This course will focus on various areas, including human and physical geography, the physical sciences and understanding the interaction between human societies and the global environment. It will provide a unique combination of subject specific and generic skills, laboratory work as well as field work and travel opportunities in the UK and abroad.

Apart from geographical study you will also be given the opportunity to deepen your knowledge of core areas by choosing from a extensive range of specialist modules. These can include studying the Earth’s landscapes, people, places and environments and also developing an understanding of people and their physical, social, and cultural environments. There is also a emphasis on helping students become environmentally aware. This is done by bridging the environmental and social sciences, as well as looking at the interactions between people and the environments in which they live in.

The courses tend to be well rounded and sought after programmes that seek to produce highly trained geographers who are skilled in economic and social geography, particularly with reference to developed and developing countries. Teaching will normally consist of a mixture of interactive seminars combined with lectures. A variety of assessment methods will be used to monitor your progress and achievements. These include presentations, group work, essays and examinations.

As well as focusing on Earth’s most pressing issues through the multitude of changing ways that geographers approach academic investigation.

On a geography degree course areas of study and modules will include:

  • Soils and Biogeography
  • Climatology
  • Geography and the Global Economy
  • Global Environmental Issues
  • GIS and Digital Cartography
  • Human Activity and Environmental Change
  • Energy Resources
  • Social Geography
  • Glacial and Periglacial Geomorphology
  • Water resources
  • Landscape evolution
  • Aquatic Environments: Problems and Management
  • Environmental management
  • Biogeography
  • Environmental Risk
  • Geographical Information Systems
  • Environmental History
  • Soil quality and protection
  • Deforestation
  • Global warming
  • Marine Conservation and Exploitation
  • Soil science
  • Natural hazards and disasters
  • Biogeography
  • Population pressures
  • Immigration and Asylum
  • Coastal Management
  • Resource exploitation
  • River Ecosystems and Management
  • Rural Land Use
  • Environmental Law and Justice
  • Geographies of Food
  • Applied Geomorphology
  • Cultural Identity and Place Creation
  • Geo-informatics
  • Natural Resource Economics
  • Global futures
  • World Population
  • The principles of sustainability.
  • Earth Systems and Processes
  • Space and society
  • Spatial patterns of urban growth
  • The growth of the world’s cities
  • Meteorology
  • The effects of environmental pollution.
  • Coastal geography
  • Introducing the Oceans
  • Heritage, Conservation and Management
  • Organic chemistry
  • Urban development
  • The effects of globalisation on the environment.
  • The relationships between society, space and place
  • Ice and climate
  • Economy and development
  • The effects of greenhouse warming.
  • Dryland Environments
  • Forensic Geography
  • Geographical concepts and practice

Skills you will learn on a geography degree course

  • Field investigation.
  • Develop quantitative skills.
  • Career development skills
  • Data processing.
  • Statistical techniques
  • Information Technology Skills
  • Be able to understand and interpret environmental science and other related research publications
  • How to plan, implement, evaluate units of work.
  • Subject specific and transferable skills that are highly valued by employers.
  • Making written and oral presentations.
  • Remote sensing, modeling, and environmental reconstruction skills.
  • Gathering, analysing and interpreting evidence.
  • Ecological foot printing
  • Sustainable tourism.
  • Get to understand the various codes of research practice and ethics.

Geography personal statement
Below is a personal statement written by one of our writers. You can use this example to gain an idea of how to structure and put together your own one. You are strongly advised not to copy or plagiarise it, instead use it as a resource to inspire your own creative writing.

Example

“I have always been interested in how people influence the environment and how the environment influences people. I find geography to be a fascinating discipline that will allow me to study this interaction between humans and the planet as well as other related topics like climate change, urbanisation and nature.

Whilst studying at college for my A levels I excelled in core related subjects like physical and human geography, GIS and remote sensing. This education has given me a comprehensive knowledge of the many different tools that geographers use to study people, places and the environment with. I am now familiar with the latest specialist computer software, data analysis techniques and statistical methods that are used in the real world to gather a lot of different information on topics like water resources and sustainable development.

Over the past year I have also held a part time voluntary job at a assistant to a consultant GIS analyst. This experience has been invaluable in helping me to gain practical work experience and understand the career options available to a geography graduate. I have discovered that there are a lot of different jobs that geographers can do at local, national and international levels. There are many opportunities out there for me to apply something I am genuinely interested in to the workplace and also get paid for doing it.

At heart I know I am a geographer because I like looking at maps and have a strong desire to learn about and experience new places. I want to be involved in solving problems, understand the world and work towards creating a sustainable future for the human race.

Right now I believe that I have developed the comparative and analytical skills that are essential to undertake a degree course. Whilst searching for a suitable institution I have researched what your university has to offer its undergraduates and have been very impressed by what I have found. The impression I get is that it is a really supportive environment where tutors are always willing to help and will make an that effort to assist students.”

More geography personal statement examples

Sample university interview questions

  • What made you choose to apply to a Geography course?
  • Please tell me a little about yourself?
  • What are your strengths and weaknesses?
  • What do you know about our university?
  • How would you describe yourself?

Student resources
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UCAS personal statement
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Online degrees
Online degree courses
Online geography degree

Related academic links
Archaeology degree
University courses

Career links
GIS consultant CV template
Geologist jobs