CountrysideManagementBSc Honours

UCAS code D4553 Years

www.ncl.ac.uk/ug/D455Printed from the web page above on 03/01/2020

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CountrysideManagementBSc HonoursUCAS code D4553 Years

This degree explores countryside managementfrom a wide variety of perspectives, to equipyou with a balanced overview of the competinginterests on the countryside.

Your degree integrates elements from a range of subjectssuch as geography, ecology, wildlife conservation,agriculture, business and estate management.

Topics include:

• rural development• environmental and business management• agriculture and land management

Newcastle is an ideal place to study, combining a city-centreuniversity with access to fantastic countryside for fieldwork.

You can boost your employability and professional skills withan optional placement year in industry or the commercialsector. 

You also benefit from:

• access to our two University farms for hands-onexperience

• expertise at our Centre for Rural Economy, recipient ofthe Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and FurtherEducation in 2014

Highlights of this degreeQuality and ranking• top 5 in the UK – the Times and Sunday Times Good

University Guide 2020 (Agriculture, Forestry and Foodcategory)

What you will studyYou explore countryside management from a wide range ofperspectives, and study core modules covering elements of:

• rural development• environmental and land management• agriculture• geology• business management• plant science and ecology• law• countryside heritage

Optional modules in later Stages allow you to tailor thedegree to your specific interests - see the Course Details section for more information. 

You can also choose from a range of Career DevelopmentModules, designed to enhance your employability.

Independent research and project work is important andgives you the chance to explore an area of interest in detail.Previous projects have explored:

• pollinators and land management• solar farms • countryside tourism• wildlife gardening

Field visitsField visits are an important part of your degree, giving youthe chance to apply your newly acquired knowledge in apractical context.

At Newcastle University, you will benefit from our position inthe beautiful and varied landscape of North East England.

You will have the chance to take part in a wide variety of fieldvisits exploring the rugged beauty of Northumberland,County Durham and Cumbria’s varied landscapes andhabitats.

There is easy access to fantastic countryside including:

• Northumberland National Park, home to Hadrian's Walland the Cheviot Hills

• Kielder, home to Northern Europe's largest man-madelake and England's largest forest

Visits to various rural enterprises throughout the yearintroduce you to a range of countryside professionals. Thisgives you the chance to experience management in action,as well as providing insight into the challenges facingcountryside businesses.

Boost your employability with a work placementApply to spend a year on a work placement between Stages2 and 3. You can apply to spend your placement year withany organisation.

You'll receive support to apply for a suitable placement. Thisincludes help to write your CV to send out to our wide rangeof industry contacts.

You'll gain first-hand experience of working in theenvironmental sector. If you impress your host company, itcould even result in a job offer on graduation.

It will extend your degree by a year and is subject toavailability.

Find out more about Work Placements.

Study abroad (optional)You may choose to undertake an optional work placementabroad, through the Erasmus scheme. You will gain aninternational perspective on your studies and seeenvironmental science practice in another country.

We have well-established exchanges with many EuropeanUniversities, including in:

• France• Spain• Germany

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• the Netherlands• Hungary• Estonia

Find out more about international opportunities on our studyabroad pages.

Facilities and supportThis degree is run by the School of Natural andEnvironmental Sciences.

FacilitiesYou'll have access to: 

• an experimental station providing field laboratories forevaluation and testing of ecologically friendly pesticidesand biocontrol agents

• well-equipped modern laboratories• two University farms, used for research, teaching and

demonstration: The Farms and NU-Farms Research

SupportTo support you in your studies, all new students enteringyear 1 or year 2 will receive a tablet. This enables you todownload the online learning resources you'll need for yourcourse and helps us to make our campus more sustainable.

You'll have an academic member of staff as a personaltutor throughout your degree, who can help with academicand personal issues.

The student-staff committee gives you a say in how yourdegree works.

You'll have access to a peer mentor in your first year – afellow student who can help you settle in and answer anyquestions you have.

Social activitiesYou will join a friendly cohort of students and can take partin regular social events organised by the student-led AgricSociety.

Students relaxing on The Union Lawn.

Course Details

Modules for 2019 entry

Please noteThe module and/or programme information below isfor 2019 entry. Our teaching is informed by research andmodules change periodically to reflect developments inthe discipline, the requirements of external bodies andpartners, student feedback, or insufficient numbers ofstudents interested (in an optional module). To find outmore read our terms and conditions.Module/programme information for 2020 entry will bepublished here as soon as it is available (end of May2020).Our degrees are divided into Stages. Each Stage lasts foran academic year and you need to complete modulestotalling 120 credits by the end of each Stage. Furtherinformation, including the credit value of the module, isavailable in each of the module descriptions below.

