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Physics with Nuclear Astrophysics with Foundation Year

Entry requirements


A level

C,C,C

Overall: CCC We do not include General Studies or Critical Thinking in our offers. Required Subjects: Mathematics grade C and Physics or Chemistry.

Access to HE Diploma

D:21,M:3,P:21

Overall: QAA recognised Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits overall including 21 at Distinction, 3 at Merit and and 21 at Pass Required Subjects: Maths and Physics or Chemistry GCSE or Equivalent: Inclusion of GCSE English and Mathematics equivalent within Access programme

GCSE/National 4/National 5

GCSE English Language at Grade C(4) and Mathematics at Grade C(4).

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme

29

Overall: 29 Required Subjects: Maths at HL4/SL6 (analysis and approaches at HL/SL or Applications at Interpretation at HL) and Chemistry OR Physics. GCSE or Equivalent: English, HL4/SL4 (including MYP). Maths, HL4/SL4 (including MYP). Maths Studies, SL4.

Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)

MMM

Overall: MMM, with an additional A Level Mathematics, grade C Required Subjects: Maths and Physics or Chemistry

Scottish Advanced Higher

C,C,C

Overall: CCC Required Subjects: Maths grade C and Physics or Chemistry GCSE or Equivalent: English Language: Scottish National 5 - C. Maths : Scottish National 5 - C

Scottish Higher

B,B,B,C,C

Overall: BBBCC Required Subjects: Maths at grade B and Physics or Chemistry GCSE or Equivalent: English Language: Scottish National 5 - C. Maths : Scottish National 5 - C

Overall: Pass overall with CCC from a combination of the Advanced Skills Challenge Certificate and two A-levels. Applicants taking an A-level science subject with the Science Practical Endorsement are required to pass the practical element. Required Subjects: Mathematics grade C and Physics or Chemistry

UCAS Tariff

96-123

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

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time including foundation year | 2024

Subjects

Astrophysics

Physics

**Foundation courses**
A foundation year can develop your skills and make it easier to get started at university. It is an extra year of study at the start of your course that leads in to a full degree programme. It’s a great option if:

You don’t have the grades for a full degree course
You have non-traditional qualifications or experience
You’re starting university after some time away from education
You’re looking for more support during the transition into university study.

**Life as a foundation year student**
During a foundation year you’ll learn about your chosen subject, develop your study skills and get used to university life. On successful completion of your foundation year, you’ll be ready to progress to the first year of your degree course.

As a foundation year student, you’ll be a full student of the University and part of our community. You’ll have access to all our campus facilities and support.

**Why choose this course**
Our exciting BSc and MPhys Physics with Nuclear Astrophysics courses are unique in the UK.

You’ll study the core modules required of a physics degree, but you’ll also gain a specialism that combines the quantum world of atomic nuclei with the cosmic scale of astronomy.

Students also benefit from our excellent facilities and the University’s partnership with the National Physical Laboratory.

Two unique aspects of both courses are:

-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.

-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 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 a £2.7m. As an undergraduate student, you’ll use these labs to undertake experiments related to the Nuclear and Particle Physics module.

Depending on your progress, you may have the option to switch to a BSc or MPhys during your studies.

Modules

To see the full range of modules for this course please visit our website. The link is under course ‘contact details’. You will also find full details of the programme, including assessment methods, programme structure, 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.

The Uni


Course location:

Stag Hill

Department:

FEPS - Department of Physics

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.

87%
Astrophysics
68%
Physics

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.

Astronomy

Teaching and learning

80%
Staff make the subject interesting
100%
Staff are good at explaining things
93%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
93%
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

87%
Library resources
93%
IT resources
100%
Course specific equipment and facilities
67%
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?

87%
UK students
13%
International students
83%
Male students
17%
Female students
78%
2:1 or above
9%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

A
B
B

Physics

Teaching and learning

71%
Staff make the subject interesting
87%
Staff are good at explaining things
79%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
74%
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

79%
Library resources
84%
IT resources
82%
Course specific equipment and facilities
61%
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?

91%
UK students
9%
International students
77%
Male students
23%
Female students
78%
2:1 or above
9%
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.

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.

£25,000
med
Average annual salary
99%
high
Employed or in further education

Top job areas of graduates

24%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
15%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
7%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

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.

£24,500
med
Average annual salary
99%
high
Employed or in further education
75%
med
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

23%
Information technology and telecommunications professionals
15%
Business, finance and related associate professionals
6%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers

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.

What about your long term prospects?

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

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

£24k

£30k

£30k

£31k

£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.

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

£24k

£30k

£30k

£31k

£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...

Lower entry requirements
University of York | York
Physics with Astrophysics
BSc (Hons) 3 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 54-136
Nearby University
University of Portsmouth | Portsmouth
Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology
BSc (Hons) 3 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 112-128
Higher entry requirements
University of Surrey | Guildford
Physics with Nuclear Astrophysics
BSc (Hons) 4 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 128-152
Same University
University of Surrey | Guildford
Physics with Nuclear Astrophysics
BSc (Hons) 3 Years Full-time including foundation year 2024
UCAS Points: 128-152

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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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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