Geology with Palaeontology MGeol
4-5 years
Fossils reveal the history of life on Earth, but each new fossil discovery – and new analytical approaches – can change our understanding forever. In this degree, you will develop masters-level expertise, and undertake your own research on a palaeontological topic of interest to you.
Start date:
Course information
Typical offer AAB
UCAS code F642
International fee £24,500
Institute code L34
Taught by School of Geography, Geology and the Environment
95% of students in work or further study six months after graduating (The Uni Guide 2023)
Accredited by the Geological Society of London
Ranked 2nd in subjects aligned to Geology for ‘overall positivity’ in the NSS 2024 (according to Times Higher Education NSS 2023 methodology applied to the NSS 2024 data).
Course description
Course description
Palaeontology addresses how the origin and evolution of life is intricately linked with the geological history of the Earth. Through the fossil record you will explore topics such as evolutionary diversity, exceptional preservation and palaeoclimates. We will cover key groups of invertebrate fossils, vertebrate fossils and microfossils, investigating major concepts such as the origin of life, patterns of evolution and extinction, the importance of exceptional fossil assemblages, and the relationship between ecology and evolution.
You will also learn about the geological context in which fossils occur. This includes the environments where fossils became preserved, the age of the rocks that contain them, and biases resulting from geological processes. Furthermore, fossils provide crucial information for understanding current changes in ecosystems and the climate.
The first-year modules will lay the foundations in palaeontology and across the breadth of the geosciences, and include a field-trip to the beautiful Isle of Arran in Scotland. Also, by choosing the Geology with Palaeontology degree when you apply, you will be assigned to a personal tutor who is a specialist in the field.
In the second year, you will develop your skills and understanding across the geosciences, and start to specialise through a bespoke palaeontology module on major events in the history of life, and by choosing a palaeontological focus for your independent fieldwork.
In the third year, you will develop specialist expertise through modules on vertebrates and microfossils, plus a dissertation on a palaeontological topic of your choice, and a specialist field trip. Your knowledge of palaeontology will also complement other modules including second-year climate change and the third-year optional module on stable isotopes.
Each year of the degree includes different field work opportunities including trips to Scotland, Spain and Wales where you will be able to apply all that you have learned here on campus. You will also carry out an independent field-based project which may range from geological mapping in a fossiliferous area, to field and laboratory analysis of fossils.
BSc or MGeol: what's the difference?
Whether you study for the Geology with Palaeontology BSc or the MGeol, your degree will combine the knowledge and skills base of a degree in geology with the development of expertise in the scientific study of fossils.
Apply for a BSc degree if you want an ideal three-year route to becoming a professional geologist or you’re looking to pursue further geological studies through a specialist MSc course.
Apply for a four-year MGeol degree if you are looking to fast-track your professional geological employment or to continue on to PhD research after graduation. MGeol courses include a major cutting-edge independent research project on a topic chosen by you, giving you the opportunity to work with specialist analytical facilities, learn the skills required to succeed in a research environment and potentially see your work published in a peer-reviewed journal.
It is possible to transfer between the BSc and the MGeol up to the end of Year
Entry requirements
Entry requirements
- A-levels: AAB preferably including at least two from: Geology, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Use of Maths, Computer Science, Environmental Science, or Geography. We also consider one-science profiles with Geology, Maths, Biology, Chemistry or Physics.
- EPQ with A-levels: ABB + EPQ at grade B. A-level subjects preferably including at least two from: Geology, Maths, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Use of Maths, Computer Science, Environmental Science, or Geography. We also consider one-science profiles with Geology, Maths, Biology, Chemistry or Physics.
- GCSE: Grade C/4 in English Language and Maths.
- Access to HE Diploma: Pass science diploma with a minimum of 45 credits at level 3, 30 of which must be at Distinction. To include Physics, Chemistry and Maths Level 3 credits.
- International Baccalaureate: Pass Diploma with 30 points, including grade 5 in two science subjects at HL. Minimum of 3 in HL Maths or 4 in SL Maths required if grade 4/C not held at GCSE. Must include a minimum of grade 4 in English A or 5 in English B if minimum of grade 4/C not held in English Language at GCSE.
- BTEC Nationals: Pass Diploma with DDD (Science Related). Please contact School regarding eligibility.
- T Levels: Distinction in Science (with an Occupational Specialism in Laboratory technician)
Other official national and international qualifications considered from across the world. You can review some of the qualifications we accept on our countries page and English Language equivalencies.
