Geography (with integrated foundation year)

If you'd like to study a degree in geography but have alternative qualifications or don't quite meet our entry criteria, our geography foundation degree is the course for you.

Your foundation year in Carlisle will give you the skills, knowledge and experience needed to progress onto the full BSc (Hons) Geography programme based in the Lake District. Live your geography degree, using the iconic Lake District as your personal laboratory.

Our course encompasses human, physical and environmental geography, and explores many of the key grand challenges that face both humanity and the planet in the 21st century. These include climate change, inequality and difference, and valuing the ecosystem services we derive from the Earth system.

Course Overview
Geographers explore the global challenges that face both humanity and the planet in the 21st century. Based on both our Carlisle Fusehill Street campus (integrated foundation year only) and Ambleside campus in the heart of the Lake District, you will embrace the mix of natural and social science and humanities that create the diversity and exuberance we call geography. We will explore the differences and dynamics between culture, political systems, economies and landscapes; but you will also evaluate these as contested spaces that can be viewed through multiple lenses.

Our location allows us to embed high-quality fields, laboratory, geo-spacial and archive work. Residential field-courses at every level take you beyond the Lake District and UK placing your learning in a global context. You will become an effective practitioner with a unique intellectual curiosity and the ability to observe and critically reflect on the world around you.

On this course you will...

• Following your foundation year, study geography at the University of Cumbria in the Lake District, the UK's only university campus in a UNESCO World Heritage Site – unbeatable natural surroundings that enable you to live your geography degree.

• Be taught by experienced lecturers who conduct international research that informs your studies and future career progression.

• Have access to up-to-date technology used in the modern workplace, including advanced Geographical Information Systems and remote sensing.

• Learn to solve large global challenges and local issues like small-scale flood management, boosting your problem-solving skills.

• Develop technical, analytical, and interpretative skills through your studies to boost your employability.

What you will learn

We have designed our geography course so you get the opportunity to bring together human, physical and environmental geography. Not only will it give you a breadth of academic knowledge and plenty of hands-on field work, it can be the start you need to shape your successful career.

Year one

• Essential University Skills 1
• Essential Biology
• Scientific Investigation
• Essential University Skills 2
• Environmental Sciences
• Dynamic Earth

Year two

• Global Challenges
• Geographical Techniques
• People and Place
• Environment and Resources
• The Earth System
• Ecological Knowledge, Interactions and Change

Year three

• Research Design
• Valuing the Environment
• Environmental Change: Past Present Future
• Geographical Information Systems
• The Catchment: Summit to Sea (Optional)
• Culture, Identity and Place (Optional)
• Rural Economy and Society (Optional)
• Habitats and Ecosystems (Optional)

Year four

• Dissertation
• Researching Environmental Change: Field-course
• Science and Politics of Climate Change
• Creative Cultural Geographies (Optional)
• Upland Resource Management (Optional)
• Cold Environments (Optional)
• Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing (Optional)
• Aquatic and Catchment Resource Management (Optional)
• Contemporary Global Conservation (Optional)

Throughout your programme, your theoretical knowledge and practical skills will be assessed through a range of methods. These may include:

• Fieldwork and laboratory reports
• Roleplay to simulate real-world situations
• Essays or reports
• Group-work.

Assessment schedules are posted online at the beginning of the year. Some assessments will require individual work, while others will include working with classmates in small groups.