Course outline
The increasing demand for those with an understanding of the environment provides fantastic opportunities for those with knowledge of ecosystem services and management. Get ahead of the competition by improving your qualifications on our Masters programme. You'll gain all the knowledge you need on assessing and understanding ecosystems and how to value the services they provide, ensuring that a healthy and resilient environment is present now and in the future. We offer a range of modules to help you model within business planning across sectors for economic development and environmental protection, so take your expertise to the next level by completing our course!
Course outline
Course summary
This Masters is designed to provide students with knowledge on how to assess ecosystems, how to value the services they provide and how this information informs and supports the sustainable use of natural resources decision-making process.
Students will share four taught core modules that will cover the fundamentals of the subject area plus a dissertation module. For the remaining taught modules students can choose two options from three remaining modules associated with this course.
Modules
Year one
Compulsory modules
- Ecosystem Services
- Natural Resource Evaluation
- Values, Communities and Sustainable Management
- Applied Research Methods
- Dissertation
Optional modules (subject to availability and demand)
- Applied Geographical Information Systems
- Applied Multi-Criteria Models for Ecosystem Evaluation
- Catchment Assessment
- Independent Study
Programme Specification
Programme Specification
For detailed summary of all course content please read our programme specification for this course.
Entry requirements
1st or 2nd class honours degree.
Students with other qualifications may be admitted to the course via non-standard entry procedures.
More information about levels and credits.
Selection criteria
- Candidates should normally be graduates or holders of an equivalent undergraduate qualification. A 2:1 degree classification on first degree will be the normal minimum requirement.
- Consideration will be made for candidates with strong professional experience or who have received a previous Master’s degree with merit or higher.
- Candidates from a broad range of disciplines can apply, including social sciences, natural sciences, environmental studies, economics, management, and engineering.
- Relevant business or professional experience will be taken into account.
Application information
Making your application
Applications should be made online directly to the university - visit our website or contact enquirycentre@cumbria.ac.uk for details and guidance. There is no official closing date but we would encourage you to apply as early as possible, as many courses are competitive.
What makes a good application?
We consider all aspects of your application, not simply your qualifications and grades. We look at your academic background and performance, relevant experience (particularly for professional courses where some voluntary or paid experience is required) and your reference. Above all, we look for motivation, commitment and potential - evidence that you can benefit from study at higher education level.
Make sure you include:
- Relevant qualifications/evidence of ability: check our website for the specific entry requirements required for each course. Tell us your previous academic results and your projected grades.
- A supportive reference, from an employer or your school or college.
- A good personal statement.
Explain clearly what attracts you to the course and tell us about your wider interests and experience. If you are applying for a course that incorporates professional training and placements, you should include any relevant experience or visits you have made in the workplace. Highlight your individual strengths and qualities, personal skills, capacity for teamwork, contribution to the community and your enterprise, originality and determination. Select some activities which bring out these qualities.
What next?
When we receive your application, we will send you an acknowledgement and if you are successful at this stage you will get either - an offer (with an invitation to visit the campus to which you have applied), or - an invitation to interview on a particular date. If we are not able to offer you a place on your chosen course we will usually try to offer you a place on a similar course and will contact you to discuss this. Alternatively, if we think you are suitable, but cannot offer you a place on your preferred campus because of the level of competition, we will offer you a place at another campus if one is available.
And if I accept?
The admissions team will contact you and send further information from February onwards about accommodation, and from May/June onwards about preparing to join the university. If you have any other queries, please telephone the admissions offices for information and advice on 0845 6061144.
Deferred entry
We welcome applications for deferred entry on some courses. If you have specific plans during your year out, indicate these on your personal statement as they may be relevant to your course and could enhance your application.
International students
Please see the international pages of our website for full details of our entry requirements (including English-language skills) as well as contacts for advice and support.
From 2009 the UK Border Agency introduced a Points-Based Immigration System (PBS) for students coming to the UK from outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
Students entering higher education will need to obtain a Confirmation of Acceptance (CAS) plus finance confirmation to obtain a Tier 4 student visa.
UK education providers are licensed by the UK Border Agency. When students apply for their visa (or entry clearance) they will need a valid Certificate of Acceptance of Studies from the university. Please note that a CAS is not a guarantee that a visa will be issued.
See the following websites for further details:
Graduate destinations
During the course you'll have chance to take optional modules relevant to specific sectors. This will allow you to focus your skills towards a new career in conservation, forestry, catchment management, economics and environmental modelling. The skills and knowledge you learn are perfect for working in water management, environmental agencies and NGOs.
Resources and facilities
We have active partnerships across a range of sectors and organisations at regional, national and international levels that focus on the broad area of ecosystem services, such as Freshwater Biological Association, The Wildlife Trusts, Natural England, Forestry Commission, Woodland Trust, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Kazakhstan, Department for Parks and Wildlife, Gambia, Universidad Amazónica de Pando, Bolivia.
We are the only UK University to teach environmental management on a campus located within a national park with easy access to a diverse range of habitats and ecosystems, including coniferous woodlands, heather moorlands, raised peat bogs, farmland and pastureland, uplands, coastland as well as lakes, tarns and brooks.
Our campus provides an exceptional range of facilities for both students and researchers; with research and teaching labs, lecture and seminar rooms, IT facilities and a library with a broad range of digital and hardcopy resources. Our teaching staff are actively involved in research in the UK and abroad.
The combination of state-of-the-art learning and teaching facilities on campus with an outstanding range of wildlife and wildlife habitats at our doorstep means that we can combine lectures with hands-on teaching in the field to ensure that our students have the knowledge base as well as the practical experience for a successful career.