If your qualification or country is not listed, please contact us for more information, including the name and result of the qualification you have studied.
If you do not meet the entry requirements for this course, you can apply for Geology with Foundation Year BSc.
Contextual offers
The University of Leicester is committed to providing equitable opportunities for all applicants from all backgrounds. We make contextual offers to support students who may be impacted by the area they live in, their personal circumstances or who have completed one of our progression programmes. These offers are usually one or two grades lower than the standard entry requirements. To qualify for a contextual offer, you must apply for an eligible course and meet specific criteria – check if you’re eligible.
Selection Process
When considering your application, we will look for evidence that you will be able to fulfil the objectives of the course and achieve the standards required. We will take into account a range of factors including previous exam results.
If you receive an offer you will be invited to visit the School.
English Language Requirements
IELTS 6.0 or equivalent. If your first language is not English, you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability.
If you do not yet meet our requirements, our English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) offers a range of courses to help you to improve your English to the necessary standard.
International Qualifications
Find your country in this list to check equivalent qualifications, scholarships and additional requirements.
Countries listFees and funding
Fees and funding
UK Students
Starting in 2025
Tuition fees for 2025/26 are yet to be confirmed. As an indication of what you might pay, the fees for students who started in 2024/25 were:
- £9,250 in your first year. Tuition fees are subject to government regulations and may change in future years
- Year in Industry: your fee will be 15% of the full-time tuition fee that applies in that year
Scholarships
You can apply for dedicated bursary schemes run by Aggregate Industries and Carl Zeiss Microscopy. These typically have a total value of £13,500 and include work experience with the sponsor. We also offer £1,700 of bursaries funded by the Holloway Trust for students to develop outreach projects. There are competitive prizes and awards in each year for academic achievement and overall performance.
Find out more about scholarships and funding.
International Students
Starting in 2025
- £24,500 per year
- Year in Industry: £3,675, which is 15% of the full-time tuition fee
If you are resident outside the UK and the Republic of Ireland, you will need to pay a deposit of £3,000 to secure your place. This will be subtracted from your total tuition fee.
If you are an EU national with settled or pre-settled status under the EU settlement scheme, you may qualify for the UK fee (subject to criteria).
Scholarships
You can apply for dedicated bursary schemes run by Aggregate Industries and Carl Zeiss Microscopy. These typically have a total value of £13,500 and include work experience with the sponsor. We also offer £1,700 of bursaries funded by the Holloway Trust for students to develop outreach projects. There are competitive prizes and awards in each year for academic achievement and overall performance.
Find out more about scholarships and funding.
Accreditation
Accreditation
All our degrees are accredited by the Geological Society of London, the professional body for geologists in the UK. Their accreditation panel said that our courses are “excellent” and they were “particularly impressed by the amount of fieldwork undertaken.”
Careers and employability
Careers and employability
All of our Geology degrees will provide you with the knowledge, technical and transferable skills required to achieve your professional goals. You’ll also benefit from a dedicated Careers Tutor with many years’ experience as an industry geologist.
Our annual Geology Careers Day is attended by a wide range of companies from across the geoscience sector. More than 50 companies are actively involved with Geology at Leicester, from funding major research projects to work experience opportunities.
Graduate destinations
Many of our graduates work as geoscientists involved in discovering, extracting and developing energy, mineral and water resources. Leicester graduates are also employed in the environmental sector, addressing issues of climate change, sustainability, waste management, environmental monitoring and remediation.
Some graduates have moved directly into other professions (e.g. teaching, banking, the media, management and the police). And around a quarter of our graduates go on to do further study for a Masters or a PhD.
Careers and Employability Service
Get career-ready at Leicester with guidance from our award-winning Careers and Employability Service. We're here to give you a lifetime offer of support, even after graduation. Our team of specialist careers advisers and mentors will help you every step of the way. From supporting you with CVs and interviews, to volunteering opportunities and placements, we're here to help you reach your professional goals.
