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London South Bank University

UCAS Code: 001C | Higher National Certificate - HNC

Entry requirements

64 UCAS Tariff points from A levels

64 UCAS Tariff from an Access to HE Diploma

64 UCAS Tariff points from BTEC

UCAS Tariff

64

About this course

Course option

1year

Full-time | 2025

Subject

Biology

What food is good for you? Why is blood red? How is disease transmitted? How do animals reproduce? What molecules are in your food? How does the environment work? If you are asking questions like this and have a keen interest in biology, this course could be just for you.

This one-year Level 4 qualification in Biology is an advanced, technical qualification delivered in a supportive Technical College environment with contemporary facilities. It provides practical skills and theoretical knowledge that meet the needs of employers in a modern science industry; it prepares you for employment at technician or professional level in research and industrial laboratories, including NHS laboratories.

Gaining this industry-led qualification not only provides you with a direct route to Higher Education, including direct entry to some local university’s second year Bachelor of Science degrees, but also equips you with the specialised scientific knowledge and skills needed to fast-track your career progression in Biology and related disciplines such as health sciences.

Modules

You will study three core units:
• Fundamentals of Laboratory Techniques
• Scientific Data Handling Approaches and Techniques
• Regulation and Quality in the Applied Sciences
And three specialised mandatory units:
• Cell Biology
• Fundamentals of Chemistry
• Anatomy and Human Physiology
You will also study two further specialist units which could include:
• Fundamentals of Biochemistry
• Microbiological Techniques

The Uni

Course location:

London South Bank Technical College (LSBTC) Nine Elms

Department:

Applied Sciences

Read full university profile

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.

Biology (non-specific)

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?

76%
UK students
24%
International students
27%
Male students
73%
Female students
60%
2:1 or above
14%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
E
D

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.

£17,784
med
Average annual salary
86%
low
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

20%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
10%
Health professionals
10%
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.

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.

£17k

£17k

£22k

£22k

£23k

£23k

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.

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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