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Geology

Entry requirements


Minimum of two A-levels or equivalent.

About this course


Course option

2years

Part-time | 2024

Subject

Geology

This Geology Certificate in Higher Education has been designed with flexibility in mind. It will allow you to explore the Earth Sciences and take modules from the range of fields within the subject, including the structure of the Earth, volcanoes, earthquakes and fossils. You will have the opportunity to build a portfolio of subjects based on your needs and interests and to take part in a geology field class.

Whether you want to study geology for your own interest, to enhance your career or to pursue a degree in the subject after completing this course, this certificate can be taken as a stand-alone qualification or as a starting point for the BSc Planetary Exploration with Astronomy and Astrobiology.

Our Geology Certificate in Higher Education allows you to be flexible in your learning so you can fit your study around work or other commitments. You can choose to study through in-person teaching at our campus in the heart of London, via distance learning or a mixture of both.

**Highlights**

- We offer you flexible teaching methods, balancing face-to-face and online learning.

- Field trip opportunity to geological site in Pembrokeshire.

- We are part of the joint UCL-Birkbeck Institute of Earth and Planetary Sciences (IEPS) meaning we share laboratories, expertise and events, all open to students for research projects.

- Birkbeck was rated in the top 25 universities in the UK for its Earth Systems and Environmental Science research in the 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

- We have been offering evening study courses in the subjects of earth and planetary sciences for over 70 years and distance learning for more than 20 years.

**Careers and employability**

Graduates can pursue career paths in the oil, mineral and groundwater industries, academia or geology. Possible professions include:

- engineering geologist

- geochemist

- geophysicist

- hydrogeologist

- higher education lecturer.

We offer a comprehensive careers service - Careers and Enterprise - your career partner during your time at Birkbeck and beyond. At every stage of your career journey, we empower you to take ownership of your future, helping you to make the connection between your experience, education and future ambitions.

Modules

For information about course structure and the moules you will be studying, please visit Birkbeck’s online prospectus.

Assessment methods

A combination of reports on field-based projects, laboratory work and written examinations. Some modules include continuous assessment through written work.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

England
£4,625
per year
International
£4,625
per year
Northern Ireland
£4,625
per year
Scotland
£4,625
per year
Wales
£4,625
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Birkbeck, University of London

Department:

School of Natural Sciences

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

93%
Geology

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Earth sciences

Teaching and learning

100%
Staff make the subject interesting
100%
Staff are good at explaining things
93%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
87%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

80%
Library resources
73%
IT resources
87%
Course specific equipment and facilities
80%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

93%
UK students
7%
International students
53%
Male students
47%
Female students
58%
2:1 or above
34%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
D
B

After graduation


We don't have more detailed stats to show you in relation to this subject area at this university but read about typical employment outcomes and prospects for graduates of this subject below.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Earth sciences

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£28k

£28k

£30k

£30k

£31k

£31k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.

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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.

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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Course location and department:

This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.

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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):

We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

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