Related courses
Related courses
Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainable Development Goals
We are committed to providing skills and knowledge to help prepare you tackle global challenges. We have mapped our undergraduate degrees for learning which aligns to the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
This degree includes learning which relates to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals:
- Goal 3: Health and well-being
- Goal 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
- Goal 12: Responsible consumption and production
- Goal 13: Climate action
- Goal 15: Life on land
Testimonial
“Studying Geology has given me the ability to develop skills needed for everyday life and memories that will last a lifetime. The constant support and feedback from staff give you a sense of belonging and the ambition to show your best self. My passion to work in the outdoors has been enhanced by the opportunities to go on field trips and experience geology hands on in the field. The field trips, especially Tenerife and my field-based project, have provided me with self-belief in my own work and long-lasting friendships.”
Sam – Geology MGeol student, 2024
Course structure
Year 1
Year 1
You will have a broad introduction to geoscience and discover the role of geology and geoscientists in today's society.
Modules
- First Year Tutorials
- The Rock Cycle – Our Dynamic Earth (double module)
- Micro to Macro
- Palaeobiology and the Stratigraphic Record
- Natural Resources and Energy for the 21st Century
- Geological Maps and Structures
- Introductory Field Course
All four of our geoscience subjects have the same first year so you can transfer between subjects before Year 2 if you wish to. This is the same as Year 1 of the BSc.
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Year 2
Year 2
You will develop your understanding of the fundamental aspects of geoscience, and a module covering major evolutionary events will begin your route toward specialisation in the field of palaeontology.
Modules
- Geological Field Skills (Spain, Anglesey and a field skills training trip)
- Magmatic and Metamorphic Processes
- Major Events in the History of Life
- Climate Change: Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation
- Introduction to Geochemistry
- Structure and Tectonics
- Depositional Processes and Environments
This is the same as Year 2 of the BSc. At the end of Year 2 your performance must meet a set level to continue on the MGeol. If this is not the case, you will transfer to the BSc and complete your degree in three years.
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Optional Year in Industry
Optional Year in Industry
If you want to, you can take a year out between your second and third years and spend that time working in industry.
If you choose to do this, you’ll take a module in your second year that will help you to find a work placement and prepare you for the workplace. Throughout your placement, there will be structured support available to you from specialist staff at the University.
You’ll benefit from real-world experience in a commercial setting, enabling you to make an easier transition from studying to working after you finish your degree. It will also strengthen your CV significantly in preparation for entering the graduate labour market. On top of all this, you’ll be paid a salary for your placement.
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Year 3
Year 3
Core modules
- Independent Field-Based Project
- Diversity and Evolution of Vertebrates
- The Forensic, Archaeological and Geological Application of Microfossils
Plus your Dissertation
Option modules
Choose one option module from:
Then choose two option modules from:
- Planetary Science
- Mineral Exploration, Economics and Sustainability
- The Mining Lifecycle Field Course – Cornwall
- Key Events in the Evolution of Planet Earth Viewed Through the Geological Lens of Wales - a field course
- Physical Volcanology
- Stable Isotopes in the Environment
- River Dynamics
This is the same as the final year of the BSc.
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Final Year
Final Year
During your final year you will be treated as a research student with much of your time devoted to independent research on a topic of your own choice.
Core modules
And choose one or two field course field courses module from:
Option modules
Choose one or two option modules depending on how many field courses you have chosen) from:
- Advanced Field Course
- Anthropogenic Impact on the Urban Environment
- Igneous Petrogenesis
- Fundamentals of GIS
- R for Data Science
- Living the Anthropocene
- Climate of the Future, the View from the Past
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Fieldwork
Fieldwork
Fieldwork can be one of the most stimulating and enjoyable experiences of your time on a Geology degree. Your field begins in the very first week of your studies with a day spent investigating the fascinating local geology of Leicestershire.
In Year 1, the Introductory Field Course takes place on Arran, a Scottish island with more geological variety per square kilometre than virtually anywhere else in the world. You’ll rapidly develop observation and recording skills through active participation in scientific discovery.
In your second year you will focus on developing the skills that will enable you to carry out your own geological fieldwork in a variety of terrains. We’ll guide you through this with field trips to Spain, Anglesey and the Lake District.
In your third year, you will carry out an Independent Field-based Project. You get to choose your own field area, allowing you to develop your geological interests (and showcase an impressive range of transferable skills!). Depending on the specialist modules you choose, there are also trips available to Tenerife, Cornwall and Pembrokeshire.
If you study for (or transfer onto) a four-year MGeol course, your final year will include an overseas trip as well as something more local. Some research projects can involve fieldwork, too.
And you’ll be pleased to know our staff are involved in field-based research worldwide, ensuring that our teaching draws on active field experience.
