Course summary

Our Geography BA/BSc programmes are among the most flexible anywhere, so if you are interested in both human and physical geography, you can pick and choose your modules to focus on the human side, physical side or the interactions between the two. In Year 1, you will study issues crucial to the shape of the world and our place within it, such as natural hazards, floods, global environmental change, urban and social change, and cultural landscapes. Along with the urban laboratory of Birmingham on our doorstep, allowing us to ‘map the Midlands’, there is a residential field trip to Rotterdam for the entire Year 1 cohort. Year 2 will provide you with deeper subject knowledge in areas of your choice – from neighbourhood planning and hydroclimatology to ecological systems and cultural geography – and research methods training. On this four-year programme you will spend a year abroad between your second and fourth years at a partner institution in the EU or elsewhere in the world. Year 4 is when you turn your interests into specialisms. These could be anything from climates of the past, and war and peace in the Middle East to cultural geographies of development, and conservation practice. Our single honours course can be taken as a BA or BSc degree. All students enjoy the same wide choice of course options and fieldwork opportunities. Why study this course? There are plenty of reasons to study Geography with Year Abroad BA at Birmingham:

• Flexibility: One reason we are among the largest and most popular geography schools in the country is that we treat you as a geographer. This means we give you options to study both ‘physical’ and ‘human’ geography. We understand you may have a mixture of interests, from social to scientific, and we provide the opportunity for you to study them all.

• Transferable skills: Our degree programmes will equip you with the transferable skills essential for future employment. Geography graduates are skilled in working with digital technologies, statistics, mapping packages, GIS and mobile media. Our careers record speaks for itself with 95.2 per cent of our graduates in employment or further study after six months. In many cases these are jobs that are addressing global issues - jobs that really matter.

• Fieldwork: Recent fieldwork destinations have included Pembrokeshire, the Scottish Highlands, southern Spain, Berlin, Malta, Portugal and Tenerife. The costs of travel and accommodation on all compulsory field courses will be covered by the University.

• Research-led teaching: Our world-leading research feeds directly into our programmes, meaning you will learn from academics who are experts in their field.