Studying for a European language alongside your chosen degree subject is a great way of enhancing your learning and opening up a much broader range of careers upon graduation. Language skills remain a major benefit.
At Aberdeen, you can study German as a complete beginner, or build on prior knowledge of the language, and both streams can lead to either a single German MA Honours degree or a joint MA Honours degree with a large number of possible combinations.
Studying German in Aberdeen will provide you with a very solid grounding in the German language. Amongst our staff are native speakers from German and Austria, who will introduce you to the cultures of the German-speaking world. You will encounter the world of German artistic expression in the form of literature, film and art. And you will gain a deeper understanding of Germany’s complex history.
As an integral part of your 4-year programme, you will spend half of year three developing your language skills as a teaching assistant or visiting student in a German-speaking country.
This particular degree programme covers the core courses as set out in the standard Geography degree. Geography is the study of the Earth's surface, with particular emphasis on the relationships between people and their environment. Few other subjects cover such a diversity of phenomena, combining elements of the natural sciences, the social sciences and the humanities.
The University of Aberdeen is delighted to offer eligible self-funded international on-campus undergraduate students a £6,000 scholarship for every year of their programme.
View the Aberdeen Global ScholarshipNOTE: GERMAN ADVANCED – for post-Higher candidates and those who have studied German for more than 4 years
Modern German Culture 1 (GM1052) AND/OR The Global City (LA1501)
This compulsory evaluation is designed to find out if your academic writing is of a sufficient standard to enable you to succeed at university and, if you need it, to provide support to improve. It is completed on-line via MyAberdeen with clear instructions to guide you through it. If you pass the evaluation at the first assessment it will not take much of your time. If you do not, you will be provided with resources to help you improve. This evaluation does not carry credits but if you do not complete it this will be recorded on your degree transcript.
This course, which is prescribed for level 1 undergraduate students and articulating students who are in their first year at the University, is studied entirely online, is studied entirely online, takes approximately 2-3 hours to complete and can be taken in one sitting, or spread across the first 4 weeks of term.
Topics include University orientation overview, equality & diversity, MySkills, health, safety and cyber security, and academic integrity.Successful completion of this course will be recorded on your Transcript as ‘Achieved’.
15 Credit Points
This course reflects upon the role humans have played in creating the Anthropocene (the epoch we are now living in), a time period during which human actions have become more significant than natural processes in shaping our world. Drawing primarily upon perspectives from physical and human geography, the nature of the changes, “how did we get here?”, are considered, laying the foundations for GG1512, in which “what comes after?” – how contemporary society is attempting to tackle Anthropocene challenges – is debated.
15 Credit Points
This module is designed for students with an SCE H in German or equivalent. The course develops receptive and productive oral and written German language skills. Students who are considering applying for entry to German Honours must take this course.
This course involves intensive language study. Upon successful registration to this course, you are expected to complete a short online entry test on MyAberdeen to ensure that you are registered for the most appropriate course for your language ability. You will not be able to access the course site until you have completed this short test.
It is strongly recommended that you complete this test at the earliest opportunity as your timetable/course selections may be subject to change if your language ability would be better suited to an alternative course. You will be informed of this as soon as you complete the test.
The short entry test does not count toward your overall grade for this course.
It is recommended (subject to individual entry test results) that:
Students who have studied German to Higher level (or equivalent) register for GM1050 German Language 1
15 Credit Points
Learn more about German 20th-century literature, dealing with the events that shaped German and European history. As in all good literature, we will discuss universal themes and topics covering all of the most important aspects of modern life.
15 Credit Points
This course interrogates the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. These encompass contemporary global challenges such as responsible consumption and production, no poverty, clean water and climate action (challenges whose emergence is introduced in GG1010 Creating the Anthropocene). Drawing upon Human and Physical Geography perspectives, a ‘strong’ interpretation of sustainability, one where social and economic dimensions fundamentally rely on ecological foundations, underpins the course.
15 Credit Points
This module is designed for students with an SCE H in German or equivalent. The course develops receptive and productive oral and written German language skills. Students who are considering applying for entry to German Honours must take this course. The course builds on GM1050.
15 Credit Points
Focusing on major cities in Europe and the Americas, this course unit uses a range of texts, including films, poetry and fiction, to investigate urban spaces as sites of promise, power and loss. Representations of global cities, and experiences of urban dwellers, highlight themes such as empire, identity, leisure, labour and love. Set amid glittering facades and gritty back streets, the texts studied in this course explore the many meanings of the urban experience across place and time. These urban encounters also provide a way of understanding key social, political and cultural moments in the past and present.
Plus select further credit points from courses of choice to reach 120 credit points.
