Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Geography (Optional Placement)

at University of Plymouth United Kingdom

Gain advanced theoretical and practical knowledge from our world-leading experts in intelligent and autonomous systems. Graduate ready to pursue an exciting career in the robotics industry and academic research. Help resolve real-world problems in areas such as home automation, robotic assistance, agriculture, medicine, transportation, art and entertainment, deep-sea or space exploration.

On this programme you’ll gain a solid and broad understanding of the latest developments and issues in robotics. You’ll build theoretical and practical knowledge of control and design as well as covering the interface between real-world devices, autonomous processing and evaluation of acquired information. You’ll investigate user interaction and intelligent decision-making and immerse yourself in an innovative project inspired by the latest developments in technology and society. You’ll have access to a robotics club and to a seminar series so that you can keep up-to-date with advances in the industry and academia

Key Features

 Autonomous systems will increasingly be adopted into every aspect of our daily lives. The future of autonomy, in the transport sector alone, is projected to grow tenfold to over US$550 billion by 2026. Plymouth is fast becoming a global centre for excellence in marine and robotic autonomy systems development. You will have the opportunity to use our specialist laboratories including the COAST and Robotics Laboratory for your dissertation.

Our one year course covers core principles of this emerging field: sensor technologies for machine perception; machine learning and AI for adaptation and decision making; embedded systems, communications, security and data management, for safe and efficient operations of an Autonomous System. The course also encompasses general ethical issues related to the societal acceptance of these systems. The course has been designed in conjunction with employers who contribute seminars and guest lectures.

Key Features

Geography explores the relationships between people, places and the environment. Our diverse degree has a strong emphasis on applied skills and career development. You can choose to specialise or maintain a broad range of interests, and an optional placement year offers work experience. You learn from expert, accessible, supportive staff who are skilled researchers in their field. Plymouth is the ideal setting as a vibrant urban environment surrounded by iconic rural and coastal landscapes.

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 curriculum places sustainability challenges at the centre, with modules designed to help address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
• Choose from a range of human and/or physical geography choice modules so that you determine your degree pathway. 
• 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.

Are you looking for a career in hydrographic surveying and marine exploration industries? On this course you’ll explore offshore and environmental surveying, marine remote sensing, oceanography, underwater acoustics, digital mapping and geographical information systems. A focus on the practical application of survey technology to the marine environment gives you highly sought after skills in hydrographic surveying, mapping, measurement and visualisation of the seafloor and underlying geology.

You will develop your range of practical skills with our own fully-equipped fleet of boats. You’ll experience an overseas field course that is aimed at integrating your surveying and mapping knowledge and understanding across the different sub-disciplines to address real-world issues. You will have the option to take the industry-recognised professional diving qualification (HSE Professional SCUBA) alongside your degree.

Have you considered

• BSc (Hons) Oceanography and Coastal Processes

Key Features

• In the 2019 National Student Survey, 100 per cent expressed overall satisfaction with the course; 100 per cent of students felt staff on this course were good at explaining things; 100 per cent felt that the staff made the subject interesting and 100 per cent found the course intellectually stimulating.*
• Experience extensive vocational elements with an emphasis on hands-on experience using current hydrographic and surveying methods and state-of-the-art technology as used by the survey industry.
• Benefit from strong industry links and excellent home and overseas employment prospects.
• Develop your range of practical skills with our own fully-equipped fleet of boats, a new £4.65 million Marine Station used as a base for fieldwork afloat, industry standard oceanographic and surveying equipment, and a type-approved ship simulator.
• Option to take the industry-recognised professional diving qualification (HSE Professional SCUBA) alongside your degree and an optional dedicated scientific diving module to provide training and qualification for diving-based research projects and employment (limited places and additional costs apply).
• Experience an overseas field course that is aimed at integrating your surveying and mapping knowledge and understanding across the different sub-disciplines to address real-world issues.

Get the best preparation to take on the challenge of a career as a primary teacher focusing on Special Educational Needs (SEN). With teaching methods shaped by our own research expertise, and plenty of on-the-job training in the classroom, you’ll gain the confidence and experience you need to work with SEN students in a variety of roles and settings. We’ll support you to explore the diversity of how children learn and develop your own toolkit for inclusive and effective teaching.

Have you considered

• BEd (Hons) Primary (FS/KS1 with QTS)
• BEd (Hons) Primary (KS1/KS2 with QTS)

Key Features

• Launch your career: obtaining integrated Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), which means you can begin your teaching career immediately. Expand your horizons, enhance your practical experience and set yourself above the competition.
• SEN focus area: this degree will look at teaching over the primary phase but also look at the way SEN and inclusion feeds into KS1 and KS2 preparing you to work with children from any phase of primary education in either mainstream or special schools.
• Partnership with special schools: throughout this degree you will be visiting special schools and working with learners with inclusive needs. You will have a good understanding of how these schools support children with their learning.
• No exams: learn through interactive workshops and with no end-of-year/semester exams.
• Close links to the Master of Education (MA Ed): this link enables students to achieve enhanced career progression in a profession in which masters level attainment is increasingly valued.
• Work based learning opportunities: students benefit from a wide range of placement types within our partnership of over 500 schools and other settings, from single days to extended block placements to develop and consolidate QTS standards.
• Professional identity: from the very start of the programme you are considered as a teacher in development. The programme supports you as you develop your professional standards and identity.
• Research -informed teaching: not only are all modules enhanced by tutors’ active research interests but students are immersed in a research culture and benefit from learning about the advantages of researching their practice first hand.
• Student support: within the Plymouth Institute of Education there is a strong ethos of support for all students. Your professional tutor will actively engage with you throughout the BEd programme to offer guidance and support in both academic and pastoral terms.
• OfSTED recognised: recent inspection rated the Primary ITE provision at Plymouth as good in all aspects, with particular strengths in the partnership led elements of the programmes and the quality of the graduates.

