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Open University

Milton Keynes

Geography degree from the OU?

Do you need to have studied a level geography to study it for a degree? I didn't do it at a level but have recently developed an interest in studying it via the OU. What kind of jobs can you get with a geography degree and is it still considered a proper degree it if it's from the OU?

Reply 1

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

Do you need to have studied a level geography to study it for a degree?
You would need A Level geography if the contents of the degree generally have quite a bit of physical geography content ie. a physical geography degree or a general geography degree.

If your interest and sole purpose of going into geography is for the human geography component, there are a number of human geography degrees at bachelor's and master's level that don't require specific A Level subjects.

If you have interest in physical geography along with human geography, then I would do geography A Level as an extra A Level.

If your purpose of going into geography is purely for the physical component, consider applying for physical geography or geoscience degrees. These can be done with a couple of sciences e.g. geography (in this context), maths, any of the sciences, possibly economics (depending on the uni).

What kind of jobs can you get with a geography degree and is it still considered a proper degree it if it's from the OU?
Geography degrees aren't specifically required for any particular job for a regulatory or legal standpoint (it's not like medicine, dentistry, or nursing where you need a specific degree to get into the field). Geography degrees can be used to apply for jobs in fields where they don't care about what subject your degree is in, for example:

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Administration

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Government services

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Social work

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Some areas of healthcare

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Most areas of business (HR, marketing, accounting, sales)

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IT roles

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Some areas of construction

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Most areas of property

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Most areas of beauty and wellbeing

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Creative/design and media (if you're good)

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Theatre and film (if you're good)

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Music (if you're good)

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Anything related to writing (if you're good)

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Storage

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Logisitics

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Armed forces and police force (if you pass certain tests, have a clean record, and are of a certain age range)

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Some environmental services

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Hospitality

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Manufacturing

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Management (if you have the relevant experience)

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Retail

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Care work

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Travel and tourism

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Charity

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Entertainment (if you're good)

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Translation (if you are fluent in more than one language)

Having said that, these areas don't require you to have a degree in the first place.

With further training and courses, you can go into:

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Accounting

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Actuary (if you have a math background e.g. A Level Maths)

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Law (SQE)

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Most areas of finance

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Delivery and transport (licences)

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Sports coaching

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Teaching (via PGCE with QTS)

Should you wish, you can of course become a geographer or an academic in geography.

The OU is a recognised university and their degrees are credible. However, I would always recommend people to stretch themselves before looking into OU i.e. look into doing A Level geography and getting the grades you need before going into OU.
I don't know what the OU is like since I never studied with them, but they have pathways that tend to let anyone into their courses. I would widen as many options as possible before settling on your choice.

If you need advice on how to do the extra A Level, let me know.