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MBiomedSci (Hons) Biomedical Sciences

Prepare to be a biomedical scientist through the research side of medicine, understanding the molecular mechanisms in human health and disease.

Year of entry: 2024/25

UCAS code

C903

Institution code

Y50

Length

4 years full-time

Typical offer

AAA (full entry requirements)

Start date

September 2024 (semester dates)

UK (home) fees

£9,250 per year

International and EU fees

£28,800 per year

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Discover York

in the Russell Group for 'Learning resources'

of institutions included in the National Student Survey 2023 for biosciences (non-specific).

in the UK for Biological Sciences

Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024

in the UK for Biology

Complete University Guide 2024

Biomedical Sciences is about understanding human health and human disease. We study these areas so that, ultimately, we can develop new therapeutic strategies and refine government policy to prolong life and improve the quality of people’s lives.

Biomedical Sciences at York will open up your potential to become a future leading researcher, policymaker or administrator in biomedical sciences. You will learn how to distil and critique information in the face of ambiguity and complexity. You will learn how to critically assess information to gain a balanced understanding, how to develop and test scientific hypotheses and how to present your findings clearly and concisely to experts and non-experts alike. This degree will provide you with the skills required to tackle current and future challenges to human health.

The Integrated Masters course will allow you to use and further develop research and analytical skills; you will gain experience in a research lab doing pioneering work at the forefront of their field. This experience will provide you with a platform to launch a career as a research scientist.

Our course is delivered by four University departments with outstanding biomedical research activity: The Department of Biology, The Department of Health Sciences, The Department of Psychology, and the Hull York Medical School. The combined teaching across these departments ensure you have the latest understanding of the most important topics in human biology and disease, infection and immunity, epidemiology, and neuroscience.

Accreditation

All of our undergraduate courses are accredited by the Royal Society of Biology. As a graduate, you will meet in-part the academic and experience requirement for membership and chartered biologist (CBiol).

£23 million investment

New investment in buildings housing teaching and state-of-the-art teaching laboratories

Committed to equality

We were the first university Biology department in Britain to receive an Athena SWAN Gold Award, which recognises our continued commitment to gender equality

Course content

This is a flexible and modular course which offers you choices in what you can study. There is the option to spend an additional year in industry or a year abroad as part of this course. If you do not go away for a year, you will continue to progress through your studies within the University.

Study abroad

There are opportunities for you to spend time abroad during your course:

Spend time in industry

You can also apply for a year in industry with a range of employers including pharmaceutical companies, medical research institutes, environmental organisations and professional services networks.

Placements

There are opportunities to undertake a work placement as part of this course.

Year 1

Stage 1 (the first year) consists of core modules which are designed to give you an excellent basis on which to build your future studies and develop your interests.​

Core modules

Academic integrity module

In addition to the above you will also need to complete our online Academic Integrity module.

Year 2

Core modules

Option modules

You will also study four option modules. You must choose at least two of the following modules:

You can also choose two of the following modules:

Elective modules

You may be able to replace one option module with an elective module, studying a complementary subject, a language or an interdisciplinary topic.

Year 3

Core modules

Option modules

You will also study four option modules. You must choose at least two of the following modules:

You can also choose two of the following modules:

Elective modules

You may be able to replace one option module with an elective module, studying a complementary subject, a language or an interdisciplinary topic.

Our modules may change to reflect the latest academic thinking and expertise of our staff.

Learning by design

Every course at York has been designed to provide clear and ambitious learning outcomes. These learning outcomes give you an understanding of what you will be able to do at the end of the course. We develop each course by designing modules that grow your abilities towards the learning outcomes and help you to explain what you can offer to employers. Find out more about our approach to teaching and learning.

