MSc Environmental Assessment and Management
Key Details
- Attendance
- Full Time
- Award
- Degree of Master of Science
- Course Length
- 1 years
- Course Start Date
- September 2024
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Course Overview
Prepare for a career in environmental management with this vocational course that focuses on the key skills involved.
You’ll learn from international experts how to properly evaluate the potential impacts of proposed policies, plans or projects, drawing on best practice from around the world. Learn through doing, based on an approach of applying theory in practice on a weekly basis, and through a field course.
This course is ideal for anyone who values the socio-ecological environment and wishes to contribute to sustainable development.
You’ll develop your research, communication, teamwork, and analytical skills – giving you the necessary skills for a career with environmental consultancies, decision-makers, regulators, statutory consultees, and NGOs, amongst others.
On this MSc course, you’ll explore why and how we use environmental assessment, the consequences of good and bad practice, and what different stakeholders expect from it.
You’ll investigate case studies to clearly illustrate how environmental assessment works to deliver more sustainable outcomes. These include (amongst others):
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Planning a strategy for a new deep coal mine
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Planning a stakeholder engagement strategy
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Working out the likely impacts of a biomass power station
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Conducting a phase 1 habitat survey
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Carrying out a sustainability appraisal of a land use plan
You’ll learn to connect the environmental process with the operational stages of development by examining environmental management plans to ensure the findings are implemented. And you’ll experience the challenges associated with developing and applying practical skills by conducting fieldwork in all weathers, interviewing members of the public, presenting findings in front of your peers, and writing environmental management plans including allocating responsibilities and timings.
This course is relevant whether your background is earth sciences or social sciences. There are no specific prerequisites, as the focus is on understanding and improving environmental assessment through the core modules, and a wide range of optional modules that offer additional employability skills associated with specific impact-prediction practice.
Accreditations
This course is accredited by the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA), the professional body for careers in this field. This gives you one year’s free IEMA membership. After your course you can upgrade to associate level. For more details visit IEMA’s website.
The IEMA accreditation will be relevant to all of these career paths if your employment is based in the UK. The accreditation is independent of the course provision so the outcome doesn’t have any implications for any learning outcomes or skills taught.
Study and Modules
Structure
The course is made up of 180 credits taught between September and the end of August. This comprises six 20-credit taught modules and one 60-credit dissertation module. Compulsory taught modules will give you background to the theory and practice of environmental assessment, and include a field course element to ensure that the theory is put into practice. This learning is supplemented by optional modules which add specific skills that comprise part of an environmental assessment; this allows you to follow your own interests and develop a portfolio of skills that you can offer to employers.
Throughout the year you will be taught the research skills necessary to enable you to undertake a research dissertation during the summer months. The same skills also benefit assessments on all the taught modules. Your dissertation planning will start alongside the development of research skills through the development and evaluation of a research proposal. Then once the taught component of the MSc course is complete, you’ll work full time on your dissertation until the hand in date in August. You can choose any area of focus for your dissertation under the expert guidance of a member of Faculty, as long as it falls within the scope of Environmental Assessment and Management.
Compulsory Modules
Optional A Modules
(Credits: 60)Whilst the University will make every effort to offer the modules listed, changes may sometimes be made arising from the annual monitoring, review and update of modules. Where this activity leads to significant (but not minor) changes to programmes and their constituent modules, the University will endeavour to consult with students and others. It is also possible that the University may not be able to offer a module for reasons outside of its control, such as the illness of a member of staff. In some cases optional modules can have limited places available and so you may be asked to make additional module choices in the event you do not gain a place on your first choice. Where this is the case, the University will inform students.
Teaching and Learning
Teaching
You’ll be taught by internationally leading researchers in all modules through a combination of approaches. Class sizes can vary – between 10 and 60 students depending on the module and the particular activity. For each taught module, your week will usually include two 1-hour lectures and one 2–3 hour practical or seminar class. With three taught modules each semester, you will have around 15 hours’ contact time a week.
Generally, you’ll practice the theory you learned in lectures in the seminars and practicals, drawing heavily on problem-based learning as a pedagogic technique. This also helps to develop practical skills valued by employers, including IT, communication, problem solving, teamwork, commercial awareness and project management.
