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Biology and Psychology

Entry requirements


A level

B,B,B

To include Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics or Physics.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

30

To include Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics or Physics at Higher Level grade 5.

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

DDM

To include Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics or Physics.

Scottish Higher

A,A,B,B

AABBB over 2 sittings. To include Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics or Physics.

UCAS Tariff

120

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subjects

Biology

Psychology

Are you interested in the evolution of animal behaviour, the genetic engineering of crops or the hidden worlds of molecular and cell biology? Are you curious about how plants and animals will respond to climate change? Our course will teach you the full scope of life through multiple biological disciplines: from bacteria to blue whales, from enzymes to ecosystems. For the first two years you’ll develop an in-depth understanding of the general processes that govern life on Earth, before specialising according to your interests in the latter half of the degree programme. As you develop your practical skills you’ll become involved with research, giving you the opportunity to contribute to biological discoveries. Laboratory technical skills and fieldwork will form an essential part of your training. You will learn key techniques and methods for the life sciences early in the degree and then have opportunity to apply them when identifying your own research questions of interest. You will also receive training in fieldwork techniques both at our stunning University of Stirling campus and at residential field courses in Scotland. Our staff, active in international research, will ensure you have the skills and in-depth knowledge required for any of the diverse careers in biology. All research (100%) from Biological and Environmental Sciences was rated as having either outstanding or very considerable impact (REF 2021).

Why do we behave the way we do, and what drives our behaviour? If you’re interested in the mind, and in human (as well as animal) behaviour, then Psychology is for you. Our award-winning Psychology course sits at the cutting edge of inter-disciplinary scientific research. We focus on important societal problems such as detection of criminals and improvement of health outcomes. After introducing Psychology to you as a biological and social science, we’ll cover topics as diverse as brain functioning, child development, and social behaviour. You’ll get hands-on experience designing and conducting experiments, working in high-end specialist labs and in our on-site kindergarten, the only such facility in the UK. You’ll develop a deep knowledge and understanding of mind and behaviour, coupled with excellent practical skills, all of which will offer you a wide and diverse choice of careers.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£1,820
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Stirling

Department:

Inter-departmental

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%
Biology
91%
Psychology

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

81%
Staff make the subject interesting
97%
Staff are good at explaining things
74%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
86%
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

77%
Library resources
82%
IT resources
91%
Course specific equipment and facilities
62%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

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

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

72%
UK students
28%
International students
38%
Male students
62%
Female students
61%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

C
C
C

Psychology (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

92%
Staff make the subject interesting
93%
Staff are good at explaining things
78%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
76%
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

80%
Library resources
86%
IT resources
88%
Course specific equipment and facilities
77%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

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

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

78%
UK students
22%
International students
21%
Male students
79%
Female students
73%
2:1 or above
5%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
C
B

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.

£18,000
med
Average annual salary
96%
med
Employed or in further education
37%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

17%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
13%
Teaching and educational professionals
8%
Natural and social science professionals

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.

Psychology (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.

£16,198
low
Average annual salary
99%
high
Employed or in further education
30%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

16%
Welfare and housing associate professionals
15%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
13%
Caring personal services

20 years ago, this was a specialist degree for would-be psychologists but now it is the model of a modern, flexible degree subject. One of the UK's fastest-growing subject at degree level, and the second most popular subject overall (it recently overtook business studies), one in 23 of all graduates last year had psychology degrees. As you'd expect with figures like that, jobs in psychology itself are incredibly competitive, so to stand a chance of securing one, you need to get a postgraduate qualification (probably a doctorate in most fields, especially clinical psychology) and some relevant work experience. But even though there are so many psychology graduates — far more than there are jobs in psychology, and over 13,800 in total last year — this degree has a lower unemployment rate than average because its grads are so flexible and well-regarded by business and other industries across the economy. Everywhere there are good jobs in the UK economy, you'll find psychology graduates - and it's hardly surprising as the course helps you gain a mix of good people skills and excellent number and data handling skills. A psychology degree ticks most employers' boxes — but we'd suggest you don't drop your maths modules.

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.

£21k

£21k

£22k

£22k

£24k

£24k

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.

Psychology (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

£18k

£21k

£21k

£26k

£26k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Lower entry requirements
University of Chester | Chester
Biology and Psychology
BSc (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 112
Nearby University
University of St Andrews | St Andrews
Psychology with Biology
BSc (Hons) 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 126-136

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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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here