Program Overview

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BSc (Hons) Environmental Science

The environment may be the defining global issue of our time. Explore the science behind the international debates.

Overview

The world around us is changing dramatically; our environmental science degree will help you understand how and also the implications for natural ecosystems and human societies. You will learn the skills and knowledge to measure, model and assess environmental change and its multiple impacts. Developed in conjunction with employers, including environmental agencies and private businesses, this degree programme has real-world relevance, built around developing the techniques and expertise you will find in the national and international workplace.

Course Information

Our environmental science degree programme is designed and delivered by research-active staff with strong links to research institutions, national organisations and non-governmental bodies both in the UK and overseas. You will benefit from learning and working alongside academic staff whose research in combatting climate change, restoring habitats, and mitigating the impacts of aviation was ranked 5th in the UK for impact in the last 2021 Research Excellence Framework.

Features and Benefits

• 100% of our research impact in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences is world-leading or internationally excellent (Research Excellence Framework – REF – 2021).
• We are ranked 5th for Research Impact, with this research informing our teaching in environmental sustainability and climate change (REF 2021).
• We are proud to be a top five university for sustainability since 2013 (People and Planet League 2025).
• We are fully accredited by the Institution of Environmental Sciences. This means that students are eligible for free membership and associated benefits.
• We’ve invested over £115 million to transform the way we teach and the way our students learn. The new Dalton building is equipped with dynamic learning spaces, world-class teaching and research facilities and collaborative study zones. This means you’ll graduate with the skills and experiences employers look for.
• We offer free Carbon Literacy training in person and online to our students, to build understanding of sustainability and enhance employability.
• You can transfer to our four-year study abroad route which, gives you the opportunity to study overseas during your third year, subject to availability.
• You also have the opportunity to transfer to our four-year placement year route, which offers the chance to spend your third year working on a placement with a relevant employer gaining the skills and experience that can boost your career prospects.
• Fieldwork opportunities in the UK or overseas are available during the first and second years of the Environmental Science degree programme, subject to availability.
• Our laboratories and facilities are state-of-the-art and will give you first-hand experience of a wide range of manual and instrumental lab skills and techniques. Our analytical facilities include a comprehensive instrumentation laboratory, including inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GC-MS) and ion chromatograph (IC) for environmental sample measurements.

Accreditations, Awards, and Endorsements

The Institution of Environmental Sciences

This degree is accredited by the Institution of Environmental Sciences.

Teaching Excellence Framework

We have received an overall gold status in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), meaning we're rated as an outstanding university for our student experience.

Year 1

In Year 1, you will gain a broad grounding in multiple subjects areas that underpin environmental science.

Core Modules

• Global Environmental Challenges: This module will introduce you to some of the most pressing environmental challenges facing the world today, and you will consider these in the context of sustainable development, including the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).
• Investigating The Environment: This module will introduce and develop key investigative skills required to address important environmental science questions, including application of practical fieldwork and laboratory techniques, as well as how to use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Earth Observation (EO) data.
• Dynamic Planet: This module will introduce you to planet Earth’s geospheric, atmospheric, hydrospheric, and cryospheric systems.
• Exploring Biodiversity: This module will introduce you to the principles of biodiversity and ecology, focusing on the diversity of life on Earth and the ecological processes that shape and maintain biological diversity.

Year 2

Your second year will build on the knowledge and skills you have already learned and developed and grow these further, via a focus on four critically important environmental science topics.

Core Modules

• Landscape And Community Ecology: This module explores how organisms interact and the processes that shape wildlife patterns in the natural world.
• Sustainable Development: This module takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the complex relationships between human social systems and the natural environment, drawing on key principles from environmental science, management and sustainability.
• Environmental Pollution: This module focuses on environmental pollution assessment, providing practical training in fieldwork sampling of natural environments and/or laboratory measurements.
• The Climate Emergency: This module introduces the Earth’s energy balance and biogeochemical cycles, key concepts for integrated understanding of Earth System Science (ESS) and global climate change.

Year 3

In your final year, you will design and implement your own independent environmental science research project, giving you the opportunity to put into practice the skills and knowledge you have acquired throughout your degree programme.

Core Modules

• Environmental Change: Assessment And Management: This module examines the drivers and consequences of environmental change and the methodologies used to assess, manage and mitigate its impacts.
• Sustainable Consumption And Production: This module examines sustainable production and consumption as a response to pressing environmental and social challenges.
• Environmental Research Project: This module will allow you to complete an independent research project on an environmental science topic.

Option Modules

• Applied GIS, Earth Observation and Climate Change: In this module you will learn how to apply Earth Observation (EO) and Geographical Information Science (GIS) to tackle and solve contemporary environmental and geographical problems including climate change.
• Conservation In The Anthropocene: This module explores how human activity impacts global biodiversity, considers ecosystem services, and examines challenges in biological conservation within human-modified environments.

Study and Assessment

Study

• Year 1: 25% lectures, seminars or similar; 75% independent study
• Year 2: 25% lectures, seminars or similar; 75% independent study
• Year 3: 20% lectures, seminars or similar; 80% independent study

Assessment

• Year 1: 100% coursework
• Year 2: 100% coursework
• Year 3: 100% coursework

Entry Requirements

These typical entry requirements may be subject to change for the 2026/27 academic year.

Typical Offer

104-112 UCAS tariff points

IELTS Score

6.0 with no component below 5.5, taken within two years of course start date

UK Students

• Level 3 Qualifications: 104-112 UCAS tariff points.
  • A levels – grades BCC or equivalent, to include grade C or above in one of the following subjects: Geography, Geology, Environmental Science, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry or Physics.
  • BTEC National Extended Diploma/ CTEC Technical Extended Diploma - DMM in Applied Science.
  • IB Diploma - Pass overall with a minimum overall score of 26 or minimum 104 UCAS Tariff points from three Higher Level subjects, including HL5 in at least one of Geography, Environmental Systems and Societies, Biology, Chemistry, Physics or Mathematics.
  • Access to HE Diploma in Science - Pass with a minimum score of 106 UCAS tariff points.

International Students

• IB Diploma: Pass the IB Diploma with minimum 26 points overall or 104 UCAS Tariff points from three Higher Level subjects, including HL5 in Geography, Environmental Systems and Societies, Biology, Physics, Chemistry or Mathematics.
• IELTS: 6.0 with no component below 5.5, taken within two years of course start date

Fees and Funding

Tuition fees for the 2026/27 academic year are still being finalised for all courses.

Careers Support and Prospects

Environmental science graduates may go on to a variety of subject-specific careers in the environmental and sustainability industries, in consultancies and environmental services, or in teaching or research. Recent graduates have found employment across a wide range of sectors including environmental consultancies, public utilities, local authorities, industrial research laboratories, and conservation organisations. Our environmental science course is designed to equip you with transferable skills that may also be applied to non-subject-specific career pathways such as in management, local government, teaching or the civil service.