Geology

Geology is the science of the Earth itself, of the rocks, minerals, and structures that make up our planet and of the processes that have shaped it over billions of years. It combines field observation with laboratory analysis and theoretical modelling to decode the history written in the landscape and beneath it. Understanding geology matters for reasons that are urgent and practical: it underpins the search for energy and mineral resources, informs our response to natural hazards, and helps us interpret the deep-time record of past climates that is now central to understanding our present environmental situation.

At University College London, you will follow this three-year, full-time degree in one of the world's leading research universities, with access to outstanding facilities and academics working at the cutting edge of the discipline. You will study the composition and structure of the Earth's crust and interior, learning to identify and interpret rocks and minerals in both laboratory and field settings. Plate tectonics provides a unifying framework through which you will understand earthquakes, volcanism, mountain building, and the distribution of ore deposits and fossil fuels.

You will study stratigraphy and palaeontology, learning to read the rock record as a source of information about ancient environments and past life. Geochemistry, structural geology, and geophysical methods form further strands of the programme. A typical entry tariff of 168 UCAS points reflects the academic demands of studying at UCL.

Geology trains you to observe carefully, to reason from incomplete evidence, and to work across scales from the microscopic to the continental. Fieldwork is central to the discipline, and you will develop the ability to read a landscape and think spatially in ways that few other subjects demand.

Graduates enter careers in the energy sector, environmental consulting, mining, hydrology, geotechnical engineering, and natural hazard assessment. Many proceed to postgraduate research, and the skills geologists develop are increasingly valued in the data-rich contexts of modern earth and environmental science.