Second half session to be spent in a German Speaking Country
15 Credit Points
GG2014 examines political, economic, social and cultural change from a geographical perspective. The course consists of five distinct blocks, each of which introduces a specific sub-field of human geography – economic, urban, tourism, cultural and social geography. As a team-taught course, it makes use of a range of concepts and uses case studies drawn from the staff’s own fields of research. As well as geography, the course is designed to be accessible and relevant to students from other arts and social science disciplines such as anthropology, business, economics, history, international relations and sociology.
15 Credit Points
This level two language course will build on and extend students' fluency and written skills in German.
15 Credit Points
Learn more about modern German history and culture while also extending your skills in reading German texts.
15 Credit Points
This course provides an understanding of environmental processes and landscape change through time and space. The course places Physical Geography as an integral component of Earth System Science. The first half of the course explores physical environmental processes, whilst the second focuses on evidence of environmental change across a range of temporal and spatial scales. Three themes of glaciology, hydrology and palaeoecology will be explored to illustrate the linkages and interactions between process and form over a range of temporal and spatial scales. The course is team-taught by staff with an emphasis on using examples from recent research projects.
15 Credit Points
This core course is designed to introduce Honours students to key debates on the nature and scope of academic geography. Geographers past and present have studied a huge variety of phenomena using a variety of tools to investigate their subject. This course will help you understand this diversity. Topics include: the changing meaning of the 'environment'; the use and abuse of statistical analysis; the influence of left-wing and post-modern perspectives, and the role of technology. Students may specialise in particular aspects, or mix-and-match across the breadth of the discipline, as you wish.
15 Credit Points
This course covers the practical aspects of remote sensing and GIS. It is entirely hands on, and students learn through a series of exercises that becomes progressively more challenging and more specific to different geographical disciplines. By the end of the course students will be familiar with key remote sensing and GIS software and will have learned their fundamental tools. These are highly demanded skills in the job market at present, so this course is strategic for those students potentially interested in a job where these types of tools are employed.
15 Credit Points
This core course builds on GG2508 to provide an introduction to the conduct of research in the Geosciences at an advanced level. It is intended to familiarise students with the skills necessary to design, implement and write up effective research. These skills will support work on undergraduate dissertations and other project work. The course also introduces careers research skills, and explores how you can best make use of your degree in the 'real world' after graduation: workshops run in partnership with the University's Career Service provide practical advice and training on how best to develop your career.
Select further 30 credit points from level 3 or 4 courses in Geography, plus 45 credit points from level 3 courses in German.
30 Credit Points
Building on the skills gained during the Junior Honours language course and before, this module expands and refines German language expertise in writing, reading, speaking and listening, to an advanced level, for their final exit written and oral exam in German.
Select one of the following dissertation options:
Plus further credit points from level 3 or 4 course(s) in Geography to gain a total of 60 credits in the discipline. Plus further credit points from level 4 course(s) in German to gain a total of 60 credits in the discipline
If you choose to take GG4023 Geography Dissertation, you are not required to take GG4537 Geographical Issues but may take both courses if you wish.
NOTE: You are required to gain a minimum of 90 credit points from level 4 courses.
30 Credit Points
The Honours dissertation provides students with the opportunity to produce a piece of independent and original research on an approved topic. Advanced level knowledge of a sub-area of the discipline is developed through independent study supervised by a member of academic staff. This course is compulsory for any students completing a single Honours degree in Geography and for any joint Honours student who has not registered to complete a dissertation in their other Honours subject.
15 Credit Points
Students engage in their first larger project of independent research.
30 Credit Points
This core, 'capstone' course is designed to develop further students' critical understanding of the contemporary intellectual and real-world contexts in which the academic discipline of geography - and its graduates! - operates. The course involves the preparation of seminar presentations and short papers on a series of issues pertinent to contemporary geography. This work should showcase new philosophies and methodologies; and/or the relationships between geography and other academic disciplines; and/or applications of academic geography to real-world problems. Students also consider how they can best make use of their degree after graduation, with preparation of a reflective, career-planning report.
We will endeavour to make all course options available. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page. In exceptional circumstances there may be additional fees associated with specialist courses, for example field trips.
Students are assessed by any combination of three assessment methods:
The exact mix of these methods differs between subject areas, years of study and individual courses.
Honours projects are typically assessed on the basis of a written dissertation.
Why Geography
Why German
The information below is provided as a guide only and does not guarantee entry to the University of Aberdeen.
SQA Highers
Standard: BBBB
Applicants who have achieved BBBB (or better), are encouraged to apply and will be considered. Good performance in additional Highers/ Advanced Highers may be required.
