Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Politics with International Relations

at University of Plymouth United Kingdom

This IEMA accredited programme provides an outstanding foundation for a career in environmental management by providing diverse perspectives and practical training on the scientific, economic, ethical and political challenges of sustainability and environmental protection.

Classroom and field-based teaching and a short placement enables you to investigate your specific interests and to gain first-hand experience and skills in developing practical solutions to environmental management issues and 21st century global challenges.

Key Features

Cyber security is essential for all organisations, with hacking, malicious code and social engineering ever present threats to data. This programme provides holistic coverage of cyber security, from governance and policy, to cryptography, penetration testing and digital forensics. Grounded in core computer science, the programme develops the knowledge and skills to design, develop and manage secure systems to produce highly employable cyber security professionals.

Being very applied in nature, you will spend a significant proportion of your time in our Security and Forensics Laboratory putting theory in practice whilst working alongside world-leading academics.

Key Features

Are you motivated by a desire to understand processes in the world’s oceans that drive phenomena such as ocean circulation, ocean acidification, sea-level rise or coastal erosion? If so, this course prepares you for a career in applied oceanography, coastal zone management or scientific research. You’ll develop the practical skills needed to collect and analyse data from the marine environment alongside an advanced understanding of ocean dynamics and processes contributing to shoreline change.

You will participate in practical activities during field work in Plymouth Sound, and further afield during the residential field week. You’ll benefit from access to a range of high specification oceanographic instrumentation that you will be trained to independently prepare, deploy and recover. You’ll pursue optional subjects that interest you most.

Have you considered

• BSc (Hons) Ocean Exploration and Surveying

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.*
• Participate in practical activities during field work in Plymouth Sound, and further afield during the residential field week.
• Benefit from access to a range of high specification oceanographic instrumentation that you will be trained to independently prepare, deploy and recover.
• Pursue optional subjects that interest you most from a range including meteorology, remote sensing, marine conservation, hydrographic surveying, modelling ocean processes and marine pollution.
• Progress into work in oceanographic research and consultancy, coastal zone management and related marine-science industries such as the emerging field of marine renewable energy.
• 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 and industry-standard oceanographic and surveying equipment.
• Choose to take the industry-recognised professional diving qualification (HSE Professional SCUBA) alongside your degree and an optional 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 integrates ocean science knowledge and understanding from across the different sub-disciplines to address real-world issues.

Prepare yourself for a management role within the international procurement and supply chain sectors with this flexible qualification. Take advantage of opportunities to study abroad and stand out to employers with a qualification accredited by the accredited by the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and recognised by the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and The Nautical Institute. You’ll also benefit from a high profile visiting speakers programme.

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.

Environmental scientists are critical to addressing global environmental challenges. Your degree will provide you with the knowledge and skills to identify and develop solutions to a wide range of environmental challenges on land and in our oceans, including climate change, biodiversity loss, conservation and sustainability. Applying the latest techniques in the laboratory and the field, you will graduate ready to shape the future of fields from ecosystem management to environmental monitoring.

Key Features

• In the 2018 National Student Survey (NSS), 90 per cent of students agreed that the course was intellectually stimulating 93 per cent of students agreed that staff were good at explaining things and 95 per cent were satisfied with the quality of the course*.
• Benefit from enthusiastic, supportive staff and teaching informed by our renowned research.
• Take part in regularUK and overseas fieldwork in destinations such as Dartmoor National Park, Malaysia and Malta, where you will explore and study terrestrial and marine environmental systems.
• Experience in-depth coverage of natural sciences in the context of cultural and economic systems.
• Learn about the latest actions and technological developments in the struggle against climate change.
• Deepen your knowledge through our international exchange programme with the USA, Canada, Australia and various European countries.
• Hone your skills and knowledge with a wealth of facilities, including our marine research vessel Falcon Spirit, high specification laboratories and analytical facilities, LABplus and our new Marine Station. 
• 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. 
• Develop your employability with placement opportunities in the UK and abroad, with organisations such as Kew Gardens, Pell Frischmann, The National Trust and Hyder Consulting Ltd.
• Qualify as a professional diver (HSE SCUBA) as part of your second year of study. 
• Increase your confidence with support from student mentors in our externally recognised peer assisted learning scheme, PALS.

Are you captivated by the technical side of the marine environment? Our marine technologists are engineers focused on engineering for life at sea. As problem solvers, engineers design, create and use tools in every industry from nanotech to agritech. You will develop skills in the fundamentals of engineering as well as in marine engineering and naval architecture. Our students use laboratory sessions to reinforce learning and are taught by enthusiastic staff with strong industry links.

Our accredited BEng Marine Technology is designed to start your journey to becoming a qualified professional marine engineer. Our engineering courses rely strongly on practical work and you will develop your design skills throughout the course. We offer the opportunity to undertake a paid placement year to help consolidate and develop your engineering knowledge and many students receive job offers as a result of their time in industry.

Key Features

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).

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).

Smart urban futures is a unique and innovative new MA programme that will equip you to address design challenges at the boundaries between smart technologies and urban design and planning. You will gain skills in IoT, smart technologies, open data, 3D fabrication, augmented reality and virtual reality complimented by core teaching in urban design, planning and placemaking.

Through a design lab approach, you will develop digital prototyping and place-making projects that respond to the opportunities and needs of digital living, transport, health, mobility, governance and sustainability in a holistic approach to smart urban futures

Key Features