Planetary Science with Astronomy (BSc): 4-year, part-time course by evening study or distance learning

You apply directly to Birkbeck for this course, using the online application link below.

Need help with your application? Watch videos featuring our academic experts giving advice on applying to Birkbeck and answering some of the most frequently asked questions.

Birkbeck offers a range of free face-to-face advice and support to help you make a successful application.

Birkbeck can give you all of the information and help you need to complete your application form, including our online personal statement tool, which will guide you through every step of writing your personal statement.

We suggest you apply as early as possible.

Interviews by arrangement.

• Our Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences has been offering evening study courses for over 70 years and is ranked in the top 3 departments in the country.
• You will learn in an environment of active research and be taught by lecturers who are working at the forefront of their specialisms.
• Studying with us will give you access to world-class research facilities.
• We retain close links with UCL's Department of Earth Sciences, sharing expertise, facilities and events across the 2 institutions, including live streaming of lectures and digital lecture notes.
• We are part of the joint UCL-Birkbeck Institute of Earth and Planetary Sciences (IEPS). The Institute hosts a NASA Regional Planetary Image Facility, which contains an archive, unique in the UK, of NASA planetary science image data, and this will be used extensively for teaching and project work.
• Some modules include residential field-trips to sites in Greece, Morocco, Scotland, Spain and Wales.
• This programme includes the opportunity to undertake an option module in practical astronomy, run by UCL and conducted at an observatory in London.
• Find out more about our study support and student facilities.

In Year 1, you take 5 compulsory modules and 1 option module (which may also be taken in Year 2).

In Year 2, you take 4 compulsory modules and choose 2 option modules. There may be an opportunity to undertake an option module in practical astronomy, run by UCL and conducted at an observatory in London.

In Years 3 and 4, you take 4 compulsory modules, choose 1 option module and undertake a project. Some compulsory modules run in alternate years:

• Comets, Asteroids and Meteorites/Volcanism in the Solar System
• Physics of the Sun/Physical Principles of Astronomy
• Exploration and Modelling of Planetary Interiors/Remote Sensing and Planetary Surfaces.

You take both modules, but the order in which you take them will depend on which module of the pair is running when you reach Year 3.

We welcome applicants without traditional entry qualifications as we base decisions on our own assessment of qualifications, knowledge and previous work experience. We may waive formal entry requirements based on judgement of academic potential.

Alternative entry routes

Access to Higher Education Diploma with a minimum of 15 credits achieved at Merit or Distinction in a science-based subject.

Students who successfully complete Birkbeck's Certificate of Higher Education in Earth History and Palaeontology; Forensic Geology; Geology; Mineralogy and Volcanology; or Planetary Geology will be considered for a place on the BSc, with the possibility of exemption from the first-year modules.

International entry requirements

If English is not your first language or you have not previously studied in English, our usual requirement is the equivalent of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS Academic Test) score of 6.5, with not less than 6.0 in each of the sub-tests.

If you don't meet the minimum IELTS requirement, we offer pre-sessional English courses, foundation programmes and language support services to help you improve your English language skills and get your place at Birkbeck.

Visit the International section of our website to find out more about our English language entry requirements and relevant requirements by country.

Flexible finance: pay your fees in monthly instalments at no extra cost. Enrol early to spread your costs and reduce your monthly payments.

Fees discount: Birkbeck offers a generous package of fee reductions and cash bursaries for new undergraduates and Certificate of Higher Education students. Also, if you are a member of a union that is recognised by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), you may apply for a 10% discount off your tuition fees.

With a student loan, you will pay nothing upfront. Find out about loans, cash bursaries and fee reductions and check if you are eligible.

Graduates can pursue careers in the oil, mineral and groundwater industries, education or research. This degree may also be useful in becoming an astronomer, research scientist, higher education lecturer or minerals surveyor.

Find out more about these professions.

Find out more about the destinations of graduates in this subject.

We offer a comprehensive Careers and Employability Service to help you advance your career, while our in-house, professional recruitment consultancy, Birkbeck Talent, works with London’s top employers to help you gain work experience that fits in with your evening studies.

Mostly through face-to-face lectures.

A combination of coursework and a final-year examination, generally in May or early June. The optional geology field classes do not have a final examination and are assessed solely on work performed in the field.

We offer a Graduate Certificate in Geology, a Graduate Certificate in Environmental Geology and an MSc Geochemistry.

We can support you to get on to the undergraduate course that’s right for you.

If you are not ready to study an undergraduate degree, check out our Certificates of Higher Education and short courses for another way into study.