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Sports Fisheries and Aquaculture

University Centre Sparsholt

UCAS Code: D439 | Foundation Degree in Science - FdSc

Entry requirements


A level

C,E,E

Including a relevant subject/science @ C or above (64 UCAS tariff points)

Access to HE Diploma

M:24,P:21

Pass in a relevant subject/science, with science units at Merit (74 UCAS tariff points)

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

24

Including a relevant subject/science at H4 or above with Maths and English at S3 if no GCSE or equivalent (74 UCAS tariff points)

Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)

H4,H4

Including one in a relevant subject/science (72 UCAS tariff points)

OCR Cambridge Technical Diploma

MM

In a relevant subject/science (64 UCAS tariff points)

OCR Cambridge Technical Extended Diploma

MMP

In a relevant subject/science (80 UCAS tariff points)

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

MM

In a relevant subject/science (64 UCAS tariff points)

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

MMP

In a relevant subject/science (80 UCAS tariff points)

Scottish Advanced Higher

C

In a relevant subject/science (74 UCAS tariff points)

T Level

Pass (C and above)


In a relevant subject/science (96 UCAS tariff points)

UCAS Tariff

64-80

Dependent on qualifications

About this course


Course option

2years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Aquaculture

**Why choose this degree?**
- Focus on vocational learning and gain skills in subjects such as water quality, fish anatomy and physiology, aquaculture and fish health and nutrition

- Be taught by leading industry experts in unrivalled on-site facilities, including the 650m² purpose-built **Aquatic Research and Conservation Centre (ARCC)**, the **Salmonid Rearing and Trials Centre** and our own mixed coarse fishery lake.

- Benefit from work placements in areas such as salmon farming, specimen carp fisheries, river keeping or even Jamaican tilapia farming

- Experience the industry through visits to fish farms and fisheries and research and collaborative projects

- Progress to final year of relevant **BSc (Hons)** programme after successful completion

**What makes UCS special?**
University Centre Sparsholt is recognised worldwide for its expertise in providing education in fishery, aquaculture and marine studies. Our lecturing staff are known to be the **experts in the industry** and can often be found at conferences and industry forums discussing the latest techniques and their supporting research.

Students gain real industry experience on and off-site that is underpinned by the high level of technical lecture content to prepare them for a range of careers or progression to courses at Master’s level. Our industry contacts enable **great employment prospects**. Typically over 50% of our 3rd year students return from work placements to sit their final exams with jobs already secured for graduation.

**What will I learn?**
The programme is designed to develop the practical, scientific and specialist skills needed by the fishery management and aquaculture industry. Subjects studied include water quality, fish anatomy and physiology, fishery management and ecology, aquaculture and fish health and nutrition.

You will also gain work experience in various industry sectors. Previous placements range from Scottish salmon farms, specimen carp fisheries in England, France and Spain and a tilapia farm in Jamaica to river keeping on local chalk streams, the London Aquarium, the Fish Disease Laboratory at Weymouth and bait manufacturers.

Study tours are embedded into the course at Level 4 (Scotland) and Level 5 (Malta). They are a great opportunity to experience different vocational opportunities and other facilities.

**How will I be assessed?**
Assessment includes coursework (such as practical portfolios, laboratory reports, case studies and essay style assignments) in combination with formal examinations and group research projects.

**Where can I go from here?**
You can progress to the **BSc (Hons) in Aquaculture and Fishery Management Top-up** at University Centre Sparsholt; alternatively there are BSc programmes available at other universities.

Sparsholt students have also gained employment as sports fishery managers, fish farmers and fishery officers in the Environment Agency.

Modules

• LEVEL 4
• Principles in Aquatic Science
• Fishery Science
• Industrial Experience
• Introductory Fishery Management
• Salmonid Aquaculture
• Academic Skills
• LEVEL 5
• Tropical Aquaculture
• Fish Health and Nutrition
• Marine Fish Farming (optional)
• Aquarium Design and Husbandry (optional)
• Fishery Appraisal
• Financial Studies
• Applied Industrial Research
• Industrial Development

Assessment methods

Assessment includes coursework (such as practical portfolios, laboratory reports, case studies and essay style assignments) in combination with formal examinations and group research projects.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

Channel Islands
£9,800
per year
England
£9,250
per year
EU
£9,800
per year
International
£9,800
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

Extra funding

If your household income is under £32,960 you could receive a bursary of up to £750 per annum. This can be used to help towards travel costs, books and equipment or anything else that will help you during your course.

Depending on the financial information disclosed in your Student Loan application, UCS may make an automatic bursary award based on specific criteria as set out in our Access and Participation Plan. If this is not the case you may still be able to apply for financial support to the UCS HE Hardship fund by completing a Bursary Application Form (available from end of |Term 1).

For more information please [email protected].

The Uni


Course location:

University Centre Sparsholt

Department:

Aquaculture, Fisheries and Marine Ecology

Read full university profile

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.

86%
Aquaculture

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.

Agriculture

Teaching and learning

95%
Staff make the subject interesting
95%
Staff are good at explaining things
84%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
81%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

67%
Library resources
86%
IT resources
79%
Course specific equipment and facilities
67%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

After graduation


We don't have more detailed stats to show you in relation to this subject area at this university but read about typical employment outcomes and prospects for graduates of this subject below.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Agriculture

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£20k

£20k

£20k

£20k

£21k

£21k

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 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:

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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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