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University of Oxford
School of Geography and the Environment

 School of Geography and the Environment

International Graduate School

MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Is my background appropriate for the course?

The MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management accepts candidates from a range of backgrounds: these include natural / environmental, science, physical science, economics, politics, law, humanities. The cross-disciplinary nature of the programme means that some aspects of the course will be more challenging than others. For example, someone with a law background will find the modules on "Conservation Biogeography" quite challenging, but the "International Environmental Frameworks and Policy" course will be fairly familiar, with perhaps some new perspectives on the role of conservation conventions in directing conservation practice.

The three key criteria for admission to the course are:

  1. academic excellence in your first or second degree,
  2. demonstrable motivation to work in the field of conservation,
  3. proven ability to write and speak English to an acceptable standard (see below).
2. What level of written and spoken English do I have to have?

To register for a course at Oxford University, you will be required to prove your written and spoken English language abilities. If you do not already have these qualifications, please see the Graduate Studies Prospectus for information on the minimum English scores accepted by the University.

3. Are there any funding opportunities for the course?

3.1. There are four full scholarships available to UK nationals from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). UK applicants should indicate their desire to apply for this scholarship on their application form.

3.2 There are a number of scholarships available at Oxford University, especially for overseas students. Details of these scholarships and how to apply can be found on the Graduate Study web page of the University, under the section "Finance".

Further, please see our Fees and Funding Guide which provides details of many available schemes.

3.3 In addition, many Colleges offer full or partial scholarships for graduate study. College scholarships are quite difficult to find out about, but if you use the following search link, you should get a list of links to the relevant information for each College.

4. Is there further information on the course?

If you have only seen the information on the main Oxford University website, then there is plenty of additional information on our Department's web site.

4.1 For information on studying at the School of Geography and the Environment's International Graduate School, including our admission criteria, please see the International Graduate School website.

4.2 For more information on the MSc in Biodiversity, Conservation and Management, please look at the course website.

4.3 For detailed information on the MSc course, the current course handbook is available online.

5. What sort of jobs will the course qualify me for?

The aim of the course is to train future leaders, managers and policy makers in biodiversity, conservation and natural resource management. Thus the course teaches conservation as a dynamic discipline integral to all the major areas of human concern - judicial reform, political economy, religion, spatial planning, poverty alleviation, human and institutional capacity, agriculture, and population growth, in addition to the hard science of biodiversity. Past graduates have gone on to obtain positions in a range of leading conservation and academic organisations. Examples include policy positions in government departments (e.g. UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), management positions in global conservation NGOs such as Conservation International and WWF, environmental and conservation consultancies, and international bodies such as IUCN. A significant number of students use the course as a gateway to start D.Phil./PhD research and several past students are doing doctorates within the department.