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Thank you for considering an application
To apply you’ll need to:
- Make note of the Queen Mary institution code: Q50
- Make note of your chosen course UCAS code:
Environment, Sustainability and Development
- F813 — BSc (Hons)
- F814 — BSc (Hons) with Year Aboard
- Click on the link below:
Have further questions? How to apply | Entry requirements
Environment, Sustainability and Development
2 study options
Environment, Sustainability and Development BSc (Hons)
Key information
- Degree
- BSc (Hons)
- Duration
- 3 years
- Start
- September 2027
- UCAS code
- F813
- Institution code
- Q50
- Typical A-Level offer
- Grades ABB at A-Level.
Full entry requirements (including contextual admissions) - Home fees
- £10,050
- Overseas fees
- £28,300
Funding information
Paying your fees
Environment, Sustainability and Development with Year Aboard BSc (Hons)
Key information
- Degree
- BSc (Hons)
- Duration
- 4 years
- Start
- September 2027
- UCAS code
- F814
- Institution code
- Q50
- Typical A-Level offer
- Grades ABB at A-Level.
Full entry requirements (including contextual admissions) - Home fees
- £10,050
- Overseas fees
- £28,300
Funding information
Paying your fees
Overview
Understand the world's biggest challenges - and help solve them.
Climate change, biodiversity loss, global inequality, and resource pressures are among the defining challenges of our time. Addressing them requires people who can think across environmental, social, and economic issues and develop practical, evidence-based solutions.
Our BSc Environment, Sustainability and Development equips you with the knowledge, skills and professional experience to do exactly that. You'll explore topics including climate change, green economies, food systems, migration, environmental justice and sustainable development, while developing the analytical, research and leadership skills increasingly sought by employers. Taught by experts from across the social and environmental sciences, the programme prepares you to tackle complex global challenges and pursue careers in sustainability, environmental management, government, business and international organisations.
Learn by doing
Throughout your degree, you'll combine perspectives from environmental science, geography, and development studies to understand how environmental and social challenges are connected. You'll develop practical skills in qualitative and quantitative research, data analysis, fieldwork and problem-solving, alongside leadership training delivered through a bespoke Sustainability Leadership programme.
The best part? You won’t be waiting until the end of your degree to apply your new skills. In your first semester, you'll travel to Malta for a residential field course, where you'll investigate sustainability challenges first-hand in a region where climate change, migration, and rapid urban development intersect.
In your second year, you'll have the opportunity to undertake a work placement and apply your learning to real-world sustainability challenges. In your final year, you'll complete an independent dissertation, allowing you to develop expertise in a topic, region or sector that matches your interests and career ambitions.
Whether you want to work in environmental management, sustainability consultancy, ESG, international development, or in policy, you'll graduate with the knowledge, practical experience and confidence to make a meaningful contribution to a more sustainable and just future.
Structure
You can complete your Environment, Sustainability and Development degree in three or four years. If you choose to study abroad, this will take place in Year 3 and Year 3 modules will instead be studied in Year 4.
Year 1
Compulsory
- Sustainable Transitions: Malta Field Course*
- Global Development: Power, Inequality & Resistance
- Sustainability Leadership
- Planetary Emergencies: From Analysis to Action
- Earth Surface Science
- Global Economy: Markets, Crises and Transformations
- Introduction to Research Methods
For full details on all of our modules please go to the online module directory.
*Fieldwork module. Flights, shared accommodation, transport in Malta and meals will not cost you anything extra on this compulsory module. Students are responsible for securing their own visas, if required.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Year 2
Compulsory
- Advanced Research Methods
- Geographies of Development: Institutions, Environments and Technologies
- Science, Ethics and Environmental Policy
- Green Economies: Work, Energy and Ecology
- Sustainable Food Systems: Migration, Place and Culture
Choose from
- Climate Change in Practice
- Geography, Environment and Development Work Placement
- Geospatial Science
- Health, Space and Justice
- Everyday Geopolitics: People, Power and Things
For full details on all of our modules please go to the online module directory.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Year 3
Compulsory
- Dissertation
Choose from
- Critical Hope in an Uncertain World
- Critical Environmental Studies
- Climate Change and Climate Policy
- Nature-based Climate Solutions
- Environmental Pollution
- Environmental Politics
- Global Public Policy
- African Cities: Development, Economy and Hustle
- Latin American Debates: The Politics of Development and Democratisation
- Medicine, Politics & Global Health Histories
- Epidemic Cities: Places, Populations & Mobilities
For full details on all of our modules please go to the online module directory.
