Geography with a Year Abroad
Swansea University
UCAS Code: F8R9 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Swansea University
UCAS Code: F8R9 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
To include Geography or a related subject (eg. Sociology or World Development, Geology or Environmental Science; or an additional Science subject)
Access to HE (Science or Humanities): Pass with Distinction (27-24 Distinctions to include 3 in Geography or an appropriate subject, plus 15 Merits)
We recognise the EPQ as an excellent indicator of success. If you are predicted a grade B or above in the EPQ, you will receive an offer with a one grade reduction, to include your EPQ with a grade B.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
To include 5 in Higher Level Geography
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Plus A-Level Grade B in Geography or a related subject
Scottish Higher
To include Grade B in Geography (or related subject)
Swansea University accepts the Advanced Skills Baccalaureate Wales as fully equivalent to x1 A-Level.
Requirements are as for A-Levels where you can substitute the same non-specific grade for the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Level core Grade
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
From exploring landscapes and how they are shaped, to interpreting satellite Earth observation and GIS data, to monitoring environmental changes from Space, the study of geography is more relevant than ever.
**Why Swansea?**
If your interest lies more in physical geography and science, our BSc is an excellent choice; if it lies in human geography and the arts, you may prefer our BA scheme. Both will equip you with highly desirable practical, numerical and computational skills for a wide range of careers. These include regional planning, environmental management, local authority work, financial planning, computing or business and retail management.
We are ideally placed to offer exceptional fieldwork opportunities. Just a short drive from the UK’s first designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Gower Peninsula, you will have easy access to Bannau Brycheiniog, rural west Wales and the urban and industrial landscapes of South Wales. You’ll also have an opportunity to carry out fieldwork overseas in Austria, Berlin, Malaysian Borneo, Mallorca, New York or Vancouver.
Through this degree, you will explore topical issues such as glacial environments and processes, climate change, meteorology and plate tectonics. You’ll also get the chance to experience different cultures and may even learn some valuable language skills through your year abroad.
You will be taught in our £4.2m state-of-the-art Science laboratories, in a vibrant and friendly department. You’ll have access to our high-performance computer lab for processing and interpreting satellite earth observation and GIS data, a stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer, a climatic test chamber, mineral magnetic characterisation equipment and an automatic organic carbon analyser.
You will learn from internationally renowned academics including Professor Tavi Murray, the first woman to be awarded Polar Medal by HM Queen, Professor Adrian Luckman, who has achieved global media coverage for his climate change research, Professor Peter North, who received international coverage of his work with NASA, and Professor Siwan Davies, whose work focuses on the dramatic changes to our climate.
You can change between our BA and BSc schemes up until the end of Year 2. This degree is also offered as a four-year course with a year in industry (F273).
"I really enjoyed the variety of different subjects the geography degree offered. The care and passion that lecturers had was noticeable. The field trip to Sikkim was amazing and I learnt so many skills on the trip that have helped me a great deal going forward."
- Louie Vaughan, BSc Geography
**We guarantee that you will be made a conditional offer for a course at Swansea University. Subject requirements will apply. Please come along to our next Open Day or get in touch for further information.** Book an Open Day here: https://www.swansea.ac.uk/our-open-days/
Modules
In Year 1, you’ll study several compulsory modules covering topics such as global environmental change, people place and nation, global shifts and sustainability. You will then choose from optional modules covering geographical skills and methods, writing skills and personal development planning and practical field projects, and topics such as mobilities and migration, urban geography and geology.
In Year 2, you’ll choose from a range of optional modules covering data analysis, approaches to human and physical geography, and conducting social and environmental research. You’ll study topics such as geographic information systems, glacial environments and processes, creative geographies, quaternary environmental change, regional economic development and policy, boundaries and connections, global vegetation patterns and dynamics, political geographies, urban modelling and geological record of past environments. You’ll also have an opportunity to take part in an overseas field trip.
In Year 3, you’ll spend a year abroad at one of our partner institutions experiencing a different culture.
In Year 4, you’ll undertake your dissertation and choose from a range of optional modules covering topics such as migration, security and humanism, contemporary rural Britain, geographies of national identity, glaciology, humid tropical environments and landscapes, meteorology and atmospheric science, plate tectonics and global geophysics, World cities, environmental modelling and the climate of the last 1,000 years. You’ll also have the opportunity to undertake an interdisciplinary field trip to the Indian Himalayas (Sikkim).
Assessment methods
On the BSc Geography with a Year Abroad course you will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, practical classes and field classes. You will be assessed through a variety of methods, including examinations, coursework, practical work, fieldwork and continuous assessment from tutorials. You will also complete a dissertation in your final year.
What students say
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Physical geographical sciences
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Physical geographical sciences
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Top job areas of graduates
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Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Physical geographical 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.
£18k
£24k
£28k
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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