Forestry (Top-up)

Our BSc (Hons) Forestry (Top Up) degree is designed for those who already hold a relevant foundation degree or equivalent qualification in forestry or arboriculture. By topping up your existing qualification to a full honours degree, you’ll gain the advanced knowledge and professional skills needed to move confidently into a meaningful career where your work makes a real difference to landscapes, ecosystems, and communities.
Based at our Ambleside campus, you’ll study in the heart of the Lake District National Park – one of the most iconic natural environments in the UK. With woodlands managed for conservation, timber production, research, and recreation right on your doorstep, you’ll learn surrounded by the very forests you’ll one day help to shape. This immersive setting gives you invaluable insight into how forestry functions in the real world.
You’ll study at the National School of Forestry, benefitting from more than 50 years of expertise in educating and training award‑winning professional foresters. Through a blend of academic learning and practical fieldwork, you’ll explore the crucial role forestry plays in supporting biodiversity, sustaining rural economies, and meeting the environmental challenges of the future.
Hands-on experience is at the core of our course. With 150 hours of work experience built into your studies, you’ll develop practical skills, professional confidence, and industry awareness. You’ll also train with the latest forestry technologies, including remote sensing and drones, ensuring you graduate with the tools and knowledge employers look for.
Throughout your studies, you’ll benefit from strong industry links with the Royal Forestry Society, the Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF), and a wide network of forestry organisations. The degree is accredited by the ICF, giving you a clear pathway toward achieving professional accreditation and boosting your employability as you enter this vital and rewarding sector.

Module Examples

• Forest Management Planning

• Business Skills

• Dissertation

• Woodland Conservation (Optional)

• Advanced GIS and Remote Sensing (Optional)

• Advanced Silviculture (Optional)

https://www.cumbria.ac.uk/study/courses/undergraduate/forestry-top-up/

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.