Stage 1

Compulsory modulesACE1006  Introductory Business EconomicsACE1008  Environment and Land ResourcesACE1040  Academic and Professional SkillsACE1041  Investigating Agri-food Systems from Farm toFolkACE1045  Investigating Rural LandscapesACE1046  Plants, Environment, AgricultureACE1047  Introduction to Agri-Food BusinessManagementCEG1702  Geographic Information Systems

Stage 2

Compulsory modulesACE2003  Landscape, Culture and HeritageACE2061  Environmental Management SkillsACE2066  Academic and Professional Skills 2BIO2028  Biodiversity, Ecology and ConservationLAW2053  Law and Land UseOptional modulesYou take 30 credits from the following list:ACC1000  Introduction to Non-Specialist Accounting andFinanceACE2000  Marketing Strategy: Concepts andApplicationsACE2010  Agricultural Markets

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Stage 2

ACE2018  Arable CropsACE2020  Introduction to Farm ManagementACE2063  Managing Soils in Agricultural SystemsACE2076 Sustainable Animal Production SystemsBIO2003  Field Identification SkillsBIO2025  UK WildlifeCEG2606  Geological ResourcesNCL2007  Career Development for Second YearStudents*NCL2100  Developing Enterprise, Entrepreneurship andEmployability** You may opt to take only one of NCL2007 or NCL2100

Work Placement (optional)

You can apply to spend 9 to 12 months on an optionalwork placement between Stages 2 and 3. You can applyto spend your placement year with any organisation andwill receive University support to do so. It will extend yourdegree by a year and is subject to availability. Find outmore on about Work Placements.

NCL3000 Careers Service Placement Year Module

Stage 3

Compulsory modulesACE3016  Countryside ManagementACE3017  Rural Planning, Politics and SocietyACE3093  Special StudyACE3207  Sustainable Development and EnvironmentalValuationOptional modulesYou take 40 credits from the following list:ACE3036  Farm ManagementBIO3039  Biodiversity Science and ManagementBIO3040  Applied EcologyLAW3015  Environmental LawNCL3007  Career Development for Final Year Students*NCL3008  Advanced Career Development*SOC3098  Community and Conflict in the CountrysideSUG3500  Creativity and Market Research in Science andEngineering**You may opt to take either NCL3007 or NCL3008 orSUG3500

Teaching and assessment

Study at the cutting edgeResearch-informed teaching plays an important role atNewcastle, meaning you study the most up-to-date theoriesand discoveries in your subject. You will have theopportunity to conduct your own research through a specialstudy in Stage 3. This may be linked to a vacation project orwork placement. 

Agriculture Research in the School of Natural andEnvironmental Sciences is organised into three researchgroups:

Agricultural Production Systems

Animal Sciences Research Units and Centres

Teaching methodsIn Stages 1 and 2 just over half of your teaching time will bespent in classroom-based lectures or seminars. Theremainder will be made up of field classes, computerclasses, and practical lab work. In Stage 3 greater emphasisis placed on project work, culminating in a final-year projectbased on a topic of your choice. 

Assessment methodsAssessment is based on a combination of:

• field assignments• group projects• oral presentations• essays• problem-based assignments• traditional examinations

Find out moreVisit our Teaching & Learning pages to read about theoutstanding learning experience available to all students atNewcastle University.

Careers

Countryside ManagementcareersThe environmental sector has grown rapidly over the lastdecade. Increasing environmental legislation means thereare many new employment areas in industry and the publicsector. Employers value the range of practical and academicskills you gain through the duration of our degrees. Ourgraduates have gone on to work for a wide range oforganisations including the European Parliament,Meteorological Office and Oxfam.

Our Countryside Management and Rural Studies graduatesmost commonly end up in land-based and environmentalcareers such as chartered surveying, as a rights of wayofficer or part of a local conservation team working forcharities and pressure groups. Additionally, government

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organisations and private firms provide openings foragricultural or environmental advisers.

Graduates with an environmental science background findemployment with conservation bodies such as NaturalEngland, the Environment Agency, water companies, localgovernment environmental health departments and otherenvironmental protection agencies, undertaking roles asvaried as environmental consultancy and environmentalengineering.

Because of the scope and flexibility of our degrees, there aremany opportunities open to you for postgraduate training atNewcastle University and other research institutes. Ourgraduates have also successfully pursued careers inteaching, and non-environmental careers such asaccountancy, banking, retail and personnel management,the armed forces, the police force, the Inland Revenue andother Civil Service departments, journalism and publishing.

