Science website.
Typical offer A Level BBB | IB 30 points overall
What will you study?
How much will it cost?
New UK/EU students: £9,250* per year
New international students: £20,830 per year
* UK and EU fee changes
UK undergraduate fees are regulated by the government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK and EU** students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.
From 2020, the UK government may link tuition fees to the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).
**EU students
For more information on fees, loans and grants for EU students, see fees and funding for home/EU students.
Additional costs
These course fees cover the cost of your tuition. 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 Home/EU 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 and other EU countries 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.
* UK and EU Fee Changes
Subject to the Government passing legislation to raise the minimum fee cap, we will raise undergraduate tuition fees from £9,000 to £9,250 for new UK/EU students applying to start courses in the 2017/18 academic year. You will not be affected by this rise if you have deferred entry to the 2017/18 academic year. The Government will confirm future arrangements for EU students in due course.
The tuition fee will remain £9,000 per year for the full duration of this course if you start in the 2016/17 academic year or have accepted an offer but deferred your entry until the 2017/18 academic year. This is unlike other institutions who are planning to raise fees midway through courses.
For further information, please see our webpage on the Teaching Excellence Framework and future tuition fees.
Additional costs
These course fees cover the cost of your tuition. 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.
Financial support for your studies
You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK and other EU countries 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.
What career can you have?
Overall, 95% of our graduates are in work or further study 15 months after the end of their course (Graduate Outcomes Survey 2017/18; First Degree responders from Geography and Environmental Science). Our degrees give you the specific and general transferable skills needed for a range of careers in areas such as renewable energy, wildlife conservation, urban and transport planning, biodiversity and climatology, as well as careers where a geography degree is highly regarded, such as surveying and architecture.
You can undertake a work or research placement as part of your course and there are numerous opportunities to work on research projects with partner organisations such as Thames Water, the Environment Agency, Reading Borough Council, the Earth Trust and Natural England. Recent placement and internship projects involved neighbourhood regeneration, resilience and sustainability, food and consumerism in the media and responses to epidemics in poorer countries. You can enhance your degree with a full year of professional experience between your second and third year of study.