Geography with Placement

Geography as a university discipline occupies a unique position in the academic landscape, spanning the physical world of landforms, climate, ecosystems and environmental processes and the human world of cities, economies, cultures and social inequalities. At its best it provides a genuinely integrated understanding of the Earth system and human place within it, developing graduates who can think across the boundary between nature and society and who are equipped to engage with the great environmental and social challenges of the coming decades, from climate change and biodiversity loss to urbanisation and resource conflict.

At the University of Gloucestershire, this four-year degree with placement is taught in an environment that combines small class sizes with extensive practical and field-based learning, as the university's own description highlights. When not in the field, you will spend most of your time in teaching labs that cover both human and physical geography. The placement year gives you structured experience in a professional geographical, environmental, planning or related setting, developing the applied skills and professional networks that significantly enhance your employability.

Gloucestershire's location close to the Cotswolds, the Severn Valley and a range of urban and rural environments provides rich material for fieldwork across both physical and human geography.

You will study physical geography topics such as geomorphology, hydrology and environmental management alongside human geography topics including urban change, cultural geography, economic development and sustainability. GIS, cartography and quantitative methods are also central to the degree.

Graduates go on to careers in environmental consultancy, urban and rural planning, conservation, sustainability roles in business and local government, geographic information systems, international development, education and research. Further study in geography, environmental management, urban planning or related fields is also a common route.