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Human Sciences

Entry requirements


A level

A,A,B

To include 2 Science subjects from: Biology/Human Biology, Geography, Geology, Psychology, Chemistry, Mathematics (or Further Mathematics or Statistics), Physics, Economics, PE/Sports Studies. Specified subjects excluded for entry: General Studies, Critical Thinking, Citizenship Studies, Applied Science, Communication and Culture, Critical Studies, Global Perspectives, Science in Society and World Development.

Access to HE (Science) with sufficient Biology and Chemistry content is considered. Contact Admissions Team for details.

GCSE/National 4/National 5

Minimum of five GCSEs to include Mathematics, English and double award science at grade 4/C.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

32

6, 6, 5 in Higher Level subjects plus 32 points overall. Higher Level subjects need to include the required subjects as defined for the A-level qualification.

BTEC National Extended Diploma D*D*D in Applied Science or Applied Human Biology BTEC Level 3 National Diploma D*D* in Applied Science or Applied Human Biology and A Level grade B from the accepted science list. BTEC Level 3 National Extended Certificate D* in Applied Science, Applied Human Biology, or Applied Psychology and 2 A Levels at grades AB, with one A Level from the accepted science list.

UCAS Tariff

136

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

About this course


Course option

3years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Biological sciences

This course is about understanding ourselves as humans. It explores what makes us human at multiple levels including from our biology and our psychology, to our behaviours. It also addresses the responsibility that comes with being human. A responsibility none of us asked for as individuals, but which we collectively bear as the only species on earth that can act as potential guardians or destroyers of our planet and its ecosystems.

The programme follows an exciting interdisciplinary structure that combines topics including genetics, sociology, psychology, evolutionary biology, biochemistry, neuroscience and anthropology. This is coupled with understanding the past and ongoing impact of the human race and the human condition on ecosystems and the planet.

The programme combines core elements in years one and two but also allows you, and importantly supports you, to follow individual pathways informed by your interests and what fascinates you.

**Why study this course?**
- **Innovative interdisciplinary teaching and learning**. Human Sciences is an innovative programme that draws on teaching and research expertise from the four Schools that make up the College of Life and Environmental Sciences. As such the course brings a unique and rich interdisciplinary viewpoint to bear on the topics that you will study.

- **Learn from multimodal research performed at different scales**. The Schools that collectively deliver this course use very different research approaches reflecting their different disciplines. This programme will provide you with a unique insight to these different approaches, but also what fundamentally unites them and how they can be brought together to address major local and global challenges. You will spend time in individual research groups and laboratories across these different disciplines as well as learning about research exploring large scale multi-million-pound infrastructures.

- **Outstanding employability opportunities**. The needs for global action are changing the graduate employment market in real time. New roles are arising in companies from new start-ups to global corporations as well as in agencies (such as WHO, UNICEF, UN), in NGOs, forestry, agriculture, governments, law, education, research, journalism, and broadcasting. This programme has been designed in response to these growing employment needs and will equip you to be able to become one of the next generation of leaders, innovators, policy makers, teachers, and researchers at forefront of tackling global challenges.

- **Opportunity for training in innovation and company start up**. Perhaps you may feel that during your studies you have identified a gap in the market and have an idea for a start-up company of your own. An option in the final year is to take modules in learning entrepreneurial skills and entrepreneurial start-up.

- **Glacial eco-systems field trip**. An optional second-year module is a field trip to Norway to study glacial ecosystems and how these are threatened by human global impacts.

Modules

Visit https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/biosciences/human-sciences.aspx and scroll down to the modules section to find out more.

Tuition fees

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

Channel Islands
£9,250
per year
England
£9,250
per year
Northern Ireland
£9,250
per year
Republic of Ireland
£9,250
per year
Scotland
£9,250
per year
Wales
£9,250
per year

The Uni


Course location:

University of Birmingham

Department:

School of Biosciences

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.

Biosciences (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?

71%
UK students
29%
International students
18%
Male students
82%
Female students
94%
2:1 or above
7%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
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.

Biosciences (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.

£20,000
med
Average annual salary
98%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

11%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
10%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
10%
Science, engineering and production technicians

These stats refer to the prospects of graduates from general courses in biosciences. About a quarter go into further study and for those who go into work, bioscience, teaching and finance jobs are the most common types of employment. But you can go into most careers with this kind of degree — the majority of jobs for graduates don’t ask for a particular degree subject - and you will acquire a wide range of skills valued by many employers. If you want to find out more specifically about the prospects for your chosen subject, it might be a good idea to go on open days and talk to tutors about what previous graduates from your chosen subject went on to do.

What about your long term prospects?

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

Biosciences (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.

£23k

£23k

£27k

£27k

£34k

£34k

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.

Explore these similar courses...

Higher entry requirements
University of Leicester | Leicester
Biological Sciences (Microbiology)
BSc (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 128-152
Lower entry requirements
University of Chester | Chester
Bioscience
BSc (Hons) 3 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 112
Same University
University of Birmingham | Birmingham
Human Sciences
BSc (Hons) 4 Years Full-time 2024
UCAS Points: 144

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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:

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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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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.

Have a question about this info? Learn more here

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