Home

Environmental Archaeology MSc

London, Bloomsbury

Interested in how humans have interacted with their environment – and, vice versa, how humans have affected the spaces they inhabit? Join us on this Environmental Archaeology MSc to explore the theory of past human-environment interactions. Working with UCL’s experts, you’ll gain practical laboratory analysis skills – and be brilliantly placed for building your career within environmental archaeology and beyond it. 

UK students International students
Study mode
UK tuition fees (2025/26)
£16,000
£8,000
Overseas tuition fees (2025/26)
£33,000
£16,500
Duration
1 calendar year
2 calendar years
Programme starts
September 2025
Applications accepted
Applicants who require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 27 Jun 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Applicants who do not require a visa: 14 Oct 2024 – 29 Aug 2025
Applications close at 5pm UK time

Applications open

Apply for this course

Entry requirements

A minimum of an upper second-class Bachelor's degree in a relevant subject from a UK university or an overseas qualification of an equivalent standard.

The English language level for this programme is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree

Environmental archaeology is an interdisciplinary subject that looks at how humans have interacted with, and impacted past landscapes and environments. Some of these effects stretch back to deep prehistory, before written records. You will study the remains of past subsistence practices, routinely recovered on excavations, and soils and sediments.

In addition, each student gains practical experience in laboratory analysis of at least one of the sub-fields:

  • Identification of animal bones.
  • Identification of plant macro-remains.
  • Geoarchaeology (micromorphological and sedimentological analyses).

Students will learn to collect and analyse data, to follow this through lab work and to report and interpret scientific results to a high standard.

Who this course is for

This programme is suitable for students with a first degree in:

  • Archaeology.
  • Anthropology.
  • Biology.
  • Geography.
  • Earth Sciences.

Applicants need a general archaeological background to be eligible for direct entry onto this degree. Applicants without this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis or may wish to consider our Graduate Diploma in the first instance. 

Read about what it takes to study for a Master's at UCL

What this course will give you

UCL Institute of Archaeology is one of the largest centres for archaeology in Britain and ranked 3rd in the QS World Rankings by Subject 2024. It brings archaeology, cultural heritage, conservation and museum studies together under one roof, making it a special and exciting place to study. This degree reflects the institute’s broader mission to harness knowledge of the past and what is to be human.

This programme offers you many benefits and opportunities:

  • Learn from leading experts in their fields. 
  • Use of the Institute’s exceptional laboratories, equipment, archives, and collections.
  • Proximity to the British Museum, Natural History Museum and British Library, as well as UCL’s Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology.
Read about what you'll get out of a graduate programme

The foundation of your career

Upon completing this degree, you will have skills well suited for jobs in sectors such as: 

  • Archaeology within Higher Education, museums, and private companies
  • Environmental and sustainability sector
  • Tourism and heritage management

“My time at the Institute of Archaeology was invaluable. Being global in focus and nature truly refined my thinking and prepared me well to overcome the challenges that I encountered as part of my professional career.” - Laurence Maidment- Blundell (PhD Student)
 

Employability

The programme is designed to enhance career prospects by giving students transferable skills attractive to employers in a wide range of businesses and sectors, such as:

  • Theoretical and critical analysis.
  • Ability to design and carry out original research.
  • Archaeological laboratory skills
  • Practical archaeological skills.

You will also learn to solve problems and issues and to build positive working relationships. 

Networking

The institute organises an annual "Careers in Ruins" event. Here students can get career advice from professionals in the Heritage and Archaeology sectors. They can also network with professionals from other sectors such as Business, Law and the Civil Service. Many of our alumni also return as guest lecturers on core modules and seminars.

Teaching and learning

The programme is delivered through a combination of lectures, seminars, presentations, laboratory sessions, practicals, and site and museum visits.

Assessment is through the dissertation, and a combination of essays, coursework, presentations, practical examination and laboratory reports, depending on the options selected.

Contact time takes various forms:

  • Lectures.
  • Seminars.
  • Laboratory work.
  • Dissertation supervision.
  • Assessment feedback sessions.

The credit value of the module indicates the total learning hours you will spend to achieve its learning outcomes. One credit is often equated to 10 hours of notional learning, which includes all contact time, self-directed study, and assessment.

The contact hours per module are normally around 2-3 hours a week with additional self-directed study time. Outside of lectures, seminars, workshops, and tutorials, full-time students typically study the equivalent of a full-time job, using their remaining time for self-directed study and completing coursework assignments.

Your dissertation module is 90 credits. The learning hours will mainly be spent researching and writing your final dissertation. You will also have regular contact with your supervisor(s). They will guide and support you throughout your work.

Modules

The teaching is carried out in the first two terms. In the second term you identify a dissertation topic and supervisor then in the third term you begin work on your dissertation, which continues over the summer. Research skills sessions provide support for this and you will be required to deliver an oral presentation of your dissertation plans to staff and your student colleagues to obtain feedback.

Teaching takes place during terms one and two. Those who undertake part-time study will discuss their pathway through the degree with the degree co-ordinator.

Typically students will take the compulsory core modules in the first year and select their optional modules in order to spread these out to year two. The dissertation is discussed in year 1 and completed at the end of year two. We endeavour to be flexible to the needs of part-time students in designing their pathway through the degree over two years.

Compulsory modules





Optional modules





Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Students undertake modules to the value of 180 credits. Upon successful completion of 180 credits, you will be awarded an MSc in Environmental Archaeology.

Accessibility

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information can also be obtained from the UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services team.

Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time Part-time
Tuition fees (2025/26) £16,000 £8,000
Tuition fees (2025/26) £33,000 £16,500

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Where the programme is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

For Full-time and Part-time offer holders a fee deposit will be charged at 10% of the first year fee.

Further information can be found in the Tuition fee deposits section on this page: Tuition fees.

The fees cover the use of the UCL Institute of Archaeology laboratories for scheduled practical sessions and MSc dissertation research. Other expenses related to the provision of additional specialist materials, laboratory analyses undertaken outside of the Institute of Archaeology, or fieldwork are not covered. 

UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £114.50. This price was published by TfL in 2024. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

UCL Institute of Archaeology International Masters Student Award. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor the scholarship will enable one Overseas fee paying student to undertake a year of study. It will provide support of up to £26,000 for the duration of their degree to cover fees. Further details can be found here. The deadline for applications is 1 March 2025.

Institute of Archaeology Master's Awards: The UCL Institute of Archaeology has one studentship of £10,000 available to support a graduate student who is an ordinarily resident in the UK or Ireland and eligible to pay home fee rate. The deadline for applications is 1st March 2025. For further information and to download an application see here.

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Institute of Archaeology International Masters Student Award

Deadline: 21 March 2025
Value: Up to £26,000 (1yr)
Criteria Based on academic merit
Eligibility: EU, Overseas

Next steps

Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.

There is an application processing fee for this programme of £90 for online applications. Further information can be found at Application fees.

When we assess your application we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study Environmental Archaeology at graduate level
  • why you want to study Environmental Archaeology at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to this programme
  • how your personal, academic and professional background meets the demands of a challenging academic environment
  • where you would like to go professionally with your degree

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate programmes (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Choose your programme

Please read the Application Guidance before proceeding with your application.

Year of entry: 2025-2026

Apply for this course

Got questions? Get in touch

Institute of Archaeology
Institute of Archaeology

l.daniel@ucl.ac.uk

UCL is regulated by the Office for Students.