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Geology with Integrated Foundation Year

Entry requirements


A level

C,C,C

including a Science subject Where an applicant is taking the EPQ alongside A-levels, the EPQ will be taken into consideration and result in lower A-level grades being required. Socio-economics factors which may have impacted an applicant's education will be taken into consideration and alternative offers may be made to these applicants. Acceptable Science subjects: Mathematics, Physics, Geology, Chemistry, Geography, Biology.

UCAS Tariff

96

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Geology

Our Integrated Foundation Year will take you through a carefully-designed course to help you to progress confidently onto your undergraduate degree.

The Geology Foundation Year provides progressive structures in which you are able to gain knowledge and understanding of approaches to scientific study and your chosen degree subject.

Your course provides an introduction to modern Geology/Earth Sciences with a variety of theoretical and practical hands-on experiences and equips you with the study skills and confidence necessary to successfully progress to UG honours degree courses in Earth Sciences

To understand the physical Earth and the dynamic processes that continue to alter and change our environment it is important to understand the geology of our planet. BSc Geology combines disciplines including chemistry, physics, maths, and geography to fully comprehend the past, present, and future of our planet.

A degree in Earth Sciences develops your ability to successfully apply scientific knowledge and transferable skills. A programme of fieldwork enables you to put into practice all aspects of the taught programme in Earth Sciences, as well as providing a chance for staff and students to get to know each other. The fieldwork programme is designed to provide progressive training through projects, involving either geological mapping or environmental data collection.

On successful completion, you’ll be equipped with:

- a broad understanding of the fundamental scientific knowledge and terminology of Geology/Earth Sciences

- an awareness of current areas of debate and discovery in Earth Sciences, and their investigation by scientific knowledge and methods

- the skills required to conduct standard fieldwork and laboratory procedures in Geology/Earth Sciences, together with skills in monitoring, observation, documentation and quantitative or qualitative measurement in the laboratory and field.

From time to time, we make changes to our courses to improve the student and learning experience, and this is particularly the case as we continue to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. If we make a significant change to your chosen course, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.

Modules

Please refer to our website for information: https://royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/2022/undergraduate/earth-sciences/bsc-geology-with-integrated-foundation-year/

Assessment methods

In your Foundation Year, teaching methods include a mixture of lectures, practical classes and workshops, laboratory classes, individual tutorials, and supervisory sessions. Outside of the classroom you’ll undertake guided and independent practice. You will be assigned a Personal Tutor in the Department of Earth Sciences and will have regular scheduled sessions. In the Foundation Year, you’ll also be assigned a Personal Tutor in the Centre for the Development of Academic Skills (CeDAS). Assessments are varied; practical exercises, weekly problem sheets, set exercises, written examinations, laboratory reports. In addition the Foundation Year offers a full range of skills-based training.

For your degree course, teaching methods will include a mixture of lectures, seminars, individual tutorials, and practical field and laboratory work. Outside the classroom, students will be expected to undertake study to understand the taught material, and to carry out the assessed coursework. Assessment tasks are viewed as complementary opportunities for students to show how they have achieved module objectives, and may be carried out through a combination of reports, projects, examinations and/or tests to assess coursework. Your Personal Tutor will be supportive for your academic progress and wellbeing throughout your studies.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£25,200
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Royal Holloway, University of London

Department:

Earth 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.

78%
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

72%
Staff make the subject interesting
83%
Staff are good at explaining things
78%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
83%
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

83%
Library resources
83%
IT resources
89%
Course specific equipment and facilities
61%
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?

90%
UK students
10%
International students
57%
Male students
43%
Female students
84%
2:1 or above
0%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
C

After graduation


The stats in this section 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

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
93%
med
Employed or in further education
63%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

13%
Natural and social science professionals
12%
Other elementary services occupations
10%
Engineering professionals

The market for geologists is has been quite linked to the oil industry for some time now, and the drop in the price of oil has meant the industry has stopped recruiting as many people for the time being. Geologists are still in demand, though, so the main effect has been to reduce the opportunities - and salaries - for geologists working abroad. At home, the oil industry remains a big employer, and so are the mining, civil engineering, construction and consultancy industries, with geology graduates working as geologists, geophysicists, civil engineers and environmental professionals.

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.

£20k

£20k

£26k

£26k

£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 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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