Our Biological Sciences degree with Preliminary Year and Professional Training Year is a five-year course. The Preliminary Year covers key topics in Biology, Chemistry and Mathematics and leads to a BSc in any of the subjects offered by the School of Biosciences. The purpose of the Preliminary Year is to provide students who don’t have a sufficient background in science with the basis of scientific knowledge to enable them to thrive in the year one curriculum and beyond.Our Biological Sciences course provides the greatest possible choice and flexibility in the study of all aspects of biology, allowing you to choose modules across virtually the whole range of subjects that the School offers and tailor the degree to your own interests as they develop. You can choose to focus on a particular aspect of biology, such as organisms, ecology and environment, or opt to cover a wider range of topics.A wide choice of subjects is available to study across the biological, biomedical, biochemical, and biomolecular sciences including, but not limited to: animal and plant biology, microbiology, genetics, systems biology, ecology, disease, behaviour, neuroscience, cell biology, development and evolution. You will also have the option of undertaking a field course (depending on module choice and availability), which can be based within the UK or overseas.Your third year is spent on a professional work placement related to your degree. Experience shows that this greatly enhances your subsequent employment prospects.During the course of your studies, you will also have the option of changing to a more specialist degree, such as BSc Biological Sciences (Genetics) or BSc Biological Sciences (Zoology), or to another general degree, such as Biomedical Sciences. This will depend on the modules selected in years two and three, and your Personal Tutor will be able to guide you through the options available to you. You will also have the option of switching to the MBiol integrated Master’s degree (subject to academic progress and space availability).The programme combines scientific understanding with the development of academic skills (critical appraisal, evaluation and analysis of data) along with the development of practical, presentation and written skills within a scientific context. The course ultimately aims to produce graduates who are employable, well-informed, versatile and enthusiastic ambassadors for science.Recent Biological Sciences graduates have gone on to careers in research institutes, environmental consultancies, drug companies, the NHS, teaching, and many non-biological careers such as banking and management. A significant number progress to undertake Master’s or PhD training programmes.Distinctive featuresOur degrees are closely linked to the research interests of the staff who teach them, allowing you to experience the excitement of learning in an active research environment. We attract substantial external research funding and this will allow you to make use of the latest equipment, techniques and facilities in your project work. The School also maintains a permanently staffed Field Station in Borneo, as well as leading the University’s Sustainable Places and Water Research Institutes, allowing access to a wide range of exciting training opportunities.This programme offers a high degree of flexibility with student choice at its core. You have the freedom to decide how your academic experience develops. You can choose to specialise in a particular area or to maintain a wide breadth of learning and explore the interdisciplinary research that underpins much of the School’s success.