Independent study
Working at the MSc level means that you’ll need to apply the highest levels of learning – synthesis and evaluation. You’ll gain an excellent balance of independent thinking and study skills, helping you grow into a self-motivated learner, an expert researcher, an analytical thinker, a good team worker, and a good time manager.
You’ll develop accuracy and precision in your written work through evidence-based analysis. You’ll become highly organised and confident in self-directed study and, throughout your course, you’ll be given guidance on your work and constructive feedback to help you improve.
For each module, you’ll need to do around 140 hours of independent study on top of the face-to-face teaching, writing essays in the state-of-the-art library, carrying out practical work, preparing group work, or conducting projects.
Assessment
Assessment
Each module has its own assessment structure to ensure that you meet the module learning outcomes. These include essays, presentations, reports and exams.
Most modules (including all compulsory modules) are assessed by coursework only, rather than exams, but it depends on your choice of optional module. For the dissertation module, you’ll be assessed through a 15,000-word dissertation (worth 90% of the mark), and a presentation (worth 10% of the mark).
Through formative (practice) assessments in each area, we’ll help you develop your skills and abilities before completing the summative assessment that counts towards your degree grade.
Feedback
You’ll discuss the feedback on your formative assessment with your tutors to help you improve your work before submitting your summative assessment.
For both formative and summative coursework assessments we always aim to give you feedback within 10 working days of hand-in (except for the dissertation which takes longer).
Entry Requirements
- Degree Classification
- Bachelors Degree 2:1 or equivalent
- Degree Subject
- Environmental Science or related discipline. Related disciplines across the social sciences and arts, and science.
- English Foreign Language
Applications from students whose first language is not English are welcome. We require evidence of proficiency in English (including writing, speaking, listening and reading):
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IELTS: 6.0 overall (minimum 5.5 in Listening and Reading with 6.0 in Writing and Speaking)
Test dates should be within 2 years of the course start date.
We also accept a number of other English language tests. Review our English Language Equivalencies for a list of qualifications that we may accept to meet this requirement.
If you do not yet meet the English language requirements for this course, INTO UEA offer a variety of English language programmes which are designed to help you develop the English skills necessary for successful undergraduate study:
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- Intakes
This course is open to UK and International applicants. The annual intake for this course is in September each year.
Additional Information or Requirements
Admissions Policy
Our Admissions Policy applies to the admissions of all postgraduate applicants.
Fees and Funding
Tuition fees for the Academic Year 2024/25 are:
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UK Students: £11,000 (full time)
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International Students: £22,750 (full time)
If you choose to study part-time, the fee per annum will be half the annual fee for that year, or a pro-rata fee for the module credit you are taking (only available for Home students).
We estimate living expenses at £1,023 per month.
Further Information on tuition fees can be found here.
Scholarships and Bursaries
The University of East Anglia offers a range of Scholarships; please click the link for eligibility, details of how to apply and closing dates.
Course Related Costs
Your Environmental Assessment Effectiveness module includes an eight-day field course. This involves two days of travelling, food, and board. The School of Environmental Sciences subsidises half of the field course costs, which cannot be exactly predicted in advance, and covers travel costs. (The cost to students of the most recent trip, after our subsidy, was £235 per student.)
How to Apply
Applications for Postgraduate Taught programmes at the University of East Anglia should be made directly to the University.
To apply please use our online application form.
FURTHER INFORMATION
If you would like to discuss your individual circumstances prior to applying, please do contact us:
Postgraduate Admissions Office
Tel: +44 (0)1603 591515
Email: admissions@uea.ac.uk
International candidates are also encouraged to access the International Students section of our website.
Employability
After the Course
This course is essentially vocational but can lead to PhD-level study if you wish to advance your academic skills in the subject area. Many of our graduates go into the environmental management field working with environmental consultancy companies, regulators, developers or NGOs.
Careers
A degree at UEA will prepare you for a wide variety of careers. We've been ranked 1st for Job Prospects by StudentCrowd in 2022.
Example of careers that you could enter include:
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Environmental consultancy
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Non-governmental organisation (e.g. RSPB)
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Statutory consultee (e.g. Environment Agency or Natural England)
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Decision maker (e.g. local planning authority in the UK)
Discover more on our Careers webpages.