Fieldwork locations may vary and are subject to availability.
Modules shown represent choices available to current students. The range of modules available and the content of any individual module may change in future years.
Why Leicester?
Job prospects are excellent: 95% of our Geology students are employed (or studying for a Masters degree) six months after graduating. (DLHE)
All our degrees are accredited by the Geological Society of London. They said that our courses are “excellent” and they were “particularly impressed by the amount of fieldwork undertaken”.
Your degree will take you to geologically fascinating locations across the UK and further afield, starting with a Year 1 trip to the Isle of Arran.
Ranked 1st in subjects aligned to Geology for ‘Learning opportunities’ in the NSS 2024 (according to Times Higher Education NSS 2023 methodology applied to the NSS 2024 data). View the NSS questions all students were asked for individual themes.
Reading list
See the types of texts you might read, over the summer, to get a feel for the course and arrive prepared and ready to go.
Teaching and learning
Teaching
You will be taught through a mixture of lectures, tutorials, seminars, practicals and fieldwork. All lecture material is available online through our virtual learning environment Blackboard. Residential field trips are run by academic staff throughout the degree and provide extended periods of small group teaching in field contexts.
Assessment
You will be assessed through a combination of coursework, fieldwork, independent reports and projects, seminars, oral and poster presentations and computer-based tests, as well as formal exams.
We place a strong emphasis on safety training, time management, and student initiative.
Your personal tutor will provide you with individually tailored academic support throughout your degree. You will receive non-assessed feedback on every module to help you improve and prepare for your assessed work.
Through the Student-Staff Committee you can raise any issues relating to your studies and suggest course developments.
Fieldwork
In your first year you will receive basic geological field training on the Isle of Arran, one of the most geologically varied spots on Earth. Further field trips will take you to:
- Spain - field mapping and training in advanced sedimentological techniques in an arid terrain.
- Anglesey - examining and interpreting structurally complex rocks.
- Wales - studying the geology, palaeontology and evolution of this Palaeozoic sedimentary basin.
And a choice of either:
- Overseas Field Course - using multidisciplinary data to unravel complex geologic relationships and the evolution of a region, or
- Urban Geology Field Course, Leicestershire – investigating the Anthropocene, the geological epoch we live in now.
Following additional field training in your second year, you will undertake an Independent Field-based Project. This is an exercise in practical, deductive geology which forms an important part of the degree. You choose the field area, allowing you to develop your geological interests. This will enable you to demonstrate your determination, motivation and ability to solve problems based on your own observations, as well as developing your self-confidence and organisational skills.
The cost of fieldwork is dependent on the year of study, destination, and whether the trip is core or optional to the programme. You will also incur expenses in completing your own independent fieldwork which is a requirement of the course. You will undertake this at the end of the second year of your course and you will be provided with partial financial support for this. Your own expenses will depend upon where you decide to undertake your independent fieldwork.
Your contact hours will depend on the optional modules you select. You can see details of the contact hours on individual module pages.
Independent learning
When not attending lectures, seminars or other timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning independently through self-study. Typically, this will involve reading journal articles and books, working on individual and group projects, undertaking research in the library, preparing coursework assignments and presentations, and preparing for exams. To help with your independent learning, you can access the Library and our social study spaces in halls of residence.
Academic support
Our Centre for Academic Achievement provides help in the following areas:
- study and exam skills
- academic writing
- presentations
- dissertations
- numerical data skills
- referencing sources
Our AccessAbility Centre offers support and practical help for students with dyslexia or other specific learning difficulties, including physical, mental health or mobility difficulties, deafness, or visual impairment.
Teaching staff
You will be taught by an experienced teaching team whose expertise and knowledge are closely matched to the content of the modules on the course. PhD research students who have undertaken teacher training may also contribute to the teaching of seminars under the supervision of the module leader. Our teaching is informed by the research we do. You can learn more about our staff by visiting our staff profiles.
Apply now
| Course | Qualification | Duration | UCAS Code | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Course Geology with Palaeontology | Qualification MGeol | Duration 4 years full-time | UCAS Code F642 | Availability How to apply |
| Course Geology with Palaeontology with a Year in Industry | Qualification MGeol | Duration 5 years full-time | UCAS Code F642 | Availability How to apply |
Data about this course
There is a real sense of community within Geology. The lecturers are incredibly approachable.