Biological Sciences BSc Honours

• Choose your own career path
  Our course is diverse and flexible, giving you the freedom to select modules and target your education toward your chosen career pathway.
• Award-winning graduates
  The success of our biosciences students has been recognised by a wide range of external awards, including the Biochemical Society Prize and the Royal Society of Biology's Top Student Award.
• Employers around the world
  The University’s Careers and Employability Service has built up a network of over 3,000 employers around the world, helping all our students explore and connect with exciting opportunities and careers.

Graduate success

The success of our biosciences students has been recognised by a wide range of external awards, including:

• Biochemical Society Prize – Camila Gaspar (Biochemistry 2016)
• British Pharmacological Society Student Contribution Prize – Pavandip Panesar (Pharmacology and Physiology, 2016)
• Royal Society of Biology Top Student Award –James Linyard (Biochemistry 2017)
• The Physiology Society Prize and The British Pharmacological Society BSc Pharmacology Prize – James Camp (Pharmacology and Physiology, 2016)

Job roles

The flexibility offered within our Biological Sciences degree will enable you to select from a wide range of bioscience modules, and the assessments are designed to equip you with a range of transferable skills important for any graduate career.

Our graduates have gone on to success in a wide range of careers, including:

• Forensics
• Graduate management programmes
• Healthcare management
• Medicine and biomedical research
• Pharmaceutical sciences
• Teaching

Our course is designed so that you can follow one of three routes: molecular science, environmental and microbiology or human biology. However, the flexibility of the program enables you to construct your own thread through the broad range of module choices.

Learning and teaching opportunities are a mixture of face-to-face teaching (lectures, seminars, tutorials, field trips and practicals), independent work, group work, laboratory classes, virtual simulations and online support activities.

The range of assessment methods includes laboratory practical skills, data analysis, practical proformas, essays, wikis, blogs, posters, presentations and exams.

The following subjects are indicative of what you will study in this course.

Year 1

Study subjects include:

• Applications of Biological Sciences
• Biochemistry
• Biological Chemistry
• Cell Biology
• Fundamentals of Pharmacology
• Human Physiology
• Professional Development in Science (PRoDS)
• Science: History, Philosophy and Practice

Credit Level 4

Year 2

Study subjects include:

• Bioinformatics
• Contemporary Challenges in Biology
• Exploring the Microbial World
• Human Parasitology
• Medical Physiology
• Metabolic Biochemistry
• Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Neuroscience
• Research Methods

Credit Level 5

Placement Year

Professional experience or study abroad year

Between Years 2 and 3, you’ll have the opportunity to undertake a professional placement year in the industry. Completing the placement year will lead to the final award of Bachelor of Science with Honours – Biological Sciences with Professional Experience.

Alternatively, you can undertake a period of study abroad at one of Westminster’s partner institutions. Successful completion will lead to the final award of Bachelor of Science with Honours – Biological Sciences with International Experience.

Year 3

Study subjects include:

• Applied Biotechnology
• Applied Medical Science
• Cancer Biology
• Designing a Sustainable World
• Gene Editing and Genomics
• Global Ethics
• Life: Origins and Evolution
• Medical Microbiology in the Genomics Era
• Final Year Project in Life Sciences

Credit Level 6

International Opportunities

Many of our courses offer international study and work experiences, and the University provides other global opportunities that all students can apply for - so whatever you're studying, you'll have the chance to go abroad.

Opportunities could include:

• Taking part in a semester or year-long exchanges at institutions around the world
• Attending an international summer school or field trip
• Developing your CV through volunteering or work placements abroad

International experience broadens horizons, boosts self-confidence, and improves global understanding, alongside being fantastic for your career.