Geography with Education & Optional Placement Year
Geography has a critical role to play in helping us understand and address some of the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges. Here at Ulster, our expert and inspiring staff are passionate about making a difference. If you are too, then join us. You’ll study everything from climate change to migration, natural hazards to sustainable development. We will train you to find solutions to the issues that matter, from the local to the global.
| Award Name | Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 |
|---|---|
| NFQ Classification | |
| Awarding Body | Ulster University |
| NFQ Level |
| Award Name | NFQ Classification | Awarding Body | NFQ Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| Degree - Honours Bachelor at UK Level 6 | Ulster University |
Duration
Attendance
Three years (four years with DPP/DIAS option).
On campus five days a week, contact time average 16 hours per week, 34 hours per week average independent study including academic assessment.
Entry Requirements
Irish Leaving Certificate
104 UCAS Tariff points to include a minimum of five subjects (four of which must be at higher level) to include English and Maths at a minimum of H6 if studied at Higher Level or minimum of O4 if studied at Ordinary Level.
Careers / Further progression
Graduate employers
Graduates from this course are now working for:
Department of Education
Land & Property Services
National Trust
Loughs Agency
Department of Environment
AECOM Engineering
Job roles
With this degree you could become:
Teacher
Heritage Scientist
Mapping & Charting Officer
Countryside Warden
GIS consultant
Geodetic surveyor
Planning Officer
Career options
Employers are particularly impressed by the flexibility of graduates in Geography. The subject encourages cross-disciplinary thinking, good communication and team-building skills, and a knowledge base that has wide application. Careers for Geography graduates are quite diverse. The flexible skills acquired during a Geography degree means there are many career opportunities in both the public and private sectors of the economy. Our Geography programme is recognised as an essential precursor for students seeking admission to PGCE (teacher training) courses in both the UK and RoI and the traditional fields of teaching have attracted many of our graduates throughout the years. Other career opportunities include working for Aid Agencies, Government and Diplomatic Services, Voluntary Organisations, Consultancies, Ordnance Survey, Town Planning, Travel Industries and Marketing, Estate Management, Rural Development Agencies, National Trust, Town and Transport Planning, Site Management, Population Census and Social Planning. After qualifying, about half of our graduates embark on postgraduate training in areas such as Town Planning, Tourism, Computing, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Remote Sensing, Business Management and Export Marketing. Increasingly, our students are furthering their career prospects by undertaking a postgraduate course once their Geography degree is completed.
Further information
Start date: September 2024
Deadlines for on-time applications
2024 entry application deadlines
For courses starting in 2024 (and for deferred applications), your application should be with us at UCAS by one of these dates – depending on what courses you apply for. If your completed application – including all your personal details and your academic reference – is submitted by the deadline, it is guaranteed to be considered.
16 October 2023 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – any course at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or for most courses in medicine, veterinary medicine/science, and dentistry. You can add choices with a different deadline later, but don’t forget you can only have five choices in total.
31 January 2024 for 2024 entry at 18:00 (UK time) – for the majority of courses.
Some course providers require additional admissions tests to be taken alongside the UCAS application, and these may have a deadline. Find out more about these tests at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/applying-university/admissions-tests
Check course information in the search tool to see which deadline applies to you at the application weblink below.
Apply as soon as possible: Student funding arrangements mean that as offers are made and places fill up, some courses may only have vacancies for students from certain locations. It’s therefore really important that you apply for your chosen courses by the appropriate deadlines mentioned above, as not all courses will have places for all students.
All applications received after 30 June are entered into Clearing - find out more about Clearing at https://www.ucas.com/undergraduate/clearing-and-results-day/what-clearing
Overview
Making a difference in a changing world.
Summary
Geography has a critical role to play in helping us understand and address some of the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges. Here at Ulster, our expert and inspiring staff are passionate about making a difference. If you are too, then join us. You’ll study everything from climate change to migration, natural hazards to sustainable development. We will train you to find solutions to the issues that matter, from the local to the global.
We’ll also help you develop an impressive skill set. You’ll learn how to map the sea floor, conduct an environmental impact assessment and use cutting-edge technologies such as GIS to analyse social inequality. These professional and practical skills will help you find a job you’ll love. Over 90% of our graduates are employed or in postgraduate study within a year of leaving us.
Our students love studying here. We have high student satisfaction in the National Student Survey and an open-door policy which means that our friendly staff are available to support you throughout your degree. We were the number 1 place to study Geography in Northern Ireland according to the Guardian League Tables and ranked 12th in the UK (out of 66 universities in 2020).
Studying Education in combination with Geography is an excellent introduction to a future career in the general education sector. It will provide you with an introduction to the main concepts of educational theory and practice in NI, the UK and internationally.
