Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Architecture

at University of Plymouth United Kingdom

The geosciences are critical to shaping the future of our planet. Geologists use their knowledge of the earth’s evolution and the physical, chemical and biological process that shape our planet, to pioneer sustainable futures. Our new modules explore geohazards and risk, clean energy transitions, and long term environmental change. Students gain specialist academic, international fieldwork and laboratory skills providing a springboard to an exciting and diverse range of careers.

Key Features

• Our new modules address critical sustainability challenges: reducing risk from natural hazards, harnessing cleaner energy sources and how to combat climate and environmental change.
• Our approachable staff share their cutting-edge research and expertise through varied teaching practices in lectures, tutorials, practical classes and field courses.
• Learn to apply the latest techniques in the field and laboratory. Our substantial fieldwork programme provides opportunities in a variety of UK and overseas locations including Death Valley USA, Spain, Sicily and Cyprus.
• Progress your skills in our open access laboratory, LABplus.
• Develop your confidence with a personal tutor, providing you with weekly guidance throughout your first year.
• Our PALS mentoring scheme provides you with support from students in the year ahead.
• Plymouth's coastal location, close to Dartmoor and two UNESCO World Heritage sites provides the perfect setting for studying geology, with opportunities for fieldwork right on our doorstep.
• Receive essential field safety equipment free as part of your welcome package.
• Work towards becoming a Chartered Geologist, our accreditation by the Geological Society, the world’s oldest and most prestigious national learned society for geology, helps you to gain the required experience.
• Take the opportunity to spend your second year studying abroad in Canada, Australia, USA or elsewhere through our direct exchange, Erasmus or ISEP programmes. Plymouth is currently the only UK institution to offer exchanges through ISEP, giving our students the greatest range of Earth science exchange opportunities available.

Our industry-recognised BSc (Hons) Building Surveying course is designed to build your knowledge and skills in the physical care, repair, conservation and restoration and refurbishment of buildings. The combination of lectures, site visits, tutorials and an optional year-long paid industry placement will prepare you for a range of routes in the construction and surveying sector including building surveying, property management, project management, or building regulation.

This course will help you gain the problem-solving skills and technical knowledge necessary to survey buildings and identify defects. You will also participate in real-world group projects involving the refurbishment of existing, historic and listed buildings, as well as new-build, which will help you understand the surveyor’s role, the client’s requirements, and develop project management skills.

Key Features

• Our course is fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE).
• This course is designed around a common first year with BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying and BSc (Hons) Construction Project Management, allowing you to transfer to these courses after successful completion of Year 1.
• You will gain valuable experience with an optional, paid year-long placement in a leading surveying company in the UK or abroad. Our industry links will help you find a placement, boosting your studies with practical experience and providing the contacts that can lead to future employment.
• You will be part of a vibrant multidisciplinary learning environment, working with students from other built environment disciplines, including construction project managers, architectural engineers and quantity surveyors.
• You will have access to a wide range of industry standard facilities, resources and equipment, including, a designated design studio space, specialist laboratories and workshops, Mac and PC suites, a 360 degree immersive vision theatre.
• Each year the building surveying knowledge and skills you develop come together in a real-world design and build project with an actual client and project brief. Guided by our panel of industrial advisers, you will develop the professional skills to stand out in the sector.
• Learn from leaders in their fields. Our staff come from both industry and research backgrounds. Industry professionals also play an active role in the course participating in guest lectures, workshops and tutorials.
• Our built environment courses have been running for over 25 years.

Explore the latest developments in the field and master the complex set of skills needed to embark on a career in accounting and finance. You will have the opportunity to experience accountancy in the real world while working within businesses, and graduate with credits towards your professional accountancy qualification with the ACCA, ICAEW or CIMA.

Key features

• Start your career from day one, our course is accredited by the major professional accountancy bodies and new students are enrolled as student members of the ACCA or ICAEW. Our course is designed so that students are eligible for significant exam exemptions from the ACCA, ICAEW and CIMA on graduation.
• Careers advice is embedded throughout. Meet potential future employers at accountancy-specific careers events and explore where your career might take you. Join the Devon Chamber ROOTS scheme and receive training and professional mentoring, as well as invitations to top networking events.
• You will develop proficiency in key skills such as reflection, evaluation and group work. These skills will improve your academic performance, develop your ability to communicate, enhance your employment prospects and equip you for lifelong learning.
• The embedded use of spreadsheet software throughout the course allows you to gain important employability skills so that you can demonstrate your value to businesses immediately.
• Learn about global stock markets in our Bloomberg Interactive Learning Suite. Complete an optional online Bloomberg course awarded by the Bloomberg Institute allowing students to add this onto their CV and be provided with a certificate of completion.

