Geography

Our geography degrees at Plymouth make the most of geography’s strengths in tackling head on the biggest global challenges we face. Modules have been designed to address many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – developed by the UN as the “blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all” – and all of our degrees are fully accredited by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

As we help prepare you for your professional career, our approach is flexible. We offer BA and BSc degrees to reflect the fact that geography draws from across the social and physical sciences, and our full range of modules is available to everyone, whichever of these degrees you choose. Your final degree is determined by the choices you make from our wide range of specialist modules. We also offer Combined Honours geography degrees with Ocean Science and International Relations.

Our degrees are applied, in that you are taught by experts drawing on their own cutting-edge research. Our approachable staff members are highly respected, widely published in their fields and hold numerous prestigious advisory positions with national and international bodies. 

Our ambitious suite of field trips is designed to build on our research expertise to ensure that you apply first-hand what you learn on campus to real world issues. We use the fantastic natural laboratory of South West England as an extension of our classrooms, as well as offering a wide range of international destinations.

In your first year, we make sure you have a strong grounding in key geographical patterns and processes. In your second year, you learn more about these processes and begin to address key problems confronting our environment and societies. You can also undertake a placement year in industry to augment your studies. In your final year, you focus on solutions to the problems you have learnt about, using your training to develop a practical and authoritative understanding of the world around you. Throughout your degree you will be part of a vibrant community of like-minded people developing into skilled, well-rounded geographers comfortable working both independently and in a team.

Our consistent focus on developing the key skills and aptitudes valued by employers, combined with the in-depth subject knowledge you gain from the modules you study, makes a geography degree from Plymouth an excellent springboard for a successful graduate career.