Minimum: BBC
Applicants who have achieved BBC at Higher and meet one of the widening participation criteria above are encouraged to apply and are guaranteed an unconditional offer for MA, BSc and BEng degrees.
Adjusted: BB
Applicants who have achieved BB at Higher, and who meet one of the widening participation criteria above are encouraged to apply and are guaranteed an adjusted conditional offer for MA, BSc and BEng degrees.
We would expect to issue a conditional offer asking for one additional C grade at Higher.
Foundation Apprenticeship: One FA is equivalent to a Higher at A. It cannot replace any required subjects.
More information on our definition of Standard, Minimum and Adjusted entry qualifications.
A LEVELS
Standard: BBC
Minimum: BCC
Adjusted: CCC
More information on our definition of Standard, Minimum and Adjusted entry qualifications.
International Baccalaureate
32 points, including 5, 5, 5 at HL.
Irish Leaving Certificate
5H with 3 at H2 AND 2 at H3.
Entry from College
Advanced entry to this degree may be possible from some HNC/HND qualifications, please see www.abdn.ac.uk/study/articulation for more details.
SQA Highers
Standard: BBBB
Applicants that present with BBBB will usually receive an unconditional offer.
Where we have more applicants than places we may need to ask for more than the minimum so continued engagement in school is recommended.
Widening Access: BBC
Applicants who meet one or more of our widening access metrics and present with BBC, are guaranteed an unconditional offer.
Foundation Apprenticeship: One FA is equivalent to a Higher at A. It cannot replace any required subjects.
Note: We do not double count a Higher and Advanced Higher in the same subject, but we do consider that a B grade at Advanced Higher is equivalent to an A grade at Higher.
National 5 English (or equivalent) is required at Grade C or above.
A LEVELS
Standard: BBC
Widening Access: CCC
GCSE English (or equivalent) is required at Grade C/4 or above.
BTEC LEVEL 3 EXTENDED DIPLOMA
DMM in related subjects.
Note: BTEC Level 3 Extended Certificate (Subsidiary Diploma) achieved at Distinction level, is normally acceptable in lieu of one A Level at grade B.)
GCSE English (or equivalent) is required at Grade C/4 or above. GCSE Mathematics at Grade C/4 is also required for Accountancy, Economics and Finance programmes.
IRISH LEAVING CERTIFICATE
Five subjects at Higher at H3.
INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE
32 points including 5, 5, 5 at HL.
SL in English is also required.
The information displayed in this section shows a shortened summary of our entry requirements. For more information, or for full entry requirements for Arts and Social Sciences degrees, see our detailed entry requirements section.
To study for an Undergraduate degree at the University of Aberdeen it is essential that you can speak, understand, read, and write English fluently. The minimum requirements for this degree are as follows:
IELTS Academic:
OVERALL - 6.0 with: Listening - 5.5; Reading - 5.5; Speaking - 5.5; Writing - 6.0
TOEFL iBT:
OVERALL - 78 with: Listening - 17; Reading - 18; Speaking - 20; Writing - 21
PTE Academic:
OVERALL - 59 with: Listening - 59; Reading - 59; Speaking - 59; Writing - 59
Cambridge English B2 First, C1 Advanced or C2 Proficiency:
OVERALL - 169 with: Listening - 162; Reading - 162; Speaking - 162; Writing - 169
Read more about specific English Language requirements here.
You will be classified as one of the fee categories below.
| Fee category | Cost |
|---|---|
| EU / International students | |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year | £20,800 |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year (Self-funded Students *) | £14,800 |
| Home Students | |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year | £1,820 |
| England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Republic of Ireland | |
| Tuition Fees for 2025/26 Academic Year | £9,535 |
Students from England, Wales and Northern Ireland, who pay tuition fees may be eligible for specific scholarships allowing them to receive additional funding. These are designed to provide assistance to help students support themselves during their time at Aberdeen.
View all funding options in our Funding Database.
There are many opportunities at the University of Aberdeen to develop your knowledge, gain experience and build a competitive set of skills to enhance your employability. This is essential for your future career success. The Careers and Employability Service can help you to plan your career and support your choices throughout your time with us, from first to final year – and beyond.
You will be taught by a range of experts including professors, lecturers, teaching fellows and postgraduate tutors. However, these may be subject to change - see our Student Terms and Conditions page.
We invest heavily in our facilities and learning resources, ensuring our students have access to everything they need to help them succeed in their studies - from the stunning Sir Duncan Rice Library, to Aberdeen Sport Village, and beyond.
Find out more
The Geography degree takes students on a range of local, national and international field trips.
Find out more
Aberdeen has been named the cheapest place for students to rent private accommodation in the UK. In 2024, StuRents reports that the average price of a student private rental property in the Granite City was just over £96 a week.
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