About
Each semester, students will take 2 modules in Geography and 1 module in Education.
Geography is an integrated study of the Earth’s places, societies, environments and landscapes. So if you are interested in learning about the world in which we live and about pressing issues that affect us such as climate change, environmental hazards, conflict and social inequality, and sustainable development, then a geography degree is for you. The discipline of geography is unique because it is the only university degree that bridges the social sciences and humanities (human geography) with the natural sciences (physical geography) in a coherent way.
It remains one of the most popular degrees to study at university and students enjoy the programme because of the insights they gain about the world around them. Because geography provides an ideal framework for relating other fields of knowledge, students trained as geographers can contribute substantially to the applied management of the Earth’s resources and its environments. At Ulster we have designed programmes which cover the main elements of geographical analysis. The advanced training that you will receive in geography is designed to enhance your employment skills once you graduate.
The School of Geography and Environmental Sciences is one of the largest of its kind in Britain and Ireland, with over 350 full-time undergraduate students, 250 postgraduate students and 23 academic, technical and administrative staff. Particular strengths in the School are the development of interdisciplinary taught and research programmes that integrate the environmental, earth and marine sciences with human geography and the use of spatial analysis to investigate relationships between the environment and society. Teaching in the School was rated as 'excellent' in the most recent Teaching Quality Assessment Exercise conducted by the Higher Education and Funding Council, and has consistently been included as one of the top ten of its kind in the UK in independent league tables published by national newspapers. We were also recently commended by the Quality Assurance Agency's Institutional Audit for the quality of our teaching and management of the learning experience.
Modules
Here is a guide to the subjects studied on this course.
Courses are continually reviewed to take advantage of new teaching approaches and developments in research, industry and the professions. Please be aware that modules may change for your year of entry. The exact modules available and their order may vary depending on course updates, staff availability, timetabling and student demand. Please contact the course team for the most up to date module list.
Year 1
Contemporary Educational Issues
Facilitating An Effective Learning Environment
EGM Skills Toolbox
Sustainable Worlds: People and Environments
Key Concepts in Human Geography
The Lithosphere - Optional
The Biosphere - Optional
Year 2
Industrial Educational Placement
Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems
Skills for Sustainable Planning
Research Methods and Field School (Geography)
Learning and Teaching with Technology - Optional
Physical Health and Wellbeing - Optional
Ecology and Biogeography - Optional
Coastal & Marine Processes - Optional
Geopolitics, Environment and Development - Optional
Year 3
Inclusive Educational Practices
Multicultural education and language learning
Industrial placement - Diploma in Professional Practice (DPP) - Optional
Diploma in Intern'l Academic Stds (learning in a foreign language) - Optional
Diploma in International Academic Studies (Learning in English) - Optional
Year 4
Conflict Geographies
Research and Professional Skills
Advanced Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems - Optional
Environmental Conservation and Management - Optional
Geographies of Transnationalism - Optional
Assessment methods vary and are defined explicitly in each module. Assessment can be a combination of examination and coursework but may also be only one of these methods. Assessment is designed to assess your achievement of the module’s stated learning outcomes. You can expect to receive timely feedback on all coursework assessments. This feedback may be issued individually and/or issued to the group and you will be encouraged to act on this feedback for your own development.
Coursework can take many forms, for example: essay, report, seminar paper, test, presentation, dissertation, design, artefacts, portfolio, journal, group work. The precise form and combination of assessment will depend on the course you apply for and the module. Details will be made available in advance through induction, the course handbook, the module specification, the assessment timetable and the assessment brief. The details are subject to change from year to year for quality or enhancement reasons. You will be consulted about any significant changes.
Normally, a module will have 4 learning outcomes, and no more than 2 items of assessment. An item of assessment can comprise more than one task. The notional workload and the equivalence across types of assessment is standardised. The module pass mark for undergraduate courses is 40%. The module pass mark for postgraduate courses is 50%.
Associate awards
Diploma in Professional Practice DPP
Diploma in International Academic Studies DIAS
Work placement / study abroad
Industrial experience
You have the option to undertake a one-year work placement (in Year 3) with an industry partner leading to the award of Diploma in Professional Practice (DPP). These work placements can be at home or abroad in an organization (company, local or central government or voluntary organization), and you will work under the supervision of an Industrial Supervisor, supported by the DPP Co-ordinator and an Academic Supervisor from within the University.
Study abroad
Alternatively, students can study in one of our partner universities in Europe or in the USA (through the Study USA programme or the International Student Exchange Programme). All of these international opportunities are available in Year 3 of the programme and lead to the award of a Diploma in International Academic Studies (DIAS).
Ulster University,
Cromore Rd,
Coleraine
BT52 1SA
T: 02870 123 456