Students who complete this course will be able to:

  • Provide systematic explanations that demonstrate a deep understanding of how cells, molecules and genes underlie the healthy state and thus how disease arises. The principles used to treat disease and critical evaluations of the scientific literature at the forefront of Biomedical research.
  • Formulate hypotheses, design and execute experiments for the collection, analysis and modelling of biomedical data ranging from molecular to population level, that tests the current understanding of biomedical systems, to produce figures, graphs and tables explained in comprehensive research reports.
  • Identify and critically evaluate state-of-the-art experimental, analytical, epidemiological and quantitative techniques and methodologies by engaging with practical experience and training in laboratories, demonstrating a deep understanding of the application of cutting-edge research tackling the major global challenges in Biomedical Science of the 21st century.
  • Critically evaluate and reflect on the effectiveness of your work as an individual, a team member or in collaborative groups. Apply logical and critical thinking to develop creative and innovative solutions to biomedical research. Understand the challenges in translational research for therapeutic approaches for human diseases and the interdisciplinary practices that benefit human health and wellbeing.
  • Communicate and interpret complex information with confidence, clarity and precision through critical reviews in written and oral presentations, questioning dogma and thoroughly evaluating the impact of Biomedical research in real-world and global issues, for expert, professional, business, industrial and lay audiences.
  • Demonstrate self-direction, originality and a critical understanding of cutting-edge practice and technology in Biomedical research, and apply numerical, quantitative, and computer-based transferable skills to a range of working environments including laboratories, education, industry, business, health services, policy, government, and media.
  • Specialise in research topics through in-depth critique of the literature, acquisition of advanced data analysis skills, sustained independent investigation of a research question, developing interdisciplinary research proposals to solve global challenges and reflecting on their own and other's research processes and approaches.

Fees and funding

Annual tuition fees

UK (home) International and EU
£9,250 £28,800

UK (home) or international fees?

The level of fee that you will be asked to pay depends on whether you're classed as a UK (home) or international student. Check your fee status.

Fees for subsequent years

  • UK (home) fees may increase within the government fee cap in subsequent academic years. We will notify you of any increase as soon as we can.
  • International fees are subject to increase in subsequent years in line with the prevailing Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation rate (up to a maximum of 10%).

More information

For more information about tuition fees, any reduced fees for study abroad and work placement years, scholarships, tuition fee loans, maintenance loans and living costs see undergraduate fees and funding.

Additional costs

Text books and course books are all available in the library or online. We do recommend books you might find useful, reading lists are provided to you when you start your modules, but it is not compulsory for you to buy the books. You will have access to a course ebook at no additional cost.

Costs for students going abroad or into industry will vary depending on what sort of placement it is and what sort of financial assistance is available.

Field courses are an optional element of this course. If you undertake any field courses the costs will be entirely met by the Department

Funding

We'll confirm more funding opportunities for students joining us in 2024/25 throughout the year.

Living costs

You can use our living costs guide to help plan your budget. It covers additional costs that are not included in your tuition fee such as expenses for accommodation and study materials.

Teaching Excellence Framework Gold Award

Gold-standard education

Our teaching, learning and student experience is outstanding, recognised by a Gold rating from the Office for Students in the 2023 national assessment (Teaching Excellence Framework).

Why we’re gold-rated

Teaching and assessment

You’ll study and learn with academics who are active researchers, experts in their field and have a passion for their subjects. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities, and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace. Find out more about our approach to teaching and learning.

Teaching format

Teaching is delivered by academic scientists with additional contributions from clinical researchers. Throughout your course there will be strong links between your studies, scientific research and clinical applications. Our approach to teaching will provide you with the knowledge, opportunities and support you need to grow and succeed in a global workplace. You may be taught by the following methods:

Small-group teaching

Cutting-edge research informs all our teaching activities and our friendly, approachable, and accessible staff are experts in their respective fields. Small-group teaching is an important part of our course, in tutorials, skills-based and research project modules and in taught modules with group work elements. This approach helps develop your scientific writing, problem solving and communication skills, as well as being a great opportunity to have informal scientific discussions with members of staff about topical issues.

Lectures

You will attend lectures where we will deliver stimulating and thought-provoking perspectives on the major global challenges in biosciences of the 21st century.