Qualities such as self-motivation, teamwork ability andleadership may also be gained through non-academicactivities and work experience and prepare you for a rangeof careers.

Find out more about the career options for Environmentaland Rural Studies from Prospects: The UK's Official CareersWebsite.

What our graduates go on to do:employment and further studychoicesSee what our recent graduates went on to do and viewgraduate destinations statistics. These statistics are basedon what graduates were doing on a specific date,approximately six months after graduation. Take a look atthe most recent data available for our graduates.

The destination data is available in varying levels, beginningwith the University and moving through Faculty and Schooldown to individual course reports. This final level may giveyou some useful ideas about possible options after yourcourse or a course you are considering.

Careers and employability atNewcastleNewcastle University consistently has one of the bestrecords for graduate employment in the UK.

96% of our 2017 UK-domiciled UG/PG graduatesprogressed to employment or further study within sixmonths of graduating.

85.5% of our graduates are in graduate level employment orfurther study within six months of graduating.

We provide an extensive range of opportunities to allstudents through an initiative called ncl+. This enables youto develop personal, employability and enterprise skills and

to give you the edge in the employment market after yougraduate.

Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest andbest in the country, and we have strong links withemployers.

Fees & Funding

Tuition Fees (UK students)

2020 entry:£9,250For programmes where you can spend a year on a workplacement or studying abroad, you will receive asignificant fee reduction for that year.Some of our degrees involve additional costs which arenot covered by your tuition fees.Please note:The maximum fee that we are permitted to charge for UKstudents is set by the UK government.As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee toincrease in each subsequent academic year of yourcourse, subject to government regulations on feeincreases and in line with inflation.See more information on all aspects of studentfinance relating to Newcastle University.

Tuition Fees (EU students)

2020 entry:£9,250 You will pay the same tuition fees as UK studentsfor the duration of your course.For programmes where you can spend a year on a workplacement or studying abroad, you will receive asignificant fee reduction for that year.Some of our degrees involve additional costs which arenot covered by your tuition fees.Please note:As a general principle, you should expect the tuition fee toincrease in each subsequent academic year of yourcourse, subject to government regulations on feeincreases and in line with inflation.See more information on all aspects of studentfinance relating to Newcastle University.

Tuition Fees (International students)

2020 entry*:£18,600 *Please note:You will be charged tuition fees for each year of yourdegree programme (unless you are on a shorter exchangeprogramme).

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Tuition Fees (International students)

The tuition fee amount you will pay may increaseslightly year on year as a result of inflation.If you spend a year on placement or studying abroad aspart of your degree you may pay a reduced fee for thatyear.See more information on all aspects of studentfinance relating to Newcastle University.

Scholarships and Financial Support (UKstudents)

You may be eligible for one of a range of NewcastleUniversity Scholarships in addition to government financialsupport.Newcastle University ScholarshipsGovernment financial support

Scholarships and Financial Support (EUstudents)

You may be eligible for one of a range of NewcastleUniversity Scholarships in addition to government financialsupport.Newcastle University ScholarshipsGovernment financial support

Scholarships and Financial Support(International students)

We offer a range of scholarships to eligible internationalstudents:Vice-Chancellor's International ScholarshipsVice-Chancellor’s Excellence ScholarshipsVice-Chancellor’s Global ScholarshipsWe also offer International Family Discounts which areavailable for all international students with a close familymember who has graduated from or is now studying atNewcastle University.Newcastle University offers Sanctuary Scholarships foreligible undergraduate students (excludes MBBS andBDS students) from asylum-seeker and refugeebackgrounds. Some of our subject scholarships and sportsscholarships are also available for international students.

Apply

Applying to Newcastle Universitythrough UCASTo apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle you mustuse the online application system managed by theUniversities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).

UCAS codes for Newcastle University

• institution name - NEWC• institution code - N21

UCAS buzzwordAsk your teacher or adviser from your school or college forthe UCAS buzzword. You need the buzzword when youregister on the Apply system. This makes it clear whichschool or college you are applying from.

All UK schools and colleges and a small number of EU andinternational establishments are registered with UCAS.

If you are applying independently, or are applying from aschool or college which is not registered to manageapplications, you will still use the Apply system. You will notneed a buzzword.

Making your applicationOn the UCAS website you can also find out more about:

• application deadlines and other important dates• offers and tracking your application

Application decisions and enquiriesFind out more about our admissions process and who tocontact if you need help with your application.

Historic Grey's Monument in the city centre.