Sustainability and Consultancy MSc

Course overview

Prepare yourself for a career in the increasingly relevant field of sustainability consultancy, through our industry-led Sustainability and Consultancy MSc.

Sustainability is a hot topic. We are facing an increase in environmental degradation, social inequalities and economic disparities due to various issues, such as climate change, problems caused by waste production, and the loss of biodiversity, and many of these can be caused by our industrial and commercial activities.

To meet the challenges of the future, we must address these issues. That’s why businesses and organisations worldwide are looking for sustainability experts to help support them in reducing and mitigating their negative impacts through changes in their business strategies, practices, and projects.

This course aligns closely with sustainability challenges and the skills businesses and organisations need to tackle those challenges, with a strong emphasis on project skills. You'll be taught the principles of the field and have the opportunity to choose sustainability topics which align with your specific interests as you build up to a focused professional consultancy project in which you'll carry out discrete analysis with one of our industry partners.

Specialist modules are delivered by academic staff, practising consultants and other practitioners, giving you exposure to real-life, international case studies with a good understanding of the contemporary project and sustainability management techniques and solutions you'll need to become a leader in the field.

Applying

Entry requirements

A bachelor degree with a 2:1 (hons) in a natural, environmental, physical, geographical, management or social science subject.

This course is ideal if you have enthusiasm for environmental debate and concern over the future sustainability of human and environmental systems. You are also likely to benefit from this course if you have a background in other disciplines, with relevant work experience in the fields of environment and/or development.

Applicants with any of the following will be considered on a case-by-case basis:

• A bachelor degree with a 2:2 (hons), or equivalent, where applicants can demonstrate relevant work experience or aptitude in a relevant specialist field.
• Professional qualifications and relevant experience.

International

We accept a range of international equivalent qualifications. For more information, please contact the Admissions Team.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5 overall, with no less than 6.0 in any component. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.

Improve your English

International students who do not meet the English language requirements for this programme may be able to study our postgraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

This pre-sessional course is designed with a progression route to your degree programme and you’ll learn academic English in the context of your subject area. To find out more, read Language for Science (6 weeks) and Language for Science: General Science (10 weeks).

We also offer online pre-sessionals alongside our on-campus pre-sessionals. Find out more about our six week online pre-sessional and our 10 week online pre-sessional.

You can also study pre-sessionals for longer periods – read about our postgraduate pre-sessional English courses.

Career opportunities

Sustainability has become a fundamental part of protecting the world we live in and, as such, the career opportunities for qualified specialists are far-reaching and highly rewarding.

Sustainability consultants can be found all across the globe, in a number of different organisations. Many work in the big engineering consultancy firms which build big pieces of infrastructure, such as power stations, tunnels, roads and railways, where they assess the environmental and social impact of these developments and come up with plans to mitigate the effects.

Other consultants may work at business level, helping companies to reduce their own environmental and social impact caused by the execution of their business activities, whilst many find themselves working in the public sector such as with local authorities.

Regardless of where in the world you want to live and work, there is a need for sustainability expertise worldwide and, with increasing legislation from governments and industry’s own desire to remain competitive, this need is only going to become more prominent.

Plus, University of Leeds students are among the top 5 most targeted by top employers according to The Graduate Market 2024, High Fliers Research, meaning our graduates are highly sought after by some of the most reputable companies in the field.

Graduates have gone on to a wide variety of careers in sustainability, including:

• Environmental Consultant, Jacobs Foundation
• Development Manager, Citu Group Developments Ltd
• Energy and Sustainability Specialist, Bulb Energy
• Sustainability Consultant, ARUP
• Sustainability and Climate Change Consultant, WSP Global
• Environment and Sustainability Analyst, JBA Consulting
• Supply Chain Consultant, Anthesis
• Sustainability Director, Proud to be Green
• Geologist, AECOM
• Graduate Analyst, Hewlett Packard
• Policy Advisor — EU Negotiations, CBI Conference Centre
• Sustainable Fashion Footprint Coordinator, Arcadia Group
• Produce Legislation and Environment Trainee, Next