Please note that all modules are subject to change.
Study options
Apply for this degree with any of the following options. Take care to use the correct UCAS code - it may not be possible to change your selection later.
Year abroad
Go global and study abroad as part of your degree – apply for our Environment, Sustainability and Development BSc with a Year Abroad. Queen Mary has links with universities in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia (partnerships vary for each degree programme).
Find out more about study abroad opportunities at Queen Mary and what the progression requirements are.
Additional Costs
Compulsory fieldwork will not cost you anything extra. Optional UK and overseas fieldwork trips in the second- and third-year cost approximately £450-£1,500 (based on 2022-23 costs) depending on destination, including flights, accommodation and expenses on location.
Teaching
Teaching and learning
On average, you can expect to spend eight to 12 hours per week in a combination of lectures, tutorials, supervisions, seminars, workshops and practical classes.
For every hour of classes, expect to do a further two to four hours of independent study.
Fieldwork is central to all our programmes and takes place in London, the UK and overseas. Find out more about our field classes and how they help you apply your studies to real-world contexts.
All students have an academic advisor that they meet with regularly across each semester to review their studies and to check-in on their well-being. Read more about the advice and support services available to students in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science.
Assessment
Modules are assessed through a combination of coursework and examination. Coursework may include extended essays, short reports, posters, oral presentations and group work.
Students must also complete a final-year independent study project of 10,000 words, based on an original study of their choice.
Resources and facilities
The Department of Geography and Environmental Science offers excellent on-campus resources to aid your studies, including an undergraduate computer room and a geography teaching laboratory.
You will have access to specialist qualitative, quantitative, and GIS computing software to support your learning and research if required.
You will also have access to an unparalleled range of learning resources, special collections, and world-leading libraries within Queen Mary and the University of London, such as the Queen Mary Library and Senate House Library. Other specialist collections are accessible nearby, for example at the British Library.
Entry requirements
| A-Level | Grades ABB at A-Level. |
| IB | International Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum of 32 points overall, including 6,5,5 from three Higher Level subjects. |
| BTEC | See our detailed subject and grade requirements |
| Access HE | We consider applications from students with the Access to Higher Education Diploma. The minimum academic requirement is to achieve 60 credits overall, with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 15 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher. Applications are considered on a case by case basis. Due to the high volume of applications, we do not make offers of study purely on the basis of meeting grade requirements. |
| GCSE | Both GCSE English and Maths at grade C or 4 or an acceptable equivalent will be required. |
| EPQ | Alternative offers may be made to applicants taking the Extended Project Qualification. For further information please visit: qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/entry/epq |
| Contextualised admissions | Our standard contextual offer: BBC at A-Level. Our enhanced contextual offer: BCC at A-Level. More information on our contextual offer criteria can be found on our contextualised admissions page. Please note that General Studies and Critical Thinking are excluded from any A-Level offer and cannot be considered. |
| A-Level | Grades ABB at A-Level. |
| IB | International Baccalaureate Diploma with a minimum of 32 points overall, including 6,5,5 from three Higher Level subjects. |
| BTEC | See our detailed subject and grade requirements |
| Access HE | We consider applications from students with the Access to Higher Education Diploma. The minimum academic requirement is to achieve 60 credits overall, with 45 credits at Level 3, of which 15 credits must be at Distinction and 15 credits at Merit or higher. Applications are considered on a case by case basis. Due to the high volume of applications, we do not make offers of study purely on the basis of meeting grade requirements. |
| GCSE | Both GCSE English and Maths at grade C or 4 or an acceptable equivalent will be required. |
| EPQ | Alternative offers may be made to applicants taking the Extended Project Qualification. For further information please visit: qmul.ac.uk/undergraduate/entry/epq |
| Contextualised admissions | Our standard contextual offer: BBC at A-Level. Our enhanced contextual offer: BCC at A-Level. More information on our contextual offer criteria can be found on our contextualised admissions page. Please note that General Studies and Critical Thinking are excluded from any A-Level offer and cannot be considered. |
Non-UK students
We accept a wide range of European and international qualifications in addition to A-levels, the International Baccalaureate and BTEC qualifications. Please visit International Admissions for full details.
