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Sustainable Land and Business Management BSc Honours

  • UCAS code: D455
  • Full time
  • 3 years

This degree explores countryside management from a wide variety of perspectives, to equip you with a balanced overview of the competing interests on the countryside.

You are currently viewing course information for entry year: 2024-25


Next start date:

  • September 2024

Fees (per year)

  • Home: £9250
  • International: £26400

Entry requirements and offers

  • A-Level: ABB-BBB
  • IB: 32 points

UCAS Institution name and code:

  • NEWC / N21

Course overview

Your degree integrates elements from a range of subjects such 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-centre university with access to fantastic countryside for fieldwork.

You can boost your employability and professional skills with an optional placement year in industry or the commercial sector. You also benefit from:

  • access to our two University farms for hands-on experience
  • expertise at our Centre for Rural Economy, recipient of the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2014
Students in a field looking at a data gathering instrument

Your course and study experience - disclaimers and terms and conditions  
Please rest assured we make all reasonable efforts to provide you with the programmes, services and facilities described. However, it may be necessary to make changes due to significant disruption, for example in response to Covid-19.

View our Academic experience page, which gives information about your Newcastle University study experience for the academic year 2023-24.

See our terms and conditions and student complaints information, which gives details of circumstances that may lead to changes to programmes, modules or University services.

Quality and ranking

Professional accreditation and recognition

All professional accreditations are reviewed regularly by their professional body.

Modules and learning

Modules

The information below is intended to provide an example of what you will study.

Most degrees are divided into stages. Each stage lasts for one academic year, and you'll complete modules totalling 120 credits by the end of each stage. 

Our teaching is informed by research. Course content may change periodically to reflect developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.

Optional module availability
Student demand for optional modules may affect availability.

Full details of the modules on offer will be published through the Programme Regulations and Specifications ahead of each academic year. This usually happens in May.

To find out more please see our terms and conditions.

You'll be introduced to a number of topics in rural development, environmental management, agriculture, study skills, business management and plant science. This lays the foundations for examining the problems of managing the countryside in a sustainable way.

You have the opportunity to experience management in action through a series of site visits in the region.

Modules

Compulsory Modules Credits
Introduction to Business Management 10
Agri-Food Supply Chains 10
Sustainability in Practice 20
Introductory Business Economics 10
Academic and Professional Skills 20
Introduction to Sustainability 20
Optional Modules Credits
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 10
Introduction to Marketing and Consumer Behaviour 20
Plants, Environment, Agriculture 10
UK Wildlife 10

You'll cover more specialised topics in land management, wildlife conservation, law, research methods, communications skills and countryside heritage.

You will have a choice of options, such as field identification, geology, crop and livestock production, soil science, farm management and accounting.

Modules

Compulsory Modules Credits
Law and Land Use 10
Landscape, Culture and Heritage 20
Site Management and Communication Skills 20
Qualitative Research Methods 10
Dissertation and Research Preparation 10
Sustainable Solutions 10
Optional Modules Credits
Introduction to Non-Specialist Accounting and Finance 20
Arable Crops 10
Farm Business Management 10
Marketing Strategy 20
Ecosystem Ecology 10
Field Identification Skills 10
Biodiversity, Ecology and Conservation 20

A research project accounts for a quarter of your time and may be linked to a vacation project or work placement. Recent projects have investigated topics such as: game management; countryside tourism; wildlife gardening; solar farms; and wildlife conservation.

You study countryside management, sustainability and environmental valuation, and rural planning and politics.

Modules

Compulsory Modules Credits
Countryside Management 20
Rural Planning, Politics and Society 20
Dissertation 30
Sustainable Development and Environmental Valuation 10
Optional Modules Credits
Career Development for final year students 20
Applied Farm Business Management 20
Your Future - occupational awareness 10
Marketing and Public Policy 10
Communication and Behaviour Change 10
Science Communication for Sustainable Development 10
Creativity, Innovation and Market Research in Science and Engineering UG 10
Biodiversity Science and Management 20
Current Research in Ecology 20

Teaching and assessment

Teaching methods

In stages 1 and 2 just over half of your teaching time will be spent in classroom-based lectures or seminars. The remainder will be made up of field classes, computer classes, and practical lab work. In Stage 3 greater emphasis is placed on project work, culminating in a final-year project based on a topic of your choice.

Assessment methods

You'll be assessed through a combination of:

  • Assignments – written or fieldwork

  • Dissertation or research project

  • Essays

  • Examinations – practical or online

  • Group work

  • Practical sessions

  • Presentations

  • Projects

Skills and experience

Practical skills

Field trips form an important part of your degree, these give you an opportunity to apply your knowledge to a practical setting. 

With easy access to nearby countryside from our location in North East England, you'll benefit from visits to Northumberland, County Durham and Cumbria to experience their varied landscapes and habitats.

Research skills

The Newcastle University-based Centre for Rural Economy specialises in interdisciplinary social science and applied policy research. You will have access to the expertise of our award-winning staff from across a range of specialties.

