Nutrition
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
UCAS Code: B403 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Chemistry or Biology and preferably one other science (may include Mathematics, Physics or Home Economics) at A-Level or equivalent. GCSE equivalent in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and English at C.
Access course which includes sufficient Biology and Chemistry.
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
To include Chemistry or Biology and one other science subject. Science subjects should be at Higher Level.
Leaving Certificate - Higher Level (Ireland) (first awarded in 2017)
Chemistry or Biology and preferably one other science (may include Mathematics, Physics or Home Economics) at Higher level or equivalent. Must also show Maths and English at Ordinary Level O4 or Higher Level H5 if not achieved at Higher level.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Applied Sciences
Scottish HNC
B in Graded Unit required: HNC Fitness, Health and Exercise Other courses may be suitable
Scottish HND
CB in Graded Units required: Fitness, Health & Exercise HND Sports Therapy HND Applied Science HND Applied Biological Science Other courses may be suitable
Scottish Higher
Chemistry or Biology and preferably one other science (may include Mathematics, Physics or Home Economics) at Higher or equivalent. National 5 or equivalent in Chemistry, Biology, Maths and English at C.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
**Please note this course is subject to revalidation**
This four-year course will give you the theoretical understanding and practical skills that you will need to build a rewarding career as a nutritionist. On this course you will learn the scientific and social importance of **Nutrition** in a modern university with advanced equipment. Integrated real-world voluntary experience will foster your practical skills. The nutrition course at QMU is accredited by the Association for Nutrition (AfN)* which will allow you to register with the AfN upon graduation.
The field of nutrition affects everyone in the world every day and has grown in importance in recent years. The science of nutrition employs evidence-based approaches to highlight the relationship between our diet and health, and it enables us to optimise health and prevent disease.
What and how we eat is vital to individual and community health and it is an engaging and rewarding subject to study. If we are what we eat, then nutrition can tell us a lot about who we are, how we live and how we can improve the health of society.
**Why QMU**?
- **Staff expertise**: You will learn from registered nutritionists and experts in the field who are actively researching some of the most interesting and influential topics in the field. QMU has wide ranging and widely recognised expertise in both health and in food science, that is home to the Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation.
- **Excellent facilities**: You will build professional proficiency in our specialist labs, using advanced equipment and proven research techniques. The practical teaching facilities include specialist microbiology, chemistry, food handling, and nutritional assessment laboratories.
- **Professional accreditation/registration**: The course is accredited by the Association for Nutrition (AfN) and on graduation with an honours degree you can register with the AfN as an associate nutritionist*.
**The course in brief**:
The science of nutrition employs evidence-based approaches to highlight the relationship between our diet and health, and it enables us to optimise health and prevent disease. The science of nutrition is concerned with how food affects the functioning of the living organism. It includes the study of food composition, how it is digested and absorbed, the production of energy, elimination of wastes and all the syntheses that are essential for growth, maintenance, and reproduction across the life cycle.
**On this course you will**:
- Learn the academic principles behind food and gain practical skills in our advanced laboratories;
- Learn how to think critically on a larger scale. What are the social, political, cultural and environmental factors affecting what we eat? How do nutritionists use evidence-based approaches to optimise health, prevent disease, and support behaviour change at an individual, community and population level?; and
- Learn about the most current issues in the field of nutrition. For example, how does our gut microbiome composition impact our health? How do nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics influence current practice? What are the current/contemporary practices and policies in the field of nutrition?
Modules
Year 1: Physiology/Biochemistry/Introduction to Food Science/Contextualising You and Your Profession/Cell Biology and Genetics/ Food, Lifestyle and Society
Year 2: Health Coaching Conversations/Nutrient Metabolism/Medical Microbiology and Immunology/Nutrition/Pharmacology/Evidence-Based Practice
Year 3: Disease Aetiology and Management/ Dissertation/Nutrition Through the Life-course/Volunteering Experience/Clinical Nutrition (includes tutorials in Research Techniques for Nutrition)/Epidemiology in Public Health
Year 4: Honours Project/Current Issues in Nutrition Science/ Food and Nutrition Policy/plus one of the following two options: Health Entrepreneurship or Nutrition in Practice
Assessment methods
You will learn in lectures, seminars, practical workshops and laboratories. Outside these timetabled sessions you will be expected to continue learning through self-study. You will be assessed by a variety of methods.
Tuition fees
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The Uni
Queen Margaret University
School of Health Sciences
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?
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Nutrition and dietetics
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
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Nutrition and dietetics
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
This is the subject you need to study if you want to become a dietician — an important job in the country’s healthcare sector, and the single most common job for nutrition graduates. We don’t have many graduates in nutrition every year and with the population becoming more aware of health and well-being and with many medical needs being addressed by the application of specific diets, this is likely to be an area of increasing demand in the future.
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Nutrition and dietetics
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£24k
£26k
£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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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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