Overview
From climate change to depleting natural resources, our planet faces many challenges. Environmental scientists stand on the front line in tackling these issues. If you want to join them, this is the course for you.
On this BSc (Hons) Environmental Science degree course, you’ll explore how the environment is changing and what steps we're taking to minimise our impact on it. You’ll use the latest tech to analyse pollutants, soil structure and water quality and go on plenty of field trips to put your skills to work outside of the classroom.
This course is your first step towards professional certification as an Environmental Scientist. The Government is putting sustainability at the heart of policy making. So your skills will be in high demand for a wide range of Master’s, PhD’s and jobs within the environmental sector including academia, business or Government positions.
What you'll experience
On this degree course you’ll:
- Examine the physical and social aspects of environmental issues and develop practical skills to carry out your own environmental research
- Get experience in our environmental labs using the same techniques employed by the world’s leading environmental researchers, including plasma spectrometry and electron microscopy
- Make use of teaching and research facilities at the internationally renowned Institute of Marine Sciences
- Go on field trips to locations such as Somerset, Isle of Wight, Malta, Portugal, Malaysia and Belize
- Develop leadership and teamworking skills by working on group projects in the field and in the lab
- Take advantage of our waterside location with boats available for marine excursions and the option to learn scientific and technical diving in a PADI-certified unit
- Do a final year independent project considering the ethical issues connected to the project and health and safety documentation
- Have the opportunity to study abroad at institutions including Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain), Universite du Havre, (Le Havre, France) and Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznan, Poland)
- Have the opportunity to learn a language and earn credit towards your degree as part of the University's Institution-Wide Language Programme
Teaching
Teaching methods on this course include:
- lectures
- tutorials
- laboratory work
- field work
- workshops
How you're assessed
You’ll be assessed through:
- field work or lab notebook recordings
- reports
- site surveys
- computer-based exercises
- oral presentation and essays
- posters
- presentations
The way you’re assessed may depend on the modules you select. As a guide, students on this course last year were typically assessed as follows:
- Year 1 students: 52% by written exams, 8% by practical exams and 40% by coursework
- Year 2 students: 40% by written exams, 12% by practical exams and 48% by coursework
- Year 3 students: 33% by written exams, 4% by practical exams and 63% by coursework
Careers and opportunities
After the course, you could go on to study Master’s PhD’s, work in academia, business and Government in a wide range of environmental specialties such as, conservation, pollution monitoring and control, waste management, sustainability, audit and assessment, climate change and energy resources.
What jobs can you do with an Environmental Science degree?
Roles our graduates have taken on include:
- Environmental chemist
- Environmental consultant
- Geographic information scientist
- Conservation officer
- Waste Management Manager
- Environmental Policy officer
- Hydrologist
- Climate change modeller
Placement year
After your second year, you can do an optional work placement year to get valuable longer-term work experience in the industry.
Students have completed work placements at top organisations, including:
- Leap Environmental
- Mott MacDonald
- Enitial
We’ll help you secure a work placement that fits your aspirations. You’ll get mentoring and support throughout the year.
Work experience and career planning
To give you the best chance of securing a great job, our Careers and Employability service can help you find relevant work experience during your course and for up to 5 years after you graduate.
We can help you identify placements, internships and voluntary roles that will complement your studies and build links in the industry.
