Geography, BA (Hons)

Geography at Cambridge

Geographers study some of the biggest challenges facing our planet. This course tackles a number of these, including:

• food security
• climate and biodiversity emergencies
• pandemics
• globalisation
• social inequalities
• urbanisation
• volcanoes
• melting ice sheets

You do not have to choose whether to specialise in physical or human geography. If you want to, you can do both in all three years.

Fieldwork is an important part of this course. It’s an enjoyable way to develop your research skills. You will go on:

• one-day excursions each year, depending on your choice of papers
• compulsory field classes of 5 to 8 days in the second year, in September or during the Easter vacation

Recent fieldwork locations include destinations in both mainland Europe and the British Isles. We are aiming to reduce the carbon footprint of these trips.

Teaching and facilities

Teaching

We focus on delivering high quality, research-led teaching that is stimulating and challenging. This commitment to teaching has consistently been recognised by external league tables and accolades.

Facilities

Our excellent facilities include:

• the Geography Department Library, which contains around 20,000 books, journals and periodicals, and is also a fantastic study space
• physical geography labs, where you will work
• the Scott Polar Research Institute, where some of your teaching will take place

You'll also have access to the impressive Cambridge University Library, one of the world’s oldest university libraries.

Watch the video to find out what a day in the life of a Cambridge Geography student is like:

Course costs

When you go to university, you’ll need to consider two main costs – your tuition fees and your living costs (sometimes referred to as maintenance costs).

Your living costs will include costs related to your studies that are not covered by your tuition fees. There are some general study costs that will apply for all students – you can find details of these costs here.

Other additional course costs for Geography are detailed below. If you have any queries about the costs, please contact the Department.

Equipment

• Waterproof clothing and footwear: we recommend you buy suitable clothing and footwear for field trips. This is an optional cost and how much you spend depends on personal preference.

Printing

• The Department provides £21 of printing credit each year.

Field trips

• Compulsory residential field trip in Year 2: students are asked to contribute about £150. This covers all transport, accommodation and meals. If there is a case of financial need then students can apply to their College for support.
• Potential dissertation costs: you may incur costs when working on your dissertation, but the level of these will depend on your dissertation topic, and therefore your data collection/work location. Some Department support is available to support partial dissertation costs – please contact the Department for further information.

Your future career

When you graduate you’ll be highly skilled in:

• dealing with complex problems
• information retrieval
• data management
• statistics
• using specialist software

You’ll also be used to working independently and communicating efficiently.

Our graduates enter many different careers, including:

• industry and commerce
• social enterprises and charities
• planning
• teaching
• finance
• social and community work
• environmental management and conservation
• the media
• politics
• the Civil Service