Interested in how people think, act and interact? Discover how thoughts, feelings and motivations shape our behaviour. A hands-on approach to learning across social, developmental, clinical, cognitive psychology and neuroscience will provide you the skills relevant across a range of careers, from education and health to business and the media. Shape the psychology graduate you want to be, and carve out your future in anything from professional psychology to marketing and management.

Key Features

• Hands-on learning in our psychology experiential learning lab. We embedded practical activities throughout the course, so you can put new knowledge into practice and build practical skills for future careers. 
• Shape the psychologist you want to be. Course choices and our option-based final year give the freedom to explore the areas of psychology that interest and benefit you the most.
• As a successful graduate, you are eligible for Graduate Basis for Chartered Membership with the British Psychological Society.
• Gain valuable real-world experience by putting your skills and knowledge into practice with an optional placement year, or take part in an international exchange year by studying abroad.

Want to make a rewarding and positive contribution to society? Social workers support children and families through child protection procedures, fostering and adoption and youth justice to name but a few. They also support adults with issues including disability, drug and alcohol dependency, mental health, homelessness and safeguarding. You'll spend over 170 days on real-life placements with adults and children so you graduate ready to start your professional career.

You will get a head start – be eligible to apply to become a registered social worker as soon as you successfully complete the course. You will stand out from the crowd with a degree recognised by Social Work England. You'll gather insights and develop a real understanding of social work through our highly commended approach to integrated learning. you will equip yourself with the skills to be a reflective and ethical practitioner, committed to lifelong learning.

Key Features

• Get a head start – on successful completion of the course you can apply to become a registered social worker.
• Stand out from the crowd with a degree recognised by Social Work England.
• Benefit from the expertise of our network of partner agencies across the social work spectrum, learning from professionals to develop your skills.
• Enhance your career options - six months after finishing the course, 95 per cent of our graduates are in work or further study (source: 2019 DLHE survey results available on Discover Uni*).
• Gather insights and develop a real understanding of social work through our highly commended approach to integrated learning.
• Build your hands-on knowledge and experience on an excellent variety of placements, working in real-life adult and childcare settings in all three years.
• Engage with real service users and carers at every stage of your learning, so you graduate primed to put effective strategies to use in the workplace.
• Learn about the increasing influence of global issues on social work and be inspired by staff who are leading the way in international social work.
• Develop as a professional – equip yourself with the skills to be a reflective and ethical practitioner, committed to lifelong learning.
• To complement your formal learning we offer regular PALS sessions that provide the opportunity for you to learn with and from your peers. Share knowledge, discuss ideas, and ask questions in a relaxed and friendly environment. Find out more about the Peer Assisted Learning Scheme (PALS).

Our industry-recognised BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying course will help you develop knowledge and skills in the commercial and financial management of construction projects. Through lectures, tutorials with industry partners, real assessments and projects briefs, and an optional year-long paid industry placement, you will learn the requirements for managing risk and proving value for a variety of clients, taking into account sustainable and ethical dimensions.

Key Features

• Our course is fully accredited by the leading professional bodies: the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) 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) 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 building 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 quantity 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.

Do you want to pursue a professional career in planning? Our fully accredited postgraduate pathway has been designed to offer a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing the formulation and delivery of spatial planning policy across the built and natural environments. You will be prepared to develop or enhance a career as a chartered town planner in a rapidly changing world. Choose to take this programme either full-time over one year or part-time over two years

Are you a qualified health practitioner looking to enhance your knowledge and skills in order to advance your professional practice? Designed for registered dietitians, this pathway has a specialist core dietetic practice: supported studies module, which provides you with support to investigate and design an evidence-based ‘service improvement’ within your own specialist field of practice. You’ll be primed to become an evidence-based practitioner, ready to manage and lead in dynamic settings.

Key Features

• Become an evidence-based practitioner, equipped to manage and lead in busy and constantly changing settings. 
• Take the opportunity to study in an inter-professional setting with inter-professional core and optional modules. 
• Shape your own learning journey – you’ll have opportunities to tailor your learning in the workplace through module assignments and the Dietetic Practice: Supported Study module.
• Learn from experts in a setting where innovative thinking regards advanced professional development is put into practice.
• Take advantage of the flexibility our programme offers. You can take some of the modules by distance learning, while others are taught via short intensive study blocks to minimise time away from other commitments. 
• Complete the programme in one year with the full-time study option or balance work and caring commitments by studying part time over a maximum of five years. 
• The full-time route is suitable for international students, who will be supported to choose optional modules with non-clinical assignments.