Opportunities

Work placement

Get career ready with a work placement and leave as a confident professional in your field. You can apply to spend 9 to 12 months working in any organisation in the world, and receive University support from our dedicated team to secure your dream placement. Work placements take place between stages 2 and 3.

You'll gain first-hand experience of working in the sector, putting your learning into practice and developing your professional expertise.

If you choose to take a work placement, it will extend your degree by a year. Your degree title will show you have achieved the placement year.  Placements are subject to availability.

Find out more about work placements.

Facilities and environment

Facilities

Land Management is based in the School of Natural and Environmental Sciences at our city-centre campus. During your studies, you'll have access to two commercial farms near Newcastle.

During your studies, you'll have access to an experimental station, providing field laboratories for evaluation and testing of pesticides and biocontrol agents.

Our University farms, Cockle Park Farm and Nafferton Farm, will give you an insight into how real-world farms operate, so you're prepared for your future. Our farms are used for research, teaching and demonstration.

Support

To support you in your studies, all new students entering year 1 or year 2 will receive a tablet. You can download the online learning resources you'll need for your course (helping us to make our campus more sustainable).

You'll have the support of an academic member of staff as a personal tutor throughout your degree to help with academic and personal issues.

Peer mentors will help you in your first year. They are fellow students who can help you settle in and answer any questions you have when starting university.

There's also a staff-student committee, to give you an opportunity to have a say in how your degree works.

Your future

Many of our graduates have found employment in a range of organisations, including:

  • national park authorities
  • the European Parliament
  • Met Office
  • National Trust
  • UK wildlife organisations

Our Countryside Management and Rural Studies graduates most commonly end up in land-based and environmental careers such as chartered surveying, as a rights of way officer or part of a local conservation team working for charities and pressure groups.

Additionally, government organisations and private firms provide openings for agricultural or environmental advisers.

Graduates with an environmental science background find employment with conservation bodies such as Natural England, the Environment Agency, water companies, local government environmental health departments and other environmental protection agencies, undertaking roles as varied as environmental consultancy and environmental engineering.

Employability at Newcastle

96% of Newcastle University graduates progressed to employment or further study within six months of graduating, with 85.5% in graduate-level employment or further study.

Take a look at the most recent data available for our graduates. See what they have gone on to achieve and be inspired to follow in their footsteps.

Statistics are based on what graduates were doing on a specific date, approximately six months after graduation (Destinations of (undergraduate and postgraduate UK domiciled) Leavers from Higher Education Survey 2016/17).

Enterprising students

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Careers support

Our Enterprise Challenge gives students the opportunity to work with industry on a project that tackles real-world issues. Watch the above video to find out more.

Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers. We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through our ncl+ initiative.

Visit our Careers Service website

Recognition of professional qualifications outside of the UK

From 1 January 2021 there is an update to the way professional qualifications are recognised by countries outside of the UK

Entry requirements

All candidates are considered on an individual basis and we accept a broad range of qualifications. The entrance requirements and offers below apply to 2024 entry.

A-Level
International Baccalaureate

Other UK and the Republic of Ireland qualifications

Contextual Offers

Through one of our contextual routes, you could receive an offer of up to three grades lower than the typical requirements.

What is a contextual offer? Find out more and if you’re eligible for this or our PARTNERS Programme supported entry route.

Qualifications from outside the UK

English Language requirements

Entrance courses (INTO)

International Pathway Courses are specialist programmes designed for international students who want to study in the UK. We provide a range of study options for international students in partnership with INTO. 

Find out more about International Pathway Courses

Admissions policy

This policy applies to all undergraduate and postgraduate admissions at Newcastle University. It is intended to provide information about our admissions policies and procedures to applicants and potential applicants, to their advisors and family members, and to staff of the University.

Credit transfer and Recognition of Prior Learning

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) can allow you to convert existing relevant university-level knowledge, skills and experience into credits towards a qualification. Find out more about the RPL policy which may apply to this course.

Tuition fees and scholarships

Tuition fees for 2024 entry (per year)

Qualification: BSc Honours

Home students

full time 3 years

Tuition fees (per year)

9250

International students

full time 3 years

Tuition fees (per year)

26400

Year abroad and additional costs

For programmes where you can spend a year on a work placement or studying abroad, you will receive a significant fee reduction for that year. 

Some of our degrees involve additional costs which are not covered by your tuition fees.

Find out more about:

Scholarships

Find out more about:

Open days and events

How to apply

Apply through UCAS

To apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle University, you must use the online application system managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). All UK schools and colleges, and a small number of EU and international establishments, are registered with UCAS. You will need:

  • the UCAS name and institution codes for Newcastle University (NEWC/N21)
  • the UCAS code for the course you want to apply for
  • the UCAS 'buzzword' for your school or college

If you are applying independently, or are applying from a school or college which is not registered to manage applications, you will still use the Apply system. You will not need a buzzword.

Apply through UCAS

Apply through an agent

International students often apply to us through an agent. Have a look at our recommended agents and get in touch with them.

Visit our International pages

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