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Woodland Ecology and Conservation (with Sandwich placement)

Entry requirements


A level

B,C,C-B,B,B

Access to HE Diploma

D:21,M:24

Must pass all 60 credits, 45 at level 3

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

DMM

Scottish Higher

B,B,B,C-A,A,B,B

T Level

M

UCAS Tariff

104-120

About this course


Course option

4years

Sandwich | 2024

Subjects

Forestry and arboriculture

Ecosystem ecology and land use

On this degree course, you’ll be living and studying at our inspirational Ambleside campus in the heart of the Lake District National Park – the ideal location to appreciate and value the conservation and ecology of woodlands.

**Course overview**
The Woodland Ecology and Conservation programme has been designed to prepare you to be a new kind of graduate, one that the world desperately needs to meet the challenges of the 21st century. This degree will provide you with the ecological knowledge that underpins modern sustainable forest management. Graduates are able to manage trees, woods and forests to protect biodiversity and optimise the delivery of benefits to human society directly through timber production and space for recreation, but also to apply knowledge of essential ecosystem services; carbon, nutrient and water cycling, flood and erosion control amongst others. Graduates in Woodland Ecology and Conservation are equipped to contribute solutions to the twin environmental challenges of our times: climate change and biodiversity loss.

As an undergraduate in Woodland Ecology and Conservation at the University of Cumbria, you will learn how to sustainably manage trees, woods and forests at our National School of Forestry. Throughout the course, hands-on experience will back up the theory from ancient woodlands through to commercial forests, residential study tours to the upland and lowland habitats. There will also be an opportunity to take a one-year work placement in a related profession, bolstering your confidence and putting your knowledge into practice in the real world.

You’ll be living and studying in the ideal location to appreciate and value the conservation and ecology of woodlands, with the National School of Forestry based on our inspirational Ambleside campus in the heart of the Lake District.

You will also have the opportunity to take a one-year work placement in a profession related to woodland ecology and conservation, bolstering your confidence and putting your knowledge into practice.

**On this course you will**
- Have easy access to local woodlands giving you the chance to explore different forest types and the ecosystems they support.

- Benefit from great opportunities for paid placements and graduate job prospects thanks to our links with organisations like the Royal Forestry Society and Woodland Trust.

- Learn from tutors with field experience, who conduct ground-breaking, international research that will inform your studies.

- Appreciate the role of global forests in climate change mitigation and the greatest threats to their conservation.

**What you will learn**
Develop your knowledge and skills around forest management. This degree programme will increase your understanding of the physical, biological, economic and sociological principles and processes that underpin forestry. Furthermore, you will develop this understanding in the field with a one-year placement opportunity found through one of our partners.

You will learn to apply such principles and processes to the sustainable management of woodland multiple goods and ecosystem services (for example, , protection of soil and water, and recreation, and support of a diversity of threatened plants and wildlife). You will critically assess contemporary issues in woodland conservation such as rewilding and species reintroductions.

Our programme will allow you to explore the commercial, social and environmental contexts in which forestry is practised and the consequences of forestry for the rural economy, society and the environment. You will learn how to conduct research monitoring changes in forest condition, health and carbon capture, as well as acquiring skills at describing tree and forest types and the ecological systems and processes that they support.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

England
£9,250
per year
EU
£9,250
per year
International
£13,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Ambleside

Department:

Science and Environment

Read full university profile

What students say


We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.

64%
Forestry and arboriculture
50%
Ecosystem ecology and land use

How do students rate their degree experience?

The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Forestry and arboriculture

Teaching and learning

100%
Staff make the subject interesting
100%
Staff are good at explaining things
76%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
82%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

78%
Library resources
78%
IT resources
89%
Course specific equipment and facilities
64%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

95%
UK students
5%
International students
85%
Male students
15%
Female students
27%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

D
C
C

Ecology and environmental biology

Teaching and learning

77%
Staff make the subject interesting
82%
Staff are good at explaining things
57%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
53%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

52%
Library resources
76%
IT resources
72%
Course specific equipment and facilities
49%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
53%
Male students
47%
Female students
71%
2:1 or above
17%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

After graduation


The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.

Forestry and arboriculture

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

98%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

19%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
13%
Conservation and environmental associate professionals
10%
Managers and proprietors in agriculture related services

Fewer than 100 graduates usually take full first degrees in forestry and arboriculture, so there is not a lot of data to examine — they're a little more commonly taken as foundation degrees, often studied at colleges. But for the chosen few in forestry, there are a handful of specialist roles in forestry management available every year, and this is the degree preferred for those jobs. If you want to find out more specifically about the prospects for your chosen subject, it might be a good idea to go on open days and talk to tutors about what previous graduates from your chosen subject went on to do.

Ecology and environmental biology

What are graduates doing after six months?

This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.

£16,000
low
Average annual salary
97%
med
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

22%
Sports and fitness occupations
19%
Therapy professionals
13%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Forestry and arboriculture

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£15k

£15k

£21k

£21k

£22k

£22k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

Ecology and environmental biology

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£19k

£19k

Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.

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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).

This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.

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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.

You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.

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Post-six month graduation stats:

This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.

It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.

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Graduate field commentary:

The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show

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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here