Biochemistry (including a Foundation Year)
Entry requirements
72 points overall including grade D in A level Chemistry
Access to HE (Science) Diploma
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
including HL Chemistry
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
including H4 in Chemistry
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Applied Science – must include Chemistry modules
Scottish Higher
including Chemistry
UCAS Tariff
About this course
Foundation Year courses have been designed for students who do not have the necessary academic qualifications needed to enter directly into the first year of a degree but who have the ability and commitment to do so. Once the Foundation Year has been completed successfully, you can then go on to complete your degree.
Study the fascinating branch of laboratory-based science, Biochemistry, which brings together chemistry and biology to explore life at the molecular level.
Biochemists are at the forefront of advances in many fields, including medicine, genetics, pharmaceuticals, toxicology, forensic science and food science. This course will develop your interest in the biochemistry of life and how biochemical processes are involved in health and disease. You will acquire the knowledge and techniques needed to approach contemporary biological and clinical problems, and start to look for solutions.
This course has a strong practical focus, allowing students to develop the lab skills needed to become an employable Biochemistry graduate. Laboratory practical sessions will be delivered in modern, spacious teaching laboratories. Biochemistry graduates are highly sought after in the NHS, the pharmaceutical industry and in medical research laboratories.
Research Active Staff
Biochemistry is taught by enthusiastic academic and professional staff who will provide continuous support throughout your studies at Chester Medical School. The academic staff are research active and continually strive to promote research within areas of Biochemistry, in which they have published research findings and discussed their work at national and international conferences. You will have the opportunity to join a research team to undertake your research dissertation in the final year.
During your dissertation project you will conduct novel experiments and write up a thesis. In the past, some students’ work has been credited in scientific publications.
Modules
For the latest example of curriculum availability on this degree programme please refer to the University of Chester's Website.
Assessment methods
Learning is assessed by a combination of examinations and coursework. The overall balance between these two forms of assessment is approximately 50:50. Coursework assessments may consist of laboratory reports, data handling exercises, essays, and poster and oral presentations, allowing a full range of skills to be developed. The end-of-module assessment is normally by examination, consisting of a combination of multiple choice questions (MCQs), short answer or long answer questions.
Tuition fees
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What students say
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.
Molecular biology, biophysics and biochemistry
Sorry, no information to show
This is usually because there were too few respondents in the data we receive to be able to provide results about the subject at this university.
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.
Molecular biology, biophysics and biochemistry
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
Around 2,500 graduates got degrees in this demanding but valuable subject last year. Graduates who want a career in research usually take postgraduate qualifications - over a third of graduates in the subject took this option - but those who want to start work when they graduate have a lot to choose from. Laboratory work and other jobs in the biosciences are popular, as well as in education, but many biochemistry graduates find their way into the finance industry and as a consequence, graduates from these disciplines are particularly likely to get jobs in London and the South East.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Molecular biology, biophysics and biochemistry
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£19k
£21k
£27k
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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