FdSc Sustainable Land Management

Sustainable Land Management is an across the board course that allows the student to examine and evaluate the full range of factors that contribute to modern day conservation and farming practices. 

Students will be immersed in a practical, theoretical and sustainable learning environment that enables nature recovery, supports food productions and fosters an enduring and positive approach to managing our land in the current day and for future generations across all industries.

Course content is industry and student-led, incorporating the skills and knowledge the land management industry needs looking forward. During the course, you will learn the practical skills of estate management, maintaining and enhancing a wide range of UK habitats, and use a suite of survey techniques to assess and monitor habitat quality to a range of UK standards. You will investigate the legislation and practises around current UK conservation and potential schemes such as the new Environmental Land Management scheme.

Why Choose Us?

Our course students attend a range of different work placements to further their education and experience. Previous placements include:

• The National Trust
• Ashdown Forest Conservators
• Wildlife Trusts
• South Downs National Parks
• Brighton and Hove City Councils. 

Facilities

Student Support

Higher Education students who have a learning difficulty, disability and/or ongoing health condition may be able to access reasonable adjustments to support their studies. Support is available to help students apply and access Disabled Student Allowance through either the Inclusive Learning and Development Department or the HE Office. One to one tutorial support is available through academic tutors.

The Library boasts a collection of over 8,000 books, covering a range of key subject areas within land-based curriculum. The Library also provides students with access to a variety of magazines, periodicals and academic journals through online databases.  

Learning technology is central to the learning experience of students at Plumpton College and therefore is supported by dedicated staff within the College Teaching and Learning Team.  The responsibilities of this team are to help support students with learning technology to enhance the overall learning experience.   

Teaching and Learning

Learning will take place in a wide range of locations; from classroom to coast, field to farm.  The course is designed to appeal to a wide range of land-based learners and some modules will be shared with peers from Agriculture, Horticulture or Animal Management courses. Whilst these class sizes are larger, this also offers the student the opportunity to broaden the base of their knowledge, seeing how other industries interpret and utilise the same knowledge. Other modules will be bespoke for Land Management allowing students to work closely with their peers.

Students are also encouraged to undertake their own personal study. Whilst this enables the student to pursue their own areas of interest, this time also sets the foundation for a future of lifetime learning - an essential in the rapidly evolving land-based industries.

At university, you must develop the ability to work more independently than you have done before. In the early stages of the degree, you will receive a higher level of support from module leaders and personal tutors. In years 2 and 3, you will need to demonstrate an increasing ability to build upon material delivered in lectures and laboratories through independent reading. Greenwich graduates should be able to think and work independently, analytically and creatively to solve problems.

Overall workload

If you are studying full-time, you should expect the workload to be similar to a full-time job. For part-time students, this will reduce in proportion with the number of courses you are studying.

Each module you study towards this degree is worth 15 or 30 credits. These represent around 150 or 300 study hours respectively. If you receive 100 contact hours for a 30-credit module, you should expect to commit 200 hours to independent study to complete it successfully.

Assessment

Students are assessed through a combination of assessment methods depending on the modules chosen.

Each course has formal assessments which count towards your grade. Some courses may also include 'practice' assignments, which help you monitor progress and do not count towards your final grade.

Feedback summary

We aim to provide feedback on assignments taken at the college and to release examination results within 15 working days.

Future Opportunities

Our graduates are well placed for employment in both the public and private land-based management sectors, teaching, academia, private practice, research including the postgraduate study of ecology, landscape scale management, species reintroduction, broad-based conservation, regulatory bodies, non-governmental organisations/ international development and institutional.