Study environmental science, health science and public health legislation in areas such as housing, health and safety management, food control, noise and pollution on this updated course for 2020.
Public and environmental health practitioners play a vital role in keeping us all safe, so this course has been designed to help students progress to rewarding and valuable jobs in the sector, like Nathan and Dan (pictured), who both studied with us and were shortlisted for their industry body’s Rising Star Award in 2019.
Salaries for qualified environmental health practitioners (EHPs) start at around £25,000 per year, with senior or managerial level salaries rising to the region of £40,000 to £60,000 per year, but in order to practice you will need to complete a degree like this which has been accredited by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH).
The course is taught in the new and fully-equipped science laboratories on the sixth floor of our Knightstone building in the centre of Weston. Some sessions also take place a few minutes’ walk away in our new University Centre in the Winter Gardens on Weston seafront, which is a modern and bright study area with computer suites and a dedicated higher education library.
The course is taught by lecturers who have been EHPs in a number of areas themselves, and our great links with the CIEH are demonstrated by our lecturers, students and graduates winning the CIEH Team of the Year Award in 2019.
You’ll undertake academic and practical studies of the scientific principles that govern biological, physical, chemical, sociological and psychological stressors in a public and environmental health context.
The classroom-based aspects of the course also cover the primary standards, guidelines and legislation relating to environmental health, and professional engagement with risk and hazard assessments.
This degree course also offers plenty of opportunities for practical trips and fieldwork, with UCW Public and Environmental Health students in recent years having visited specialist sites such as food manufacturers and power plants and undertaken health and safety audits at Jaguar Land Rover, Thatcher’s Cider and at music festivals.
We even offer scholarships to support students to undertake work experience for the Environment Agency in Gibraltar. Indeed, one of our graduates recently accepted a full-time role with the agency as an Environmental Health Officer.
Please click on the next tab to find out more about what you’ll learn on this programme and how it is delivered. The dropdowns below deal with our partnership with UWE Bristol and what is and isn’t included in the tuition fees.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with the course leader Mark Hardwick or UCW’s HEART team. It would also be great to meet you and show you around at our next Open Day.
Students who pass this course will be awarded a BSc (Hons) degree in Public and Environmental Health from UWE Bristol. The agreement between UWE Bristol and UCW is reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure academic standards are maintained.
2020 entry full-time tuition fees: £8,250 per year.
2020 entry part-time tuition fees: £6,187.50 per year.
2021 entry full-time tuition fees: £8,500 per year.
2021 entry part-time tuition fees: £6,375 per year.
This covers all of the teaching and assessment elements that are required for students to complete the course.
It also includes:
- The use of UCW equipment and specialist software.
- Compulsory residential visits and day trips. Please contact David Lown in advance of enrolling on the course for more information about these.
- Attendance at guest lectures and conferences at UCW.
- Annual £10 printing and photocopying allowance for full-time students and £5 for part-time students.
- The use of UCW computer equipment at any of our campuses and access to Microsoft Office 365 while you are enrolled with UCW.
- The loans of books from our libraries.
- Access to all of the UCW student support and careers services.
It does not include:
- Extra printing and photocopying above the £10 limit.
- The cost of books that you may wish to purchase.
- Transport between our campuses, and to/from your partner university and any work placements. We encourage students to take advantage of termly bus passes to reduce transport costs.
- Accommodation and other living expenses.
UCW publishes its Tuition Fees Policy on the Wider Information Set page of this website.
You may also be eligible for additional financial support, depending on your circumstances.
All of the modules on this course are compulsory and worth either 20, 30 or 40 credits. Successful completion of all of the modules in the first year is worth 120 credits at Level 4 and equivalent to a Certificate of Higher Education. Successful completion of the second year is worth 120 credits at Level 5 and equivalent to a Diploma of Higher Education. Completing all three years of student (on a full-time basis) will lead to the award of a BSc degree.
Full-time year 1:
- Environmental Health Law (30 credits)
- Environmental Impact (30 credits)
- Introduction to Professional Practice (30 credits)
- Principles of Public Health (30 credits)
Full-time year 2:
- Environmental Protection (30 credits)
- Food Control (30 credits)
- Health, Safety and Risk (30 credits)
- Housing and the Built Environment (30 credits)
Full-time year 3:
- Environmental Health Project (40 credits)
- Professional Practice (20 credits)
- Public Health in Action (30 credits)
- Risk Management Systems (30 credits)
This course is taught via a combination of lectures, seminars, skills practice, presentations, fieldwork, case studies and group workshops. UCW’s Higher Education Library Plus (HE.LP) team also deliver a series of sessions on degree-level research and academic writing to all first-year students. When not in scheduled lecturers and seminars, students are expected to continue learning through independent self-study. This involves reading relevant literature, working on individual and group projects, and undertaking research in preparation for coursework and exams.
This course has an average of 13.5 hours of scheduled teaching per week. This course also has a work placement element totalling 100 hours.
At UCW, we also understand that some students benefit from more contact time with lecturers than is the norm at a traditional university, so we do all we can to make sure academic staff are available for their students when they are needed.
Assessment is via a combination of written exams, practical exams and coursework.
Please click on the Course Handbook button to find out more, and also how the above translates to the 4 year, part-time degree.
- Graduates are well placed to secure rewarding jobs to work towards the status of Chartered Environmental Health Practitioner, or to progress to postgraduate study.
- UCW Public and Environmental Health graduates have progressed to public and private sector environmental health roles in the South West and also as far afield as Gibraltar and New Zealand, and for great organisations including NSF International, Argent Risk Management Systems, Goldman Sachs, MSNBC Universal and more.
A minimum of CC at A Level, or a BTEC Extended Diploma at MPP, or an Access to Higher Education Diploma with 15 Level 3 credits at Merit, or equivalent, preferably in a related area, in addition to Level 2 English and Maths at C/4 or above.
