Course Overview
You will undertake an extensive course of study, gain a wide range of skills and have the opportunity to cover many innovative and exciting modules that make Geography at Lancaster distinctive.
For example, you could launch your teaching career with our unique Communicating Geography programme. This programme is a distinctive feature of your degree course and gives you experience of working in a local school in order to develop your own project on a geographical topic. It will also help you to develop vital career skills. Alongside this you can take options such as Enterprise for the Environment, where you work with academics and staff from companies based in our Environmental Centre, or our Iceland field course on Glacier-Landscape Interactions.
On our Geography/North America degree courses, you will spend your second year at a partner university in the United States or Canada. You will follow your chosen university's study programme while away from Lancaster. The modules you take overseas will count towards your final degree assessment.
Your final year includes the completion of an in-depth dissertation.
Related Courses
Modules
Lancaster degree programmes are flexible, offering students the opportunity to cover a wide selection of subject areas to compliment their degree. The following is an example list of modules which our previous students have studied. For a full list contact the Lancaster Environment Centre department.
Year 1
- Biodiversity and Conservation
- Natural Hazards
- Society and space - Human Geography
- Geographical Skills and Application in a Changing World
- Environmental Issues for the 21st Century
- Interdisciplinary Skills
- Environmental processes and systems
Year 2
- Concepts
- Techniques
- Environment and Society
- Development, Geography and the Majority World
- Geographies of Nature
- Ecosystem Services and Society
- Natural Resources and Sustainable Development
- Geographies of Political Economy
- Geographies of Everyday Life
Year 3
- Dissertation
- Africa:Geographies of Transformation
- Labour in a Globalising Economy
- Environment, Politics and Society in Amazonia
Lancaster University offers the chance to follow a structured study programme or the option to devise a more flexible programme. We divide academic study into 2 sections - Part 1 (Year 1) and Part 2 (Year 2, 3 and sometimes 4). In Part 1 you will take three modules of study which, depending upon your programme, will be drawn from one, two or three different academic subjects, a higher degree of specialisation then develops in subsequent years. For more information about our teaching methods at Lancaster visit our Teaching and Learning section.
For further information about the department, staff and courses please visit the Lancaster Environment Centre department website.
Entry Criteria
A-level: AAB including Geography. We normally expect three A-levels, including Geography.
General Studies: Not accepted
Preference: A-levels
Key skills: Not included in offer
GCSE: English and Maths (grade C in each)
Scottish Highers: ABBBB
Irish Leaving Cert: Offers will be made on the basis of 5 or 6 Higher level subjects. Please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office (01524 592028) for further information
International Bacc: 35 pts overall with 16 pts from best three HL courses inc. Geography at higher level
BTEC: DDD/DDM
Mature students: Applications welcomed; you may be offered a place after interview even without the usual qualifications . Please contact the Undergraduate Admissions Office (01524 592028) for further information
IELTS: 6.5
Careers
Recent graduates have entered careers using their degree-related skills in roles such as teaching, land surveyors and environmental consultants. Others have found employment with the transferable skills that they have gained and are working as teachers, in banking and in other commercial sectors.
Many Lancaster Geography graduates go on to further study, with recent graduates following Masters-level programmes in Resource and Environmental Management, IT and Data Communication and Transport Planning. Graduates from our North America scheme often return to continue their studies or work.
Lancaster University is dedicated to ensuring you not only gain a highly reputable degree, you also graduate with the relevant life and work based skills. We are unique in that every student is eligible to participate in The Lancaster Award which offers you the opportunity to complete key activities such as work experience, employability/career development, campus community and social development. Visit our Employability section for full details.
Studying
Teaching and Learning Methods
At Lancaster we offer a broad range of learning environments which include the traditional lectures, tutorials, interactive workshops, laboratory and practical activities, student-led seminars and web-based delivery.
The modules which make up a programme of study are assessed using various methods, enabling students to demonstrate their capabilities in a range of ways. Typical coursework assignments include laboratory reports, essays, exercises, literature reviews, short tests, poster sessions and oral presentations. Formal examinations include basic and in-depth questions, essays and data analysis. Students are supervised in the production of final year project reports and dissertations, while students in laboratory classes are supported by demonstrators. Details of the assessment methods for individual modules can be accessed via the university's online module catalogue.
In addition to these learning and teaching methods we encourage independent study, meaning you take responsibility for your own learning. For more information visit our Teaching Approach page.
Assessment Methods
We offer you a variety of stimulating and effective approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. This enables you and your tutors to explore the very latest thinking within your subject and develops your skills in problem solving, analysis and critical reflection, communication, application of knowledge and modern technologies.
As a University, we commit to providing all our undergraduates with a minimum number of contact hours per week, providing you with timely feedback on your work and a maximum number of 15 students per seminar group.
Funding
Lancaster University has committed £2.7m in scholarships and bursaries to help with your fees and living costs. Our financial support depends on your circumstances and how well you do in your A-levels (or equivalent academic qualifications) before starting study with us.
Lancaster University's priority is to support every student to make the most of their life and education. For students starting their study with us in 2014, over 600 each year will be entitled to bursaries and/or scholarships to help them with the cost of fees and/or living expenses. For UK students entering in 2014 we will have the following financial support available:
- An Academic Scholarship of £2,000 for the first year of study to any student from the UK entering with A*, A*, A or equivalent academic qualifications
- An Access Scholarship of £1,000 per year for all UK students from households with an income of less than £42,600 who achieve grades of A*, A, A or the equivalent academic qualifications
- A Lancaster Bursary of £1,000 per annum for all students from England with a household income of more than £25,000 but less than £42,600
- As part of the National Scholarship Programme, a £1,000 Bursary, a £1,000 Fee Waiver and a £1,000 Accommodation Discount in the first year of study, for students from England with a household income of less than £25,000. Plus a Lancaster Bursary of £1,000 in subsequent years.
*All of the financial awards above are subject to approval by the Office for Fair Access July 2013.
For full details of the University's financial support packages including eligibility criteria, please visit our fees and funding page
View details of our current Undergraduate fees.
