Biology
Entry requirements
A level
At least a grade C at A level in Biology (or equivalent qualification)
Access to HE Diploma
Pass Access to HE Diploma with 60 credits with 45 at Level 3. Must include passes in compulsory L3 subjects
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE Maths and English Grade 4/Grade C (or above) or equivalent qualification
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
T Level
T-Level in Science
UCAS Tariff
We encourage you to outline all your qualifications and achievements in your application to provide us a full picture. Your offer will typically be based on your predicted and/or achieved grades from full level 3 qualifications or above e.g. A levels, BTEC Ext Diploma, Access to HE, etc. Any subject specifics are outlined below in the Further Information section, and these specifics are applicable across all equivalent qualifications. A strong application/performance and appropriate experience will be taken into account where typical criteria is not met.
About this course
**Get ahead in your career as a professional biologist – with a course centred on high-quality teaching, first-rate facilities, cutting-edge research and exciting real-world learning opportunities.**
**KEY FEATURES OF THE COURSE:**
- ** RANKINGS:** The course is also rated 9th for student satisfaction (The Complete University Guide 2022).
- **ACCREDITATION:** This course is accredited by the Royal Society of Biology so you can be sure that the course provides a solid academic foundation in biological knowledge, key technical abilities, and transferable skills.
- **TAILORED TO YOU:** Our course offers a wide range of subjects including microbiology, tropical marine biology, oncology, physiology, animal behaviour, genetics and wildlife conservation as well as cellular and evolutionary processes, giving you plenty of choice to tailor your degree to the career you want.
- **FACILITIES:** Develop vital scientific skills in our high-spec laboratories, insectary, aquatic research facility (created in partnership with SeaLife, Birmingham) and dedicated student research laboratory.
- **FIELDTRIPS:** Your studies won’t be confined to the laboratory as fieldtrips are an essential part of the course - our students have travelled to locations such as Twycross Zoo, Kew Gardens and the Maldives. Costs of mandatory fieldtrips in optional modules are included in your tuition fees.
- **RAISE YOUR PROFILE IN INDUSTRY:** We work closely with organisations such as the Royal Derby Hospital, Sea Life, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, Derby Museums, the Olive Ridley Project and Eurofins. These partnerships pave the way to work experience and internship opportunities where you can apply your skills in real world situations.
- **EXPERT TEACHING:** Our teaching team are active researchers whose work is shaping debates in areas such as ecology, entomology and biodiversity, so your learning will be informed by the very latest research and developments in biology.
**WHAT YOU'LL COVER:**
- Your first year provides an introduction to some of the key themes you’ll need to understand, including evolution, genetics and ecology. Optional modules in your second and third years give you the opportunity to begin tailoring your degree to meet your career aspirations. You will also have opportunities to work in industry. You’ll learn through lectures, seminars, tutorials, e-learning, hands-on laboratory practical work and fieldtrips.
**HOW YOU'RE ASSESSED:**
- You’ll be assessed using a range of written assignments including portfolios, practical and fieldtrip write-ups and data analysis, essays, computer-based assessments, poster presentations and seminar presentations, as well as traditional written examinations.
**YOUR CAREER:**
- Our graduates are now working as research scientists, laboratory and pharmacy technicians, healthcare assistants, medical laboratory assistants and wildlife conservation officers. Others have progressed to teaching and lecturing careers after completing postgraduate study or have advanced to gain veterinary and medical qualifications.
**STUDY OPTIONS:**
- This course is available with a Foundation Year option.
- This course is available with an Industrial Placement Year.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
The stats below relate to the general subject area/s at this university, not this specific course. We show this where there isn’t enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Biology (non-specific)
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
The stats in this section relate to the general subject area/s at this university – not this specific course. We show this where there isn't enough data about the course, or where this is the most detailed info available to us.
Biology (non-specific)
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
The recession was tough on biology graduates, and although the jobs market has improved for them - a lot - it's still not back to where it was a few years ago. If you want a career in biology research — and a lot of biology students do - you'll need to take a doctorate, so give some thought as to where you might do it and how you might fund it (the government still funds doctorates for good students). A lot of graduates also take 1 year Masters courses to specialise in this wide and deep subject - most students take a standard biology course for their first degree and then specialise in subjects like ecology, conservation or marine biology later. Hospitals, universities, biotech firms, zoos and nature reserves and clinical and scientific testing are common industries of employment for biology graduates.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Biology (non-specific)
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£15k
£20k
£23k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
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This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
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This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
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Course location and department:
This is what the university has told Ucas about the course. Use it to get a quick idea about what makes it unique compared to similar courses, elsewhere.
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Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF):
We've received this information from the Department for Education, via Ucas. This is how the university as a whole has been rated for its quality of teaching: gold silver or bronze. Note, not all universities have taken part in the TEF.
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This information comes from the National Student Survey, an annual student survey of final-year students. You can use this to see how satisfied students studying this subject area at this university, are (not the individual course).
This is the percentage of final-year students at this university who were "definitely" or "mostly" satisfied with their course. We've analysed this figure against other universities so you can see whether this is high, medium or low.
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This information is from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), for undergraduate students only.
You can use this to get an idea of who you might share a lecture with and how they progressed in this subject, here. It's also worth comparing typical A-level subjects and grades students achieved with the current course entry requirements; similarities or differences here could indicate how flexible (or not) a university might be.
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Post-six month graduation stats:
This is from the Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education Survey, based on responses from graduates who studied the same subject area here.
It offers a snapshot of what grads went on to do six months later, what they were earning on average, and whether they felt their degree helped them obtain a 'graduate role'. We calculate a mean rating to indicate if this is high, medium or low compared to other universities.
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Graduate field commentary:
The Higher Education Careers Services Unit have provided some further context for all graduates in this subject area, including details that numbers alone might not show
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The Longitudinal Educational Outcomes dataset combines HRMC earnings data with student records from the Higher Education Statistics Agency.
While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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