Geology with Integrated Foundation Year

Our Integrated Foundation Year will take you through a carefully-designed course to help you to progress confidently onto your undergraduate degree.

The Geology Foundation Year provides progressive structures in which you are able to gain knowledge and understanding of approaches to scientific study and your chosen degree subject.

Your course provides an introduction to modern Geology/Earth Sciences with a variety of theoretical and practical hands-on experiences and equips you with the study skills and confidence necessary to successfully progress to UG honours degree courses in Earth Sciences

To understand the physical Earth and the dynamic processes that continue to alter and change our environment it is important to understand the geology of our planet. BSc Geology combines disciplines including chemistry, physics, maths, and geography to fully comprehend the past, present, and future of our planet.

A degree in Earth Sciences develops your ability to successfully apply scientific knowledge and transferable skills. A programme of fieldwork enables you to put into practice all aspects of the taught programme in Earth Sciences, as well as providing a chance for staff and students to get to know each other. The fieldwork programme is designed to provide progressive training through projects, involving either geological mapping or environmental data collection.

On successful completion, you’ll be equipped with:

• a broad understanding of the fundamental scientific knowledge and terminology of Geology/Earth Sciences

• an awareness of current areas of debate and discovery in Earth Sciences, and their investigation by scientific knowledge and methods

• the skills required to conduct standard fieldwork and laboratory procedures in Geology/Earth Sciences, together with skills in monitoring, observation, documentation and quantitative or qualitative measurement in the laboratory and field.

From time to time, we make changes to our courses to improve the student and learning experience, and this is particularly the case as we continue to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. If we make a significant change to your chosen course, we’ll let you know as soon as we can.

Course Modules

Core Modules

Foundation Year

• Global and Planetary Health

• Foundation Life Sciences and The Environment

• Foundation Mathematics for Life Scientists

• Environmental Science for Foundation Life Sciences

• Life Sciences II: Organ Systems

• Foundation Statistics for Life Sciences

Year 1

• Evolving Earth

• Dynamic Planet

• Human Interaction with the Earth

• Physics and Chemistry of the Earth

• Earth Scientists Toolkit

Year 2

• Stratigraphy and Past Sedimentary Environments

• Geological Evolution and Deep Time Synthesis

• Igneous and Metamorphic Geology

• Geochemistry

• Earth Scientists Mapping Toolkit

Year 3

• Techniques in Earth Sciences

• Independent Geological Field Mapping

Optional Modules

In addition to mandatory modules, there will be a number of optional modules available during year 2 and year 3 of your degree.

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/earth-sciences/bsc-geology-with-integrated-foundation-year/

In your Foundation Year, teaching methods include a mixture of lectures, practical classes and workshops, laboratory classes, individual tutorials, and supervisory sessions. Outside of the classroom you’ll undertake guided and independent practice. You will be assigned a Personal Tutor in the Department of Earth Sciences and will have regular scheduled sessions. In the Foundation Year, you’ll also be assigned a Personal Tutor in the Centre for the Development of Academic Skills (CeDAS). Assessments are varied; practical exercises, weekly problem sheets, set exercises, written examinations, laboratory reports. In addition the Foundation Year offers a full range of skills-based training.

For your degree course, teaching methods will include a mixture of lectures, seminars, individual tutorials, and practical field and laboratory work. Outside the classroom, students will be expected to undertake study to understand the taught material, and to carry out the assessed coursework. Assessment tasks are viewed as complementary opportunities for students to show how they have achieved module objectives, and may be carried out through a combination of reports, projects, examinations and/or tests to assess coursework. Your Personal Tutor will be supportive for your academic progress and wellbeing throughout your studies.