If your qualifications are not accepted for direct entry onto this degree, consider applying for a foundation programme.
English language
Find out more about our English language entry requirements, including the types of test we accept and the scores needed for entry to the programme.
You may also be able to meet the English language requirement for your programme by joining a summer pre-sessional programme before starting your degree.
Further information
Funding
Loans and grants
UK students accepted onto this course are eligible to apply for tuition fee and maintenance loans from Student Finance England or other government bodies.
Scholarships and bursaries
Queen Mary offers a generous package of scholarships and bursaries, which currently benefits around 50 per cent of our undergraduates.
Scholarships are available for home, EU and international students. Specific funding is also available for students from the local area. International students may be eligible for a fee reduction. We offer means-tested funding, as well as subject-specific funding for many degrees.
Find out what scholarships and bursaries are available to you.
Support from Queen Mary
We offer specialist support on all financial and welfare issues through our Advice and Counselling Service, which you can access as soon as you have applied for a place at Queen Mary.
Take a look at our Student Advice Guides which cover ways to finance your degree, including:
- additional sources of funding
- planning your budget and cutting costs
- part-time and vacation work
- money for lone parents.
Careers
Graduates from our Environment, Sustainability and Development programme develop a wide range of transferable and sought-after skills, preparing them for careers across the environment, sustainability and development sectors and beyond.
Our programme prepares students to progress into a wide range of careers, including sustainability and environmental consultancy, environmental management, ESG and corporate sustainability, climate and environmental policy, international development, NGOs and development agencies, and project management across the public, private and third sectors.
Recent graduates from the Department of Geography and Environmental Science have gone on to roles with:
- The BBC
- The Citizens Foundation (TCF)
- Solar Impulse Foundation
- The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
- Deloitte
Career support
Environment, Sustainability and Development students benefit from dedicated careers support, including lectures and tutorials on career choice, getting work experience and presenting degree skills to an employer at interview. We also run an annual career options event with graduate speakers.
Find out more about how we have integrated careers support into all of degree programmes to help you to maximise your potential and achieve your ambitions.
The Queen Mary careers team can also offer:
- specialist advice on choosing a career path
- support with finding work experience, internships and graduate jobs
- feedback on CVs, cover letters and application forms
- interview coaching.
Learn more about career support and development at Queen Mary.
About the School
School of Society and Environment
At Queen Mary’s School of Society and Environment, we explore the big questions shaping our world - past, present, and future. From medieval Europe to modern America, from global environmental change to the politics of the Middle East, our programmes blend rigorous scholarship with real-world impact.
Our academics are among the world’s leading researchers, and our departments consistently rank among the best in their fields (QS World University Rankings; Research Excellence Framework). Students also rate our teaching highly (National Student Survey), recognising our commitment to an engaging, high-quality learning experience.
Located in London, home to Parliament, political think tanks, cultural institutions and global businesses, we offer excellent opportunities to collaborate with local, national, and international partners. Here, you’ll apply your learning beyond the classroom, gain hands-on experience, and join a diverse, inclusive community that will challenge your perspective and equip you with the skills to make a difference.
You’ll also have access to the Mile End Institute, a major policy hub at Queen Mary that connects policymakers, academics, and local communities to address pressing national issues.
