BSc Environmental Management with Professional Placement

BSc Environmental Management with Professional Placement is a four-year degree studying the Earth's natural resources, the way in which human societies interact with them, and how they can be sustainably managed.

Understanding both scientific principles and relevant policy frameworks is essential if we are to address global environmental challenges including the climate and biodiversity crises and sustainable development.

The course has a strong focus on practice and applied skills, and you will study environmental processes and their management by combining small group, classroom-based learning with fieldwork.

Your third year will normally be spent working in the environmental sector in a paid placement for between 9-12 months. Excitingly, you could be working for an environmental consultancy in the private sector, for local government in the public sector, or for an environmental charity in the third sector.

By the time you graduate, you will have an advanced understanding of environmental systems and processes, the policies and practices involved in their management and the challenges and opportunities of addressing global, national and local environmental challenges. You will be prepared for employment across different industry sectors, whether you hope to work in the private, public or charitable sectors.

You will also have gained a wide range of practice-based skills, which enhance your employability including measuring a wide range of environmental impacts in the field, conducting ecological surveys and contemporary approaches to enhancing biodiversity, undertaking environmental impact assessments (EIA), and using important digital skills such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS). During the degree you will also acquire a wide range of transferable skills including project management, presenting complex information in a range of formats and styles, professional report writing and team-working.

Manchester is a great place to study environmental management; it is a major UK city undergoing rapid urban change, which provides an ideal base for experiencing the challenge of balancing urban development pressures with their environmental impacts.

Manchester is also ideally placed for you to learn about a wide variety of rural environments, including being within easy reach of three spectacular National Parks, areas of intensive and sustainable agriculture, and impressive coastlines. We are also part of a Living Lab - harnessing the power and capacity of students to affect change through applied research with external organisations on campus, in Manchester and beyond.

The city of Manchester and its surrounding environments are important resources for field teaching across your three years of study.

Gain real-world experience on work placements

To prepare for your paid year-long placement in your third year, you will normally have the opportunity in your second year to spend time outside the University on a short (2 or 4 week) placement with an organisation in the environmental management sector - equipping you with hands-on experience and wide-ranging environmental, sustainability or ecological skills. 

International fieldwork 

This course has normally included a residential field trip during your second year, usually to a European country, where you can put what you have learnt into practice in a different context. Past locations have included Porto and the Douro valley in northern Portugal where students learnt about diverse topics including renewable energy production, sustainable approaches to port wine production and wildfire risk.

Study abroad 

You will normally have the opportunity to apply to spend one semester studying abroad at one of our exchange partners in Europe, the US, South East Asia and Australia.

IEMA Accreditation

The degree is currently applying for accreditation by IEMA, and once secured, accreditation by IEMA will ensure you graduate with the professionally recognised GradIEMA suffix, signifying that you are part of the next generation of sustainability leaders and enabling you to fast track an application to practitioner status once you have gained sufficient employment experience.

Important notice: factors affecting fieldwork and placements

The School of Environment, Education and Development (SEED) recognises the value of fieldwork and placements. However, the safety and wellbeing of our students and staff remains our priority.

The School will assess on a regular basis the viability of any travel and fieldwork and communicate any significant changes to our students at the earliest possible opportunity.

The role of SEED

• changes to the rules and guidance on travel and activities implemented and published by the UK and overseas governments;
• a risk assessment conducted by or on behalf of the University identifying unmanageable risk;
• changes that enhance the educational value and student experience of the activity;
• changes to the situation of a placement provider (for example, which cause them to be unable to accept students);
• the unavailability of appropriate insurance cover;
• the unavailability of appropriate travel and accommodation and any significant changes to their financial costs;
• where fieldwork and placements are a compulsory element of the Programme, they will be replaced with something academically similar;
• where a trip or placement is not a compulsory element of the Programme, it may not be replaced.

We will consult with affected students at the earliest possible opportunity and explore the options available to them.

The duty of students

Preparation, attendance and conduct

Attendance at preparatory classes is a compulsory pre-requisite of the fieldwork and placements to ensure safety and learning outcomes are met.

Students who do not attend the compulsory preparatory classes may be prevented from participating in the fieldwork or placement. It is the duty of students to discuss any attendance issues with the field course or placement convenor.

Students are representatives of the university during their fieldwork or placement.

Behaviour deemed by the convenor to be unacceptable may result in students being sent home.

Where a student is unable to attend or complete the fieldwork or placement (e.g. due to mitigating circumstances), is prevented from attending due to absence from compulsory preparatory classes, or returned home due to poor conduct:

• a suitable alternative assessment will be offered (as appropriate) to ensure that the programme ILOs are met, and that the student is not academically disadvantaged;
• the University accepts no responsibility for any costs incurred by the student in relation to the fieldwork or placement.

Immigration, passport and visa requirements

It is the responsibility of the individual student to ensure they have:

• a valid passport to enter the destination country (including sufficient months prior to expiry);
• a valid visa (where required) and comply with its requirements.

The School cannot guarantee that visas required for fieldwork or a placement will be granted by the relevant authority. Please note that countries may change their immigration and visa regulations at short notice.

Where a student is unable to attend fieldwork or a placement because they do not have the required visa or passport:

• a suitable alternative assessment will be offered to ensure that the programme ILOs are met and that the student is not academically disadvantaged;
• the University accepts no responsibility for any costs incurred by the student in relation to the fieldwork or placement.

We place strong emphasis on coursework and continuous assessment.

Coursework takes a variety of forms - from essays and reports, to posters, oral presentations, and project demonstrations (sometimes to practising professionals).

We also incorporate lots of opportunities for feedback on non-assessed work so that you can be confident about your progress.

Your professional placement year will be assessed on completion, through a reflective report about your experiences and the implications of the placement on your desired career trajectory and overall employability.

Your dissertation, which takes place in the third year, will draw together the different strands of the course and allow you to study a subject that really interests you.

You will work with an individual supervisor to conceive, plan, execute and write up an independent and novel piece of research.

Read more about Noor's experience in her student profile.

You can develop your practical skills in a wide range of field study locations, specialist laboratories for fieldwork analysis, and computer suites with specialist spatial analysis software.

See facilities  for more information.