Understand the roles of democracy, freedom and security in the 21st century near the site of the 2021 G7 Summit. Our programme is not just about helping you understand politics and international relations; it's about building your critical thinking to empower you to be part of a change. Hone your skills with our unique practical assessments that immerse you in mock-ups of real-world scenarios. Our students have gone on to key policy and political roles locally and nationally.

Key Features

• We’re very proud of our National Student Survey (NSS) 2019 return showing that 100% of our students agree that the course is intellectually stimulating.*
• Focus on the diversity of the international world, in particular, post-1945 developments and the processes of globalisation. These twin themes will be reflected and addressed in sessions on the international political economy, international security and the third world.
• Explore the evolution of politics internationally. Debate contemporary worldwide issues, current affairs and major political events. Ask those difficult questions about war, hunger and poverty in the developing world. 
• Travel the world through our international student exchange programme. From the Czech Republic and Poland to Canada and the USA, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to gain insights into international relations worldwide. 
• Be inspired by teaching rooted in research. Our staff are leading experts in their fields; areas of expertise include a popular protest in the Middle East, British and American foreign policy, development in Africa, global environmental politics, security studies and the politics of the European Union.
• Engage with contemporary international issues and take part in exclusive events, film screenings and lectures, through the student-run Politics and International Affairs society (PIA Soc). 
• Benefit from a course which received excellent ratings for teaching and student satisfaction, in the Guardian’s University Guide 2015 (within the subject league table for Politics). 
• Differentiate yourself in an international sector with industry experience. As journalists, politicians' assistants, and public affairs consultants, our graduates have gone on to work for the European Union, United Nations and UK Civil Service. 
• Investigate daily headlines. Discover the international and political ideas that influence society. Emphasise the diversity of the international world where traditional approaches will be measured against new ways of looking at how the world works.

Discover the core principles of human geography while also exploring key international political and economic issues. In your geography modules you study the relationships between people, place and environment, while in International Relations the focus is on understanding the international political landscape. Gain knowledge and skills our supportive academic staff who are expert researchers in their field. Study abroad, international field trips and placement opportunities are available.

Our geography degrees make the most of geography’s strengths in tackling head on the biggest global challenges we face. Modules have been designed to address many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – developed by the UN as the 'blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all' – all of our degrees are fully accredited by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

Key Features

• Our newly designed Geography curriculum places sustainability challenges at the centre, with modules designed to help address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
• Choose from an exciting range of human geography and international relations choice modules.
• Our supportive staff are expert researchers and many are world leaders in their field.
• Teaching is innovative and student-centred. You will learn through lectures, seminars, practicals, national and international residential fieldwork, tutorials and one-to-one dissertation support.
• Learn to use Geographical Information Systems to analyse and communicate complex spatial data.
• Take advantage of a wide range of study abroad possibilities in Europe, North America and Australia.
• Experience a valuable work placement programme, opening up a range of career opportunities such as consultancy, policy development and management, teaching, planning and conservation.
• LABplus is a unique open access laboratory and resource centre designed for students studying science and engineering courses. The lab provides a flexible workspace, computing facilities, specialist software, access to microscopes, microscope cameras and bespoke resources.
• We’re very proud of our National Student Survey (NSS) 2020 return which shows student satisfaction overall at 96 per cent for human geography.
• Benefit from our unique location, in the heart of the historical city of Plymouth, bordered by Dartmoor National Park as well as the Tamar Valley and South Hams Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Devon and Cornwall have glorious beaches, coasts, rivers and estuaries.

Join a programme that combines over 40 years of international industry experience with a strong focus on commercial aspects of shipping, logistics and ports. Build industry connections through the visiting speakers' programme and stand out to employers with a qualification accredited by the Charted Institute of Logistics and Transport and recognised by the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and The Nautical Institute

The study of human behaviour and relationships creates a lens through which to see the world better. At Plymouth, you’ll hold that lens to the world around you so you can play a positive role in it. Here we look inwardly at our surroundings as much as we look beyond them, and you’ll spend time immersed on the streets of the city you’re living in, putting Plymouth society under the microscope. See how change is made by working with local support groups and projects like Landworks.

Key Features

• Learn from passionate and committed academics with active and wide-ranging research expertise. Our research and specialisms include health, well-being and social policy alongside politics and identities. .
• Explore a wide-range of topics including sustainability, tourism, health and wellbeing, media, deviance, work and employment, gender and sexuality, global development, methodological innovations, philosophy of social science and food, culture and society.
• Apply sociological theory to contemporary issues in an interactively taught environment.
• Explore and experience first-hand the world beyond the classroom with national and international field trips and exchange opportunities.
• Engage in a pioneering, well established work-based learning programme along with voluntary opportunities to enhance your employability.
• Develop key transferable skills that employers actively seek through novel research methods training.
• Benefit from studying with a faculty of highly regarded staff who engage in innovative and experiential learning spaces.
• Experience varied and engaging assessment formats supported through personal tutoring.
• Join a course where overall student satisfaction is consistently rated at over 90% in the National Student Survey (NSS), as reported by DisoverUni. The latest NSS results show 100% overall student satisfaction.*
• Know that your teaching and learning is informed by prominent research, with 62%of our research rated as world leading or internationally excellent (Source: Research Excellence Framework, 2014).

