Geography BA

On the Geography BA course, you focus on human geography and study cultural, economic, and social patterns within spatial contexts. Geography BA students typically explore topics such as migration, gender, race, identity, urban development and the impact of empire and postcolonialism, aiming to understand how spatial and social processes are intertwined.  

In our foundational Year 1, you enrol on two large modules that teach a wide range of core geographic skills and knowledge. These modules include fieldwork components, while you also learn about core concepts of geography as a scientific discipline across physical and human geography dimensions. In addition, you can either take the module ‘Global Events’ or select one module from outside the Department. 

In Year 2, one or two compulsory modules are supplemented by six or seven optional modules selected from a substantial pool, including field classes. We put a lot of emphasis on research design this year. At this point, you may begin to focus on topics such as development geography, environmental geography, urban geography, GIS, and climate change. You may also take one module outside the Department. 

Your dissertation is the main focus of Year 3, working with an academic supervisor to develop an original piece of research on a topic of your choice. In addition, you take further optional modules, including one from outside Geography if you like.  Students may also participate in a term-long exchange course with universities outside the UK, which replaces that term’s UCL modules. 

The Geography BA and BSc share core elements and it is your personal interests and the options you wish to pursue that should shape your choice. Those choosing the BA have usually studied social science or humanities subjects at A-Level or equivalent, but students may transfer to the BSc if their interests change. At the start of the Year 1 they can also transfer to the Geography with Social Data Science BSc route if they have the required grades, including A level Maths.  Please note that if you transfer onto the Geography with Social Data Science BSc route, you will take slightly different compulsory modules that specifically focus on quantitative methods and data analysis. 

At UCL Geography our teaching and research engages with the world’s most pressing environmental and social problems. Learning how to understand and respond to these challenges is more than an intellectual or practical exercise - it involves acting as global citizens too. 

Our core modules will train to think and write like a geographer, to design and conduct research, and provide other practical and project management skills. This training helps our students find work in the UK and around the world. 

We offer a wide range of modules and BA Geography students can take any of these, including physical geography courses, provided they meet the prerequisites. Our low staff-to-student ratio The Guardian University Guide 2026 encourages individual choice and personal supervision. 

Departmental resources include specialist computing facilities for geographical information and satellite image analysis, laboratories, a reference map collection, two common rooms, and a dedicated reading room. UCL supports this with first-class library facilities and other study resources.