Biological Sciences with Foundation Year

Biological sciences is the study of living things in all their diversity, from the molecular machinery of cells to the ecology of entire ecosystems. It encompasses genetics, physiology, cell biology, evolutionary theory, microbiology, and ecology, providing a broad scientific foundation for understanding how life works, how organisms interact, and how biological systems respond to environmental change. It is a discipline that has never been more relevant, as advances in genomics, synthetic biology, and environmental science reshape both what we know and what we can do.

At the University of Surrey, this four-year full-time degree includes a foundation year, which provides a supported introduction to biological science for students whose previous qualifications do not yet meet the standard entry requirements but who have the motivation and potential to succeed at degree level. The foundation year builds the scientific knowledge, study skills, and mathematical foundations needed to engage with the full honours programme. Across the degree you will study the core areas of biological science, developing both theoretical understanding and practical laboratory skills.

Surrey's approach integrates digital skills into the programme, recognising that data analysis, bioinformatics, and computational thinking are increasingly central to biological research and to the careers that bioscience graduates enter.

You will develop scientific literacy, experimental design skills, the capacity to interpret complex data, and an appreciation of biology's breadth and depth. These are capacities that are valuable in both research and applied careers.

Graduates from biological sciences programmes work in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical devices sectors, in environmental and conservation organisations, in public health and the NHS, in science communication and education, and in research. Many go on to postgraduate study in specialist areas such as molecular biology, ecology, immunology, or neuroscience. The breadth of the degree means that it opens a wide range of graduate destinations.