University of Surrey
UCAS Code: F3F5 | Bachelor of Science (with Honours) - BSc (Hons)
Entry requirements
A level
Overall: ABB We do not include General Studies or Critical Thinking in our offers. Required Subjects: Mathematics and Physics. Applicants taking the Science Practical Endorsement are required to pass.
Access to HE Diploma
Overall: QAA-recognised Access to Higher Education Diploma with 30 Level 3 Credits at Distinction and 15 Level 3 Credits at Merit. Additionally, A-level maths at grade B. Required Subjects: Modules must be in relevant subjects. Additionally, A-level maths at grade B.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
GCSE English Language at Grade C(4).
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
Overall: 33 Required Subjects: Physics HL5/SL6 and either Mathematics Analysis and Approaches HL5/SL6 or Mathematics Applications and Interpretations HL5. GCSE or Equivalent: English A HL4/SL4 or English B HL5/SL6.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
Overall: DDD BTEC Extended Diploma and A level Mathematics grade B. Required Subjects: BTEC must be in a relevant subject. Also A level Mathematics grade B.
Scottish Advanced Higher
Overall: ABB Required Subjects: Mathematics and Physics. GCSE or Equivalent: English Language: Scottish National 5 - C
Scottish Higher
Overall: AABBB Required Subjects: Mathematics and Physics. GCSE or Equivalent: English Language: Scottish National 5 - C
Overall: ABB from a combination of the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate and two A levels. Applicants taking the Science Practical Endorsement are required to pass. A-level General Studies and A-level Critical Thinking are not accepted. Required Subjects: A-levels in mathematics and physics. GCSE or Equivalent: Completion of GCSE English and Mathematics equivalents within the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate.
UCAS Tariff
We've calculated how many Ucas points you'll need for this course.
About this course
**Why choose this course**
Students benefit from our excellent facilities and the University’s partnership with the National Physical Laboratory.
There are two unique aspects of both our courses:
1. Our award-winning Professional Training placements:
-Within the BSc, the option to take a paid Professional Training placement in industry gives you invaluable hands-on experience to enhance your employability.
-On our MPhys, you’ll take a year-long, masters-level integrated research placement. This can be in one of our world-leading research groups or at one of our international partner institutions.
2. Our focus on undergraduate research and innovation:
-All undergraduates have the opportunity to apply for paid 8-10 week summer research placements in our research groups and those of our South East Physics Network partners.
-We offer in-house ‘research and innovation’ and ‘enterprise’ grants that students can apply for to fund a research placement, attend a conference or develop a new business idea.
**What you will study**
You’ll explore core elements of traditional physics (e.g. particle physics, atoms and molecules) and topics within astronomy and nuclear physics, reflecting the outstanding research we conduct at Surrey.
Students have the option to take a Professional Training placement on the BSc or an integrated research year on the MPhys. The latter is a direct route to a masters qualification. The MPhys integrated research year allows you to develop your skills in an academic or industrial arena, before returning for your final masters-level modules.
Formal lectures are complemented with work in our specialist radiation laboratories, which have recently been refurbished and enlarged at a cost of £2.7m. As an undergraduate student, you’ll use these labs to undertake experiments related to the Nuclear and Particle Physics module.
Modules
To see the full range of modules for this course please visit our website – the link is under the Course contact details. You will also find full details of the programme, including programme structure, assessment methods, contact hours and Graduate prospects.
Extra funding
The University of Surrey offers a range of scholarships and bursaries to support our students, please visit https://www.surrey.ac.uk/fees-and-funding/scholarships-and-bursaries for more details.
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)
Astronomy
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.
Astronomy
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
Not a lot of people study astronomy as a first degree, and if you want to be one of the small number of people who start work as an astronomer - often overseas - every year, you will need a doctorate — so at least a third of graduates go into further study. Astronomy graduates, however, are versatile, going into all parts of the jobs market - their good technical, data and maths skills taking them into IT and business especially. However, 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.
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.
£24k
£30k
£31k
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.
Astronomy
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
£30k
£31k
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...
This is what the university has told Ucas about the criteria they expect applicants to satisfy; some may be compulsory, others may be preferable.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
This is the percentage of applicants to this course who received an offer last year, through Ucas.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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.
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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
Have a question about this info? Learn more here
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