Practicals

Practicals are designed to help you to develop laboratory skills and to become familiar with a wide range of practical techniques, training you to use methods precisely and encouraging you to objectively assess the reliability of your results.

Workshops

Workshops are also an important feature of our programme, and they provide an additional dimension to most modules. You will often collaborate in small groups in problem solving and other learning activities in our flexible learning workshops. You will design your own experiments and work together on the findings from the latest research papers, or investigate the application of new technologies to the global challenges in the field.

Skills and group work

Each semester during the first two years, students take modules designed to develop more generic scientific and transferable skills. Some modules focus on specific scientific techniques, while others develop skills in problem solving, experimental design and data analysis.

We encourage you to develop important communication skills, including working in groups to plan and carry out experiments that investigate a scientific problem, and you will present your work as an oral presentation or poster.

What the integrated Masters year looks like

The final year of an integrated Masters focuses on research. Much of the time, about four days of the week, is spent on your own research project. The rest of the week is spent hearing about research in seminars and journal clubs, writing about research and working in groups on research grant applications.

Timetabled activities

In your first year, you can expect:

Lectures2-4 hours per week
Workshops3-5 hours per week
Practicals3-6 hours per week
Small-group teaching5 hours per semester

These figures are representative of a typical week. Your contact hours will vary throughout the year due to your module choices, non-compulsory classes, exam periods and changes to scheduled activities.

Outside your timetabled hours, you'll study independently. This may include preparation for classes, follow-up work, wider reading, practice completion of assessment tasks, or revision.

In the UK, full-time students are expected to spend 1,200 hours a year learning. That's about 40 hours of classes and independent study each week during semesters. Everyone learns at a different rate, so the number of hours you spend on independent study will be different to other students on your course.

Facilities

Teaching and learning in the Department of Biology is based in a £23m state-of-the-art facility, which is equipped with laboratories, a flexible workshop and creative learning lounge, computer rooms, specialist tissue culture and fluorescence microscopy suites.

Teaching location

This course is based in the Department of Biology which is on Campus West. The majority of teaching takes place within Biology, with some additional teaching taking place at other locations on Campus West.

About our campus

Our beautiful green campus offers a student-friendly setting in which to live and study, within easy reach of the action in the city centre. It's easy to get around - everything is within walking or pedalling distance, or you can use the fast and frequent bus service. Take a campus tour.

Assessment and feedback

​You will be assessed via a mixture of closed exams, online open exams, and continuous assessment. Although you must perform to a satisfactory level, Stage 1 (which is your first year) does not count towards the final degree, which is determined by work in Stage 2 (25%), Stage 3 (37.5%) and Stage 4 (37.5%). If you undertake a year abroad or in industry this is marked by pass/fail.

Throughout your course we will provide you with feedback on your work and assignments, which will give you an indication of the progress you are making in your studies.

Percentage of the course typically assessed by coursework and exams

  Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Written exams 66% 65% 35%
Coursework 34% 35% 65%

Biology lab virtual tour

Take a virtual tour of one or our modern, dedicated laboratories showing a typical range of lab equipment and facilities that you'll use.

Interactive Biology lab tour

Careers and skills

Studying Biomedical Sciences will develop your critical thinking and research skills, and prepare you to be competitive for entry into relevant postgraduate degree programmes. The degree also provides suitable training for direct employment in health-related industries and services (eg NHS, pharmaceutical companies).

Transferable skills acquired on the course open up other relevant careers including patent law, public health policy and education and scientific writing.

Career opportunities

  • Clinical outsourcing manager
  • Evidence generation
  • Clinical research
  • Research assistant
  • Trainee clinical scientist
  • Senior therapy radiographer
  • Clinical trial coordinator
  • Account executive
  • PhD
  • Postgraduate study
  • Teacher training

Transferable skills

  • ​Research skills
  • Problem solving
  • Communication skills
  • Teamworking skills
  • Critical and analytical thinking
  • Data interpretation and presentation
  • Independent study skills
  • Logical and critical thinking
  • Creativity and innovation
  • IT literacy

Entry requirements

Typical offer
A levels

AAA including Biology and either Chemistry, Mathematics, Physical Education, Physics or Psychology.

Access to Higher Education Diploma 39 credits at Distinction and 6 credits at Merit or higher. Must include Level 3 modules in Biology and a second science.
BTEC National Extended Diploma BTEC National Extended Diploma DDD. We consider BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Applied Science (2016 syllabus) with all 7 mandatory units plus at least 2 units from 8,9,10,11,12,17,20. We consider BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Applied Science (2010 syllabus), please contact us for information on the units we accept.
Cambridge Pre-U D3, D3, D3 including Biology and either Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology.
European Baccalaureate 85% overall including 8.5 in Biology and either Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or Psychology.
International Baccalaureate 36 points including 6 at Higher Level Biology and 6 at Higher Level Chemistry, Mathematics (either Analysis and Approaches or Applications and Interpretations), Physics, Psychology or Sports, Exercise and Health Science. If English is not your first language then we require 5 in English B.
T levels We are currently not accepting T Levels for this course unless additional A Levels (or equivalent qualifications) in Biology and a second science or mathematics subject have been taken.
Scottish Highers / Advanced Highers Advanced Highers - AB in Biology and a second Science/Mathematics plus Scottish Highers - AB

We may also be able to consider three Advanced Highers or a combination of Highers and Advanced Highers, where an applicant does not meet the grade requirement through Highers alone. Please contact us to discuss your qualifications.
International foundation programme Foundation Certificate from our International Pathway College or an appropriate alternative.
Other qualifications To secure a place as a mature student on this course you will need recent qualifications in Biology and a second science (Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Psychology or Physical Education) at a sufficiently advanced level to cope with the course, together with evidence of some of the key skills needed for studying at degree level.
Other international qualifications Equivalent qualifications from your country

Alternative offers

Meeting the following additional criteria may qualify you for an alternative offer.

Criteria Adjustment
Widening participation If you successfully complete one of the following programmes, you may be eligible for an alternative offer up to three A level grades (or equivalent) below our typical offer: Black Access Programme, Next Step York, Realising Opportunities, YESS, YorWay to York. More about widening participation.
Contextual offers If you have experience of local authority care or live in an area with low progression to university, you may be eligible for an alternative offer up to two A level grades (or equivalent) below our typical offer. More about contextual offers.
EPQ If you achieve B or higher at EPQ, you may be eligible for an alternative offer up to one A level grade (or equivalent) below our typical offer.
Core Maths If you achieve B or higher in Core Maths, you may be eligible for an alternative offer up to one A level grade (or equivalent) below our typical offer.

English language

If English isn't your first language you may need to provide evidence of your English language ability. We accept the following qualifications:

Minimum requirement
IELTS (Academic) 6.5, with a minimum of 6.0 in each component
Cambridge CEFR 176, with a minimum of 169 in each component
Oxford ELLT 7, with a minimum of 6 in each component
Duolingo 120, minimum 105 in each component
GCSE/IGCSE/O level English Language (as a first or second language) Grade C / Grade 4
LanguageCert SELT B2 with a minimum score of 33/50 in each component
LanguageCert Academic B2 Communicator with a minimum score of 33/50 in each component
KITE 459 Main Flight score with 426 in each component
Skills for English B2: Merit overall, with Pass with Merit in each component
PTE Academic 61, with a minimum of 55 in each component
TOEFL 87 overall, with a minimum of 21 in each component
Trinity ISE III Merit in all components

For more information see our undergraduate English language requirements.

If you haven't met our English language requirements

You may be eligible for one of our pre-sessional English language courses. These courses will provide you with the level of English needed to meet the conditions of your offer.

The length of course you need to take depends on your current English language test scores and how much you need to improve to reach our English language requirements.

After you've accepted your offer to study at York, we'll confirm which pre-sessional course you should apply to via You@York.

Applying

To apply to York, you will need to complete an online application via UCAS (the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service).

Next steps

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