Biological Sciences
Entry requirements
A level
A Level Biology/Human Biology and a second science: Chemistry, Mathematics (or Further Mathematics or Statistics), Physics, Geography, Geology, Psychology. Specified subjects excluded for entry: General Studies, Critical Thinking, Citizenship Studies, Applied Science, Communication and Culture, Critical Studies, Global Perspectives, Science in Society, Use of Maths and World Development. Minimum of five GCSEs to include Mathematics, English and double award science at grade 4/C. The typical offer for the Professional Placement course is higher than that for the corresponding three year BSc degree course. However, all candidates who firmly accept the offer as their first choice will be automatically offered a place on the corresponding three year course should they fail the higher, but meet the standard offer.
Access to HE (Science) with sufficient Biology and Chemistry content is considered. Contact Admissions Team for details.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
6, 6, 6 in Higher Level subjects plus 32 points overall. Higher Level subjects need to include the required subjects as defined for the A Level qualification.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
BTEC National Extended Diploma D*D*D* in Applied Science BTEC National Diploma D*D* in Applied Science or Forensic and Criminal Investigation and A Level grade A in Biology or Human Biology. BTEC National Extended Certificate D* in Applied Science, Applied Human Biology, or Applied Psychology and 2 A Levels with grades AA, to include Biology or Human Biology. Or BTEC National Extended Certificate D* in any subject and 2 A Levels with grades AA, to include Biology or Human Biology and a second science subject.
UCAS Tariff
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About this course
The Biological Sciences with Professional Placement MSci course offers the opportunity to combine an academic degree course with a full year of professional training in a setting outside the University.
This flexible Biological Sciences with Professional Placement degree programme combines academic education with professional training in a non-University setting. The modular course programme allows you to explore the full spectrum of biology, from ecosystems and organisms to molecular biology, keeping either a broad perspective or focussing on a narrowly defined area.
Students on the MSci Professional Placement course cannot be awarded one of the 3-year specialist degree titles (Genetics, Zoology). Nevertheless there are no restrictions on your ability to choose modules of these areas.
The placement extends over 10-11 months, intercalated between the second and final year. The project you will pursue during your placement allows you to apply your skills at an early stage in industry, non-governmental or public sector organisations.
Over the past few years our students have worked for the following organisations and companies:
- Sanger Institute
- Astra Zeneca
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Pfizer
- Centre for Population Biology
- Cambridge Antibody Technology
- Forsite Technology
- The Field Studies Council
- Medimmune
- National Sealife Birmingham
- The Binding Site
- Basilea (Switzerland)
- Celltech
- Florida State University
- Kew Gardens
- University of Melbourne
- Archipelagos
- Mars Petcare
- Harper Adams University
Tuition fees
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The Uni
University of Birmingham
School of Biosciences
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.
£23k
£27k
£34k
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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