Forestry (Top-up)

Looking to develop in a career where you protect the world around you every day? Our BSc Forestry Top-Up programme provides a path into the forestry profession so you gain all the practical know-how to work in a truly worthwhile and rewarding sector.

And, from our campus in Ambleside, you’ll have the opportunity to study in woodlands managed for conservation, timber production and social benefits - all within easy access.

Course Overview

Study professional forestry at our National School of Forestry in the iconic Lake District National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site just minutes from our Ambleside Campus. Gain the skills to start a career in a sector crucial for biodiversity, society and the economy, with a pathway into the National School of Forestry.

On this course you will...

• Develop hands-on skills with our 150 hours of work experience.

• Get accredited by the Institute of Chartered Foresters.

• Use the latest forestry technology, such as remote sensing and drones during your studies, to enhance your employability.

• Benefits from our more than 50 years' experience educating and training professional and award-winning foresters.

• Boost your employability through our excellent links with the Royal Forestry Society, Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) and many other forestry organisations.

Our unique modules allow you to benefit from the practical forestry management experience of our tutors and their high-quality applied research that informs our teaching, your learning and aims to bring about positive change in the natural world.

Year one

• Dissertation
  You will develop objectives for a self-selected business; evaluate in a structured way the impacts upon a business and plan the resources requires. You will learn to apply a range of business tools and how to write and present a business plan.
• Forest Management Planning
  This module provides opportunity for students to engage in a systematic and integrated approach to objective-led forest management planning in accordance with the principles and criteria of sustainable forest management.
• Business Skills
  You will develop objectives for a self-selected business; evaluate in a structured way the impacts upon a business and plan the resources requires. You will learn to apply a range of business tools and how to write and present a business plan.
• Woodland Conservation (Optional)
  Comparing the concept of conservation to those of ecology and sustainability. Examining how British Romanticism inspired by the English Lake District landscape contributed to the start of the conservation movement alongside with developments in the USA.
• Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing (Optional)
  The aim of this module is to provide students with the skills and knowledge to plan and implement projects using GIS and remote sensing to solve issues in the fields of conservation and natural resources management.
• Advanced Silviculture (Optional)
  This module aims to develop further your understanding of silvicultural practices and their role in ensuring the productive and sustainable management of forests across a range of objectives in both temperate and tropical regions.

Our assessment strategy means that your tutors will

• Provide innovative, challenging and stimulating assessment which will enable you to develop the knowledge and professional skills required for employment.
• Be student-centred, flexible and modern in both content and approach.
• Be fully supported by and integrated with technological approaches such as the Blackboard virtual learning environment (VLE).
• Impart academic rigour to the teaching and learning processes.
• Support the development of independence, autonomy and self-reflection.
• Support learners’ needs at different stages of development.

As a consequence, we employ a wide range of different assessment methods appropriate to the needs of the module and its content. The range of assessment we employ includes:

• Fieldwork reports
• Computer-based assessments
• Problem-solving exercises (both of a practical and written format)
• Devising plans, based on the collection and analysis of information
• Oral, audio-visual and poster presentations
• Group work
• Unseen examinations
• Open book examinations

Personal development and reflective practice will take place throughout the programme and will be implemented through a wide range of activities as well as via our structured personal tutorial process.