Biology
Entry requirements
A level
To include B in A-level Biology.
The University welcomes undergraduate applications from students studying the Access to Higher Education Diploma, provided that relevant subject content and learning outcomes are met. We are not able to accept Access to Higher Education Diplomas as a general qualification for every undergraduate degree course.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
To include 5 points in Biology at Higher Level.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
In a specified subject.
UCAS Tariff
To include B in A-level Biology.
Aberystwyth University welcomes the Welsh Baccalaureate as a valuable qualification in its own right and considers completion of the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate to be equivalent to an A level grade.
About this course
Are you the kind of person who finds every aspect of the living world fascinating? The kind of person who one minute is marvelling at the machinery of gene expression, and the next minute wondering about the flight of birds? If you are that kind of person, then Biology at Aberystwyth is the degree for you.
From proteins to puffins our course covers everything that life has on offer. Aberystwyth is situated amongst hills, wooded valleys, wetlands, sandy and rocky shores and, of course alongside the pristine waters of Cardigan Bay. You might be studying microbiology in the morning, and investigating the life found in sand dunes in the afternoon.
You will be taught by passionate, engaged, friendly teaching staff in laboratory and field classes, which build real scientific skills essential for your future. Your academic studies will be bolstered by a wealth of laboratory and field classes which build real scientific skills which are essential for your future. Our outstanding teaching and E-learning facilities provide you with outstanding study resources. The majority of teaching staff at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences are qualified to PhD level and are research active. Vocational courses also have staff whose background lies within the industry.
The Institute has a large number of research only staff with whom students may have contact. You will be assigned a personal tutor who can guide you through your time at Aberystwyth and help you to settle in when you first arrive.
In your first year, you will explore a wide range of topics from Biochemistry to Animal Diversity, from Microbial Diversity to Vegetation and Ecosystems. These are all designed to give you a firm footing in your second and third years and allow you to try out topics you might never have considered before. There is a wide range of modules on offer in years two and three, more so than in any other scheme we offer. In these years you can specialise, perhaps taking a more molecular or environmental route choosing modules such as Applied Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics or Ecological Surveying. On the other hand, you can keep your options open by mixing and matching topics like Biochemistry and Pharmacology with Population and Community Ecology.
Our students leave Aberystwyth University with skills including; research and data analysis skills, enhanced mathematical and computational skills, effective problem-solving and creative thinking skills; a thorough grounding in information technology skills; the ability to work independently, time-management and organisational skills, including the ability to meet deadlines; the ability to express ideas and communicate information in a clear and structured manner, in both written and oral form; self-motivation and self-reliance and team-working, with the ability to discuss concepts in groups, accommodating different ideas and reaching agreement.
Our graduates are strong candidates in the following fields: Research Science; Clinical Molecular Genetics; Nature Conservation and Education. Students who have completed a biology degree could also progress to further training in Dentistry, Medicine and Scientific Journalism.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Aberystwyth University offers a valuable package of scholarships and bursaries to support students. Our long-established Entrance Examination competition means you could get up to £2,000 a year towards your living and study costs. You can combine that with any or all of our other awards, to make your financial package more valuable. Our awards include Sport and Music Scholarships, Bursaries for Care Leavers/Young Carers/Estranged Students and a range of department specific awards. Please visit our website for full details.
The Uni
Main Site (Aberystwyth)
Department of Life Sciences
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.
£18k
£22k
£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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Teaching Excellence Framework (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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