Our Biological Sciences degree provides the greatest possible choice and flexibility, allowing you to choose modules across virtually the whole range of subjects on offer at the School.  You can tailor the degree to your own interests as they develop, choosing to focus on a particular aspect of biology, such as organisms, ecology or the environment, or opting to study a wider range of topics.

We offer a wide choice of subjects across the biological, biomedical, biochemical, and biomolecular sciences including: animal and plant biology; microbiology; genetics; systems biology; ecology; disease; behaviour; neuroscience; cell biology and evolution. We also run a range of impressive field courses both within the UK and overseas.

Although you may join the School on the BSc Biological Sciences programme, your degree title remains flexible up until Year 3.  You can choose to stick with your original degree registration, or switch to another of our bioscience courses.  You can choose to graduate with a more specialist degree title, including BSc Biological Sciences (Genetics) and BSc Biological Sciences (Zoology).

Your final degree title will depend on module selection in years two and three and your Personal Tutor will guide you through the options available to you.  You may also have the option of switching to the four year MBiol integrated Master's degree (subject to academic progress and space availability).

This course will enable you to increase your scientific understanding, as well as developing both your academic skills (critical appraisal, evaluation and analysis of data) and practical, presentation and written skills.  Ultimately, we aim to produce graduates who are employable, well-informed, versatile and enthusiastic ambassadors for science.

The knowledge and skills that you develop during your Biological Sciences degree will make you employable in a broad range of biological careers including research, healthcare, publishing and teaching.  The skills acquired on the course are also an excellent grounding for many other career paths outside of science.  Alternatively you may wish to further your studies by pursuing a Master's degree or PhD.

Distinctive features

Our degrees are closely linked to the research interests of our staff, allowing you to experience the excitement of learning in an active research environment. We attract substantial external research funding and this will enable 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.

Our degree programmes offer a high degree of flexibility giving you the freedom to shape your academic experience. 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. 

“After graduating in English Literature, I successfully applied for a place on Cardiff’s Zoology course in order to pursue my dreams of becoming an environmentalist. The skills I developed through my Zoology degree and extra-curricular activities whilