Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English and Creative Writing

at University of Plymouth United Kingdom

Realise your artistic potential. Guided by practising artists, you’ll develop creative approaches to making artwork, through opportunities to explore different techniques and technologies in dedicated fine art studios and specialist workshops. You will expand your art practice through a vibrant mix of studio work, and creative and critical thinking, which will deepen your understanding and refine your skills, to enable you to contribute to the expanding field of contemporary fine art.

Key Features

• Hone your existing talents and discover new ones with your own, dedicated studio space – as well as specialist shared spaces and facilities for textiles, metal and woodworking, plasterwork and ceramics workshops and life drawing classes.
• Connect and collaborate with others from around the world, thanks to our excellent links with overseas art and design institutions and international exchange opportunities in your second year.
• Explore the best way to express yourself – try drawing, video and sound, painting, printmaking, photography, performance and sculpture – to find the medium that’s right for you.
• Discover the possibilities of technology with fully equipped print and photo facilities, computers, audio-visual equipment, sound studio resources and expert technicians to support and guide you in your exploration.
• Enhance your understanding of art and the cultural context of your work with visiting lecturers and field trips to museums and galleries throughout the UK and Europe.
• Seize opportunities to enter local, national and international competitions and awards. Our students have been recognised in the Jerwood Drawing prize, travelled to Amsterdam for the Hans Brinker Trophy and won a contest to design the trophy for the prestigious Abercrombie Award.
• Develop your professional practice and engage with different audiences, through multiple opportunities to test your work, such as internal and external pop-up shows and exhibitions, open studios, and test spaces.
• Get gallery-ready and showcase your final project in a real exhibition space alongside students from our 12 art and design degrees. The Art and Design Degree Show is your chance to introduce friends, family, prospective employers and the general public to your work.

Are you ready to make the difference? Discover the formula to teaching mathematics with our expert staff and world leading researchers. You’ll gain a solid foundation in mathematical and statistical modules, while the final year combines educational theory and school experience. Time spent in the classroom will give you the skills, knowledge and confidence to progress to a teacher training course such as a PGCE, or move into one of many careers where high-level mathematical skills are essential.

Key Features

• Gain classroom experience in a placement module, supporting mathematics teaching in a secondary or primary school for one morning a week throughout your final year. This will help you become an effective communicator.
• Dr Jenny Sharp who leads the Education modules has worked with schools in many different capacities, and is regularly invited to run workshops and masterclasses all around the country, including at the Royal Institution, other universities and in schools.
• An in-depth individual project gives you an introduction to mathematical educational theory, an ideal preparation for teacher training courses.
• Help others and gain hands on expertise by taking part in our Mathematics Enrichment Programme activities. You can gradually develop a workshop for a Mathematics masterclass.
• Gain high level understanding of modern pure and applied mathematics, and statistics; this knowledge base opens up many mathematical careers to you.

Are you ready to make your mark? If you’ve studied a foundation course in law and business at one of our partner colleges and want to obtain a law degree, BSc (Hons) Law with Business will prepare you for a career in the legal or business professions and beyond. Develop a breadth of transferable skills, and benefit from our focus on teaching law in the ‘real’ world.

*Please note: the first two years of the degree are only available through University of Plymouth partner colleges which provide you with a foundation degree in law, enabling you to join the third year of our law and business programmes to obtain the BSc law degree.

Key Features

• Choose from a range of relevant third year law and business options from the LLB (Hons) Law programmes and BSc (Hons) Law with Business Studies.
• Top-up your degree with a one year Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) before applying for the solicitors’ Legal Practice Course or the Barristers’ Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC). 
• Benefit from working with a faculty of highly qualified law and business staff who provide a great mix of research-informed and practice-led teaching.
• Pursue further business study – we offer a range of postgraduate options at the Plymouth Business School.
• Take part in relevant work experience and research in areas such as business, criminal justice, employment and family law via our Law Clinic.
• Benefit from being part of a very successful Business School which was recently shortlisted for the national Business School of the year.

*Please note: the first two years of the degree are only available through Plymouth University’s partner colleges which provide you with a foundation degree in law, enabling you to join the third year of our law and business programmes to obtain the BSc law degree. 

This programme focuses on state-of-the-art practical and theoretical aspects of a wide range of electronic engineering systems including integrated systems programming, advanced inverter technology, state-of-the-art mobile phone signal processing and nanotechnology clean-room applications. Design and build your own hardware and benefit from hands-on practical experience in well-equipped labs supported by expert researchers and practising engineers.

The MSc Electrical and Electronic Engineering will appeal to you if you are a design engineer. The programme provides an in-depth knowledge of specialist areas in electrical and electronic engineering underpinned by the theory and practice of modern electronics and renewable energy systems, together with the associated signal processing and embedded programming techniques. The modules have been selected to give you an even balance of essential modern areas of electrical and electronic engineering. The communications content will give you a broad grounding in communication theory and systems while the signal processing content is generally biased toward applications in communications engineering. From our experience of intensive courses, and our work with partner companies, this programme meets the current needs of electrical and electronics industry. The programme is taught in autumn and spring blocks and includes a project

Key Features

Discover the core principles of human geography while also exploring key international political and economic issues. In your geography modules you study the relationships between people, place and environment, while in International Relations the focus is on understanding the international political landscape. Gain knowledge and skills our supportive academic staff who are expert researchers in their field. Study abroad, international field trips and placement opportunities are available.

Our geography degrees make the most of geography’s strengths in tackling head on the biggest global challenges we face. Modules have been designed to address many of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – developed by the UN as the 'blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all' – all of our degrees are fully accredited by the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

Key Features

• Our newly designed Geography curriculum places sustainability challenges at the centre, with modules designed to help address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
• Choose from an exciting range of human geography and international relations choice modules.
• Our supportive staff are expert researchers and many are world leaders in their field.
• Teaching is innovative and student-centred. You will learn through lectures, seminars, practicals, national and international residential fieldwork, tutorials and one-to-one dissertation support.
• Learn to use Geographical Information Systems to analyse and communicate complex spatial data.
• Take advantage of a wide range of study abroad possibilities in Europe, North America and Australia.
• Experience a valuable work placement programme, opening up a range of career opportunities such as consultancy, policy development and management, teaching, planning and conservation.
• LABplus is a unique open access laboratory and resource centre designed for students studying science and engineering courses. The lab provides a flexible workspace, computing facilities, specialist software, access to microscopes, microscope cameras and bespoke resources.
• We’re very proud of our National Student Survey (NSS) 2020 return which shows student satisfaction overall at 96 per cent for human geography.
• Benefit from our unique location, in the heart of the historical city of Plymouth, bordered by Dartmoor National Park as well as the Tamar Valley and South Hams Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Devon and Cornwall have glorious beaches, coasts, rivers and estuaries.

Are you passionate about animal welfare and keen to shape the management of the zoos of the future? Our unique programme is the first of its kind in the world. Study factors affecting animal behaviour, conservation and welfare plus international zoo management and collaboration. Our partnership with Paignton Zoo gives you regular access to their connections, research and expertise – so you’re primed to make a difference

As a full-time student, you’ll study seven modules taking in everything from genetics to environmental enrichment, preventative health to budgeting. We update modules to reflect current thinking and you can specialise within them. For example, you can tailor your coursework to species of personal interest. You’ll be assessed through coursework with practical tasks focused on your future career. You cover a range of topics that are of central importance in managing animal collections. As a trained zoo biologist you study conservation, nutrition, welfare, bahaviour, and overall zoo management. You then conduct a final three month research project of your choice. Previous research projects have covered topics ranging from  female mate choice in white-faced saki monkeys to how visitor disturbance and keeper interventions affect the behaviour and enclosure use of captive sand tiger sharks.

Key features

 Chemists plays a vital role in tackling key societal challenges, including sustainability, health, energy and protecting the environment. To ensure our graduates can apply their chemistry, our course places problem solving, communication, and project management at the core of what we do. Taught by world-class researchers, our students gain both the academic knowledge and practical laboratory skills needed to be a professional chemist in a wide range of careers.

Work and learn in our ISO 9001 certified laboratories, our unique offer to undergraduates to train in a regulated professional laboratory environment. Chemistry at Plymouth is ranked 14th in the Guardian University Guide 2021: top in the UK for ‘satisfied with feedback’, 2nd in both ‘satisfied with teaching’ and the ‘value-added score’, and 6th on ‘satisfied with the course’

Key Features

• Benefit from outstanding teaching - our degree is ranked 1st in the UK for academic support, 2nd for assessment and feedback and 4th for overall teaching quality (NSS, 2019).
• Equip yourself for successful employment in a competitive job market – our focus on practical, professional skills means you graduate primed to enter the workplace.
• Benefit from award-winning teaching in small groups and be inspired by staff who are world-leading researchers.
• Hone your practical problem solving skills in our newly-refurbished laboratories, kitted out with the latest analytical instrumentation.
• Our tutorial system ensures that you receive the support and guidance you need to reach your full potential.
• 70% of assessment is based on coursework.
• Experience chemistry in the real world and boost your employability by taking a placement, work-based project in your final year, or working alongside PhD and post-doctoral researchers in our high specification laboratories.
• Graduate with in-demand skills for a range of career paths, from research and development in the pharmaceutical industry and lab-based roles in the food and energy industries, to positions in the science, engineering, healthcare, environmental or technology sectors.
• Accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry, the professional body representing chemistry in the UK.

Set yourself up for a successful career in early years education, developing the professional skills you’ll need to teach in schools and other settings in this sector. Shaped by our own research expertise, this course supports you in the study of education throughout the primary phase, and specialising in different forms of education for children from three to seven years old.

Have you considered

• BEd (Hons) Primary (KS1/KS2 with QTS)
• BEd (Hons) Primary (Special Educational Needs with QTS)

Key Features

• Launch your career: obtaining integrated Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), which means you can begin your teaching career immediately. Expand your horizons, enhance your practical experience and set yourself above the competition.
• FS/KS1 focus area: this degree will look at teaching the ages from 3–7 but also look at the way the Foundation Stage feeds into KS1 and KS2 preparing you to work with children from any phase of primary education.
• No exams: learn through interactive workshops and with no end-of-year/semester exams.
• Close links to the Master of Education (MA Ed): this link enables students to achieve enhanced career progression in a profession in which masters level attainment is increasingly valued.
• Work based learning opportunities: students benefit from a wide range of placement types within our partnership of over 500 schools and other settings, from single days to extended block placements to develop and consolidate QTS standards.
• Professional identity: from the very start of the programme you are considered as a teacher in development. The programme supports you as you develop your professional standards and identity.
• Research-informed teaching: not only are all modules enhanced by tutors’ active research interests but students are immersed in a research culture and benefit from learning about the advantages of researching their practice first hand.
• Student support: within the Plymouth Institute of Education there is a strong ethos of support for all students. Your professional tutor will actively engage with you throughout the BEd programme to offer guidance and support in both academic and pastoral terms.
• OfSTED recognised: recent inspection rated the Primary ITE provision at Plymouth as good in all aspects, with particular strengths in the partnership led elements of the programmes and the quality of the graduates

Being a paramedic is a highly rewarding and stimulating career. The BSc Paramedic Science course at the University of Plymouth offers a forward-looking programme of study, which aims to prepare you for the workplace by developing your decision-making capabilities, clinical knowledge, and skills base.

This fast developing and dynamic profession presents many opportunities to specialise within a variety of challenging healthcare environments. As such, you will have the opportunity of gaining valuable experience on placements within the ambulance service and can choose further placements within emergency, maternity and cardiology departments, GP practices and mental health services.

Key Features

• Benefit from our experienced teaching team's range of academic and clinical areas of special interest and research.
• Study a contemporary curriculum focusing on providing quality patient care.
• Develop leadership and management skills.
• Access our fully equipped clinical skills suites, simulation areas and student ambulance.
• Learn on a course that has service user and carer involvement at its core.
• Take advantage of the University’s excellent online resources, library, IT facilities and support services.

Are you passionate about understanding animal behaviour and applying this knowledge to improve welfare? Do you want to explore the evolution of behaviour in a variety of species? Applying an understanding of animal needs and health, you consider the many aspects of animal welfare, including an examination of the legal and ethical frameworks that safeguard welfare. You also undertake practical work, conducting behavioural and welfare assessment studies, gaining the skills sought by employers.

In the 2019 National Student Survey, 100% expressed overall satisfaction with the course; 93% of students felt staff on this course were good at explaining things; 83% felt that the staff made the subject interesting and 93% found the course intellectually stimulating.

Key Features

• You will build a strong foundation in the fundamental science that underpins the study and understanding of behaviour and welfare - including ecology, evolution, microbiology, physiology, nutrition, health and disease. You will then build onto this with in-depth study of behaviour, welfare and their links in your second and final years of study.
• You will take part in residential field courses in South Devon and the Netherlands, allowing you to develop and apply the understanding you gain through lectures and to study animal behaviour in both wild and captive settings - the latter including zoos and agricultural settings.
• You will benefit from our collaborations with Dartmoor Zoo, Paignton Zoo, Newquay Zoo, the Donkey Sanctuary and National Marine Aquarium, which enable a number of field-trips throughout your course to look at captive animal behaviour, welfare, conservation and rehabilitation.
• You will have opportunity to boost your employability by taking a placement year between your second and final years of study, working in the industry, anywhere in the world - you can read more about this in the 'course details' section of this page.
• You can broaden your horizons by taking your second year at one of a range of universities overseas offered in our year abroad scheme.
• You will be supported pastorally and academically by a personal tutor throughout your studies, and will have regular 1:1 meetings to discuss your progress formally.
• You will interact with and be lectured by academic staff who are research-active and well regarded in their fields.
• You will undertake self-study throughout your course, using our well-equipped library and range of online scientific journals, as well as LABPlus, our unique laboratory and resource centre designed for science and engineering students, which will provide you with flexible workspace, computing facilities, specialist software and bioinformatic applications, access to microscopes, cameras and bespoke resources designed by academic staff to support specific modules as well as more general self-study.