Get degree ideas using our A level explorer tool

Biological Sciences with Foundation Year

Entry requirements


A level

D,D

Access to HE Diploma (60 credits) of which a minimum of 45 must be at Level 3 (48 UCAS point equivalence, minimum 45 credits at pass)

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

PP

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

PPP

T Level

P

Core grade needs to be D or E

UCAS Tariff

48

Equivalent experience. We can consider applicants with other qualifications or relevant experience so if you do not have 48 UCAS points, please make sure you outline this experience within your personal statement. This can also be assessed through an alternative assessment route such as an academic essay.

About this course


Course option

4years

Full-time | 2024

Subject

Biology

**This is a 4 year degree course. Please ensure that when you apply for this course you choose Point of entry 1 in your UCAS Hub.**

This course will help form and develop a strong, practiced bedrock of knowledge in the fascinating field of Biological Sciences.

Taking the offered foundation year programme will help solidify your relevant topic knowledge, practicing fundamentals of Bioscience and Healthcare Science alongside transferrable communication, study and mathematics skills, all of which will be further built upon over concurrent years in practical-focused study, employing the University’s state-of-the art Rosalind Franklin building under informed, enthusiastic supervision.

By the time of your graduation, you will be equipped to enter a variety of professions, many of which you may directly prepare for through specialisation during your course.

The structure of this course will provide you with fundamental subject knowledge, integrating technical, practical, problem solving and career relevant aspects of study into the curriculum. Your eventual qualification will open up a number of options for employment and higher education, for which the material taught and skills earned throughout your course will more than sufficiently prepare you. By taking the foundation year, you will have additional time to enforce your core skills and inform your topical awareness, allowing you to deftly advance through university education.

Foundation year modules are oriented around introducing topics this course is concerned with – an overview of biology as a subject, career opportunities in the Healthcare Science field, problem solving within science and engineering disciplines – thereby granting you a crucial groundwork for ongoing study. In addition to this relevant subject knowledge, the programme will strengthen transferrable skills crucial to several fields of employment, honing your reading, study, written and oral communication skills, as well as the basic level of mathematics necessary for the subject. Following this, your next year of study will more broadly inform you on specialised topics in biological sciences which will be expanded upon throughout the rest of your course, where you will be given options to select your preferred specialisations according to your desired career path.

Your studies will make use of the resources present at Wolverhampton City Campus, in particular its prestigious Rosalind Franklin building; its hosting of cell growing and fermentation facilities among other state-of-the-art laboratories fuelling this course’s emphasis on practical application for your research. You will work with experienced teachers and researchers with crucial understandings of graduate opportunities in science industries, further encouraging your individual growth into careers of your choosing. Assessments also reflect this approach, particularly your Honours research project within your preferred specialism, which you will complete in your final year.

This course is accredited by the Royal Society of Biology

The Uni


Course location:

University of Wolverhampton

Department:

Wolverhampton School of 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.

57%
Biology

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.

Biology (non-specific)

Teaching and learning

76%
Staff make the subject interesting
78%
Staff are good at explaining things
53%
Ideas and concepts are explored in-depth
57%
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

58%
Library resources
73%
IT resources
83%
Course specific equipment and facilities
54%
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?

96%
UK students
4%
International students
26%
Male students
74%
Female students
67%
2:1 or above
11%
First year drop out rate

Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)

E
E
C

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.

Biology (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.

£16,700
low
Average annual salary
42%
low
Employed in a role where degree was essential or beneficial

Top job areas of graduates

18%
Sales assistants and retail cashiers
10%
Science, engineering and production technicians
8%
Natural and social science professionals

The recession was tough on biology graduates, and although the jobs market has improved for them - a lot - it's still not back to where it was a few years ago. If you want a career in biology research — and a lot of biology students do - you'll need to take a doctorate, so give some thought as to where you might do it and how you might fund it (the government still funds doctorates for good students). A lot of graduates also take 1 year Masters courses to specialise in this wide and deep subject - most students take a standard biology course for their first degree and then specialise in subjects like ecology, conservation or marine biology later. Hospitals, universities, biotech firms, zoos and nature reserves and clinical and scientific testing are common industries of employment for biology graduates.

What about your long term prospects?

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

Biology (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.

£18k

£18k

£22k

£22k

£23k

£23k

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.

Share this page

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