Aberystwyth University
UCAS Code: F304 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
To include B in A-level Physics and B in A-level Mathematics.
The University welcomes undergraduate applications from students studying the Access to Higher Education Diploma, provided that relevant subject content and learning outcomes are met. We are not able to accept Access to Higher Education Diplomas as a general qualification for every undergraduate degree course.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
English or Welsh and Mathematics with minimum grade C (or equivalent)
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
To include 5 points in Physics and Mathematics at Higher Level.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
With specified subjects.
UCAS Tariff
To include B in A-level Physics and B in A-level Mathematics.
Aberystwyth University welcomes the Welsh Baccalaureate as a valuable qualification in its own right and considers completion of the Welsh Baccalaureate Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate to be equivalent to an A level grade.
About this course
Kick start your career prospects with our Physics course allowing you to spend a year in industry. The career-enhanced Physics degree at Aberystwyth University is accredited by the **Institute of Physics (IOP).** Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, but one which makes significant contributions to modern society, with theoretical breakthroughs feeding into new sciences and fostering modern technologies. The concepts of physics form the basis of most scientific language and the subject finds its way into most modern science and technology, enhancing the scope for your future employment prospects.
Physics has been taught at Aberystwyth since its foundation and it continues to be an innovative learning experience for all. In choosing this subject you will be taught by experts in their field. Upon completion of your degree, you will have accreditation by the Institute of Physics. Our researchers are involved in the current European Space Agency ExoMars 2020 Project and engineering low dimensional materials such as graphene.
This is a fascinating and commercially important field of research. Throughout this degree, you will be introduced to classic and modern physics, computational and experimental physics, dynamics, thermal physics, quantum mechanics, data handling and statistics, electromagnetism, numerical methods and condensed matter. In your third year, you will undertake an industrial placement. Students wishing to study through the medium of Welsh may do so with our Welsh-medium modules. Our students learn through lectures, seminars, tutorials, workshops, practicals, individual and group-based project work. We assess our students through coursework, presentations, lab reports, lab diaries and examinations. You will be assigned a personal tutor, who can help with any difficulties you might have with the degree or with university life.
Employability is embedded across all our teaching and ethics. We instil these skills in our students: research and data analysis, problem-solving, creative thinking, independent working, time management, organisation, self-motivation, communication and team working. The ability to discuss concepts with peers, accommodate different viewpoints, meet deadlines and communicate ideas in a clear, concise manner in both written and oral form are highly desirable skills in industry. You are encouraged to contact the University’s Careers Service in relation to work experience opportunities. Year in Employment Scheme (YES) and GO Wales are administered by the Career Service which works with local businesses to create paid work placements for students. This helps you gain valuable work experience and enhance your CV.
Engineering Physics will allow you to pursue a career in engineering, research or development. The skills you will learn are highly pertinent to employers. Typical careers include medical physicist, radiation protection practitioner, research scientist, systems developer, product development, technical author and meteorologist. In addition, you will acquire transferable skills, such as problem-solving abilities, needed for success in a wider range of careers.
Tuition fees
Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:
Extra funding
Aberystwyth University offers a valuable package of scholarships and bursaries to support students. Our long-established Entrance Examination competition means you could get up to £2,000 a year towards your living and study costs. You can combine that with any or all of our other awards, to make your financial package more valuable. Our awards include Sport and Music Scholarships, Bursaries for Care Leavers/Young Carers/Estranged Students and a range of department specific awards. Please visit our website for full details.
The Uni
Main Site (Aberystwyth)
Department of Physics
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.
Physics
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.
Physics
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
Although the subject has seen a bit of resurgence in recent years, the UK is still felt to be short of physics graduates, and in particular physicists training as teachers. If you want a career in physics research — in all sorts of areas, from atmospheric physics to lasers - you'll probably need to take a doctorate, and so have a think about where you would like to do that and how you might fund it (the government funds many physics doctorates, so you might not find it as hard as you think). With that in mind, it's not surprising that just over a fifth of physics graduates go on to take doctorates when they finish their degree, and well over a third of physicists take some kind of postgraduate study in total. Physics is highly regarded and surprisingly versatile, which is why physics graduates who decide not to stay in education are more likely to go into well-paid jobs in the finance industry than they are to go into science. The demand and versatility of physics degrees goes to explain why they're amongst the best-paid science graduates.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Physics
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
£23k
£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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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?
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