Choosing Your Degree

Searching for Courses

There are many biology degrees available and the best place to compare them from would be the UCAS website. From here you are able to search for degrees in specific areas such as biomedical studies and zoology.

Using UCAS is simple once you get used to the website.  To search for courses from the main page select “Course Search” and then choose the year you want to start university in and then select “search” again.

The location of the institution can be filtered which is useful if, for example, you only wanted to study inside London, or perhaps only in the North West of England.

Interpreting the Search Results

The search results will show the university with the degrees on offer below it and also the qualification that you will achieve.  The qualification will include the number of years that you will be studying for as well as whether it is a Bachelors or a Masters course. Bachelors courses are normally 3 years and Masters tend to be a minimum of 1 year. Some courses incorporate the two and allow you to study for your Bachelors degree and then your Masters at the same university, this is usually termed an Integrated Masters (MBiol or MSci). It will also tell you if it’s a full-time or part time degree. E.g. 3FT Hon BSc = 3 years, full-time, Bachelors of Science degree. Some courses offer a sandwich placement which normally involves taking a year out in industry.

Entrance Requirements

You can then look at entrance requirements of certain degree programmes in terms of A levels, International Baccalaureate, Diplomas, HNC and HND etc. The entrance requirements are based on the UCAS Tariff which can be found here and converts your grades into points. Subjects such as General Studies, Critical Thinking and others are not accepted by some universities so it is always a good idea to check with the individual Institution.

Useful University Stats

If you click on the university (from the main search page) then you are able to see an overview of statistics – how many students normally do the course; the percentage of first years who require accommodation that can be accommodated by the institution; male to female ratio etc. There may even be links to the institution’s biosciences page, from here you can look at the facilities in which you will be taught in as well as current research developments (might be useful if you have an interview with the institution).

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