COURSE OVERVIEW
Geography is vital in our globally interconnected world. It helps us understand human-environment relationships, and how they vary across time and space. Geography allows us to discover, record and shape the places we inhabit today and in the future.
This three-year BSc degree is suitable if you know your main academic interest lies in the field of Physical Geography.
We cover themes including plate tectonics and global geophysics, glacial environments and processes and global environmental change.
At Swansea, there is a strong emphasis on fieldwork. Our location offers easy access to environments as varied as the Gower Peninsula, Brecon Beacons, rural west Wales and the urban industrial landscapes across south Wales.
You will have the opportunity to undertake overseas field courses in places such as Malaysian Borneo, Austria, Mallorca and Vancouver.
If you don’t have the necessary entry requirements to enter on to the first year of a degree, you may be offered a place on a degree course with an integrated foundation year.
WHY PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY AT SWANSEA?
Physical Geography at Swansea University attracts students from around the world.
Based on our stunning Singleton Park campus overlooking Swansea Bay, Geography at Swansea is ranked:
- consistently highly for student satisfaction, with Human Geography 7th in the UK with 95%, and Physical Geography with94% [National Student Survey 2018]
- In the UK top ten for research impact [Research Excellence Framework 2014] which informs our teaching
- 20th in the UK for research quality [Times & Sunday Times University Guide 2019]
Your learning will be shaped by inspirational and internationally-renowned academics including Professor Tavi Murray, the first woman to be awarded a Polar Medal for outstanding service to polar research; and Professor Adrian Luckman, who earned global media coverage for climate change research into the Larsen C ice shelf collapse.
Swansea University holds a TEF Gold award, UK Government’s recognition for excellent teaching in UK higher education.
YOUR PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY EXPERIENCE
A flexibly structured degree path means you have the opportunity to work in industry for a year, either locally, nationally or overseas.
You will be taught through a combination of lectures, tutorials, seminars, and discussion groups, supported by practical classes and field courses.
Field courses might take you from areas of outstanding natural beauty on our doorstep in the Gower Peninsula, to locations across the world such as Austria, Borneo, Berlin, Colorado and Sikkim in the Indian Himalayas.
Our facilities include a £4.2 million suite of state-of-the-art science laboratories and a high-performance computer laboratory for processing and interpreting satellite earth observation and GIS data.
You may also find yourself working with our stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer, our climatic test chamber, our mineral magnetic characterisation equipment, or our automatic organic carbon analyser.
You can study part of this degree in the medium of Welsh.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Our Geography degrees at Swansea University are designed so that you have the skills that today’s employers are looking for. Geography graduates have a broad range of career options within sectors which include environmental management, aid and development agencies, conservation and regional and resource planning.
Our degrees will provide you with an understanding of the human world, the natural environment, and interactions between them and equip you with the practical, numerical and computational skills that are valued by many employers.
In addition, you will have the opportunity to develop your essential transferable skills, such as team working, communication, presentation, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
Geography is a popular subject because it provides a critical understanding of the modern world.
This understanding can be broadly applied in the world of work, creating a diverse range of employment opportunities for geography graduates.
We offer CV workshop and you will have access to our Employment Zone, which advertises work placements, part-time vacancies and graduate jobs. We have dedicated staff who will always be on hand to provide employability support, throughout your studies.
We take Employability seriously and you will leave Swansea University with much more than a degree, gaining invaluable life skills and experiences on your journey.