Build your knowledge and skills in construction technology, processes and management to develop a successful career as a construction project manager. The combination of lectures, site visits, tutorials with industry partners and an optional year-long paid industry placement, will prepare you for a range of routes in the construction sector including project management, site organisation, estimating, and planning.

This course will help you gain the management skills and technical knowledge necessary to successfully manage building projects from start to finish, meeting the client’s expectations and values, and ensuring all health and safety, quality and environmental standards are met. Real-world group projects with input from industry professionals will help you understand the construction project managers’ rol

Key Features

• Our course is fully accredited by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) and the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE).
• This course is designed around a common first year with BSc (Hons) Building Surveying and BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying, allowing you to transfer to these courses after successful completion of Year 1.
• You will gain valuable experience with an optional, paid year-long placement in a leading construction company in the UK or abroad. Our industry links will help you find a placement, boosting your studies with practical experience and providing the contacts that can lead to future employment.
• You will be part of a vibrant multidisciplinary learning environment, working with students from other built environment disciplines, including building surveyors, architectural engineers and quantity surveyors.
• You will have access to a wide range of industry standard facilities, resources and equipment, including, a designated design studio space, specialist laboratories and workshops, Mac and PC suites, a 360 degree immersive vision theatre.
• Each year the construction project management knowledge and skills you develop come together in a real-world design and build project with an actual client and project brief. Guided by our panel of industrial advisers, you will develop the professional skills to stand out in the sector.
• Learn from leaders in their fields. Our staff come from both industry and research backgrounds. Industry professionals also play an active role in the course participating in guest lectures, workshops and tutorials.
• Our built environment courses have been running for over 25 years.

 Environmental geochemistry is central to the environmental sector which has grown rapidly over the last decade. The global environmental consultancy market, a key destination for suitably skilled graduates, is currently increasing at its strongest rate for five years. Geochemical expertise is vital to many aspects of the day to day work of environmental consultants, civil, structural and mining engineers, environmental regulatory authorities, mining and oil companies.

Environmental geochemistry is the scientific discipline concerned with the sources, distribution and interactions of chemical elements in rocks, soils, waters, air and biological material. It particularly is tasked with studying a wide variety of environmental materials using a broad suite of analytical tools, inclusive of field measurements, chemical instrumentation and digital modelling methods.

You will learn how chemicals of environmental concern move through the environment, how to analyse them and how to interpret the data to support environmental management decisions. This involves using a broad suite of analytical tools, inclusive of field measurements, chemical instrumentation and digital modelling methods. Geochemical research guides oil exploration, can help improve water quality and is also used to develop plans to manage contaminated sites.

Key Features

Digital technologies such as 3D printing and immersive media are driving the creative industries, influencing the development of products, spaces and services we engage with daily. This is yielding new jobs and market opportunities for creative thinkers able to understand the intersections between technical and design thinking. This course will allow you to seize these opportunities by increasing your skills in design technologies and ensuring you can tackle challenges in emerging markets.

Key Features

• Join fast-growing industry sectors with a degree from the number a top 10 UK Young University for Art, Design and Architecture (Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2019) and in the First-Class Category of Sustainable Universities in the UK (People and Planet Green League 2015).
• Develop valuable transferable skills in digital design, design thinking and digital fabrication applicable to a range of industry sectors such as manufacturing, advanced construction and industrial design.
• Benefit from our newly developed workshop spaces, with state-of-the-art equipment and technical support for digital fabrication and immersive visualisation.Gain multidisciplinary experience in a vibrant project-based learning environment by working alongside BA/BSc students, associate tutors from industry and academic staff from the School of Art, Design and Architecture, and the School of Engineering.
• Gain valuable workplace experience with a year-long placement in industry in the UK or abroad between years 2 and 3. Our industry links will help you find a placement, boosting your studies with practical experience and developing the contacts that can lead to future employment.
• 100 per cent coursework. No exams!
• Explore the Industry 4.0 revolution with site visits and field trips, where you will observe a range of sectors, innovative solutions and technology development and practices within and outside the UK.
• Opportunity to pursue postgraduate studies as well as cross-collaboration with other courses such as, among others, MA Smart Urban Futures, MSc Advanced Engineering Design, MA Digital Media Design, MA/MSc Integrated Design Innovation and/or MSc High Performance Buildings.