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Pharmaceutical Chemistry

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,B

Including A Level Chemistry Excluded subjects: General Studies and Critical Thinking Please note: You will also be excepted to achieve a Pass grade in the practical endorsement for any of the following A levels - Biology, Chemistry, Physics - if taken with one of the Awarding Bodies in England.

We consider applications from students offering an EPQ and may make an alternative offer to include three A levels, one grade lower than our usual requirement, along with a specific grade in the EPQ.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

A minimum of five GCSE passes to include English and Maths at grade C or 4 or an acceptable equivalent will be required.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

35

6,6,5 from three HL subjects including Chemistry at HL

UCAS Tariff

136

We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Pharmaceutical chemistry

Pharmaceutical chemistry plays a huge role in drug design and discovery, from treating diabetes to curing cancer.

With a strong emphasis on gaining practical laboratory experience and employability skills, our programme offers a comprehensive view of this exciting field.

Learn how drugs are designed and optimised from lead compounds, their modes of action and pharmacology, and how they are developed through trials and into manufacture.

Teaching centres on synthetic organic chemistry, but we’ll also give you a strong grounding in physical and inorganic chemistry and spectroscopy. You’ll learn about pharmacology, biochemistry and cancer chemotherapy too. In your final year, you’ll conduct your own supervised research project, either laboratory- or literature-based.

Choose your own pathway through this degree — add a year in industry or studying abroad, or carry out an additional year of advanced study to graduate with an MSci.

Our Pharmaceutical Chemistry MSci is accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry – a mark of quality that employers understand and value.

Modules

Year 1

Essential Skills for Chemists
Fundamentals of Inorganic Chemistry
Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry Semester A
Fundamentals of Organic Chemistry Semester B
Fundamentals of Physical Chemistry
Foundations of Practical Chemistry
Fundamentals of Spectroscopy
States of Matter and Analytical Chemistry

Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Assessment methods

Measuring attainment in our modules against the intended learning outcomes involves either a series of coursework elements (practical reports, field course reports, essays, problem sheets, online exercises and tests), an end of semester final summative assessment/written exam or a combination of both. Final-year students undertake a research or investigative project, assessed with a detailed written report, poster and interview.

Tuition fees

Select where you currently live to see what you'll pay:

England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

Queen Mary University of London

Department:

Physical and Chemical Sciences

Read full university profile

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.

90%
Pharmaceutical chemistry

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.

Chemistry

Teaching and learning

67%
Staff make the subject interesting
85%
Staff are good at explaining things
75%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
83%
Opportunities to apply what I've learned

Assessment and feedback

Feedback on work has been timely
Feedback on work has been helpful
Staff are contactable when needed
Good advice available when making study choices

Resources and organisation

75%
Library resources
71%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
85%
Course is well organised and has run smoothly

Student voice

Staff value students' opinions
Feel part of a community on my course

Who studies this subject and how do they get on?

90%
UK students
10%
International students
34%
Male students
66%
Female students
90%
2:1 or above
12%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

B
B
B

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.

Chemistry

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.

£18,658
low
Average annual salary
95%
med
Employed or in further education
74%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

28%
Teaching and educational professionals
10%
Business, research and administrative professionals
10%
Business, finance and related associate professionals

Chemistry graduates are in demand from a wide range of industries, from the food, oil, chemicals and pharmaceuticals to consultancy, technical analysis and teaching. They're also prized by business and finance employers for their research and data handling skills — anywhere there is research and data to be explained, you can find chemistry grads. If you want a career in research, you need a doctorate, so start planning now if you fancy one of these exciting and challenging jobs - but good students can usually get grants to take a doctorate, so don't worry about the financing if you think you have what it takes. The recession wasn’t too kind to chemists, particularly in the pharmaceutical industry (one of the key employers for chemists), but things are getting back to normal for this flexible group and it's one of the few degrees that is bucking the current trend and increasing graduate numbers.

What about your long term prospects?

Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.

Chemistry

The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.

£23k

£23k

£33k

£33k

£38k

£38k

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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Course location and department:

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Teaching Excellence Framework (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?

Have a question about this info? Learn more here