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2023 - 2024
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Make sure you check on the university, college or conservatoire website for any updates about course changes as a result of COVID-19.

Course summary

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?

  • 7th in the UK for satisfied with course [Guardian University Guide, 2021]
  • Top 10 in the UK for research impact [Research Exercise Framework, 2014-2021]
  • Top 200 in the Global Ranking of Academic Subjects 2021 (Shanghai Ranking)
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 the Brecon Beacons, 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 ranked 8th in the UK for research impact (REF 2014) and 20th for research quality (Times & Sunday Times University Guide 2018). 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.

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 method

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 Year Three.

How to apply

25Jan

This is the deadline for applications to be completed and sent for this course. If the university or college still has places available you can apply after this date, but your application is not guaranteed to be considered.

Application codes

Course code:
F8R9
Institution code:
S93
Campus name:
Singleton Park Campus
Campus code:
-

Points of entry

The following entry points are available for this course:

  • Year 1

International applicants

Please visit our International pages:- http://www.swansea.ac.uk/science/international/

Entry requirements

Qualification requirements

Unistats information

Operated by the Office for Students
78%
Student satisfaction
48%
Employment after 15 months (Most common jobs)
92%
Go onto work and study

The student satisfaction data is from students surveyed during the Covid-19 pandemic. The number of student respondents and response rates can be important in interpreting the data – it is important to note your experience may be different from theirs. This data will be based on the subject area rather than the specific course. Read more about this data on the Discover Uni website.

Fees and funding

Tuition fees

EU £19100 Year 1
International £19100 Year 1
Channel Islands £19100 Year 1
Republic of Ireland £19100 Year 1

Additional fee information

No additional fees or cost information has been supplied for this course, please contact the provider directly.
Geography with a Year Abroad at Swansea University - UCAS