Overall, the level of library support for both undergraduates and postgraduates is outstanding. Overall, the IT provision for geography students is excellent. All but one of the full-time staff have PhDs and are active in research. Several are prominent figures in their areas of specialisation, predominantly within human geography. The Department also has a high level of support staff.
Staff development focuses principally on sabbaticals and research.
There is noticeably less activity in fields such as teaching methods, curriculum innovation, flexible learning and alternative forms of student assessment. The School is in the process of developing a comprehensive and rigorous quality assurance system. This involves a series of reviews of both degree programmes and departments and takes full account of student evaluation of units, which is also employed in the staff appraisal process. However, there are still gaps in the procedures, which do not ensure a systematic follow-up of actions required as the result of issues identified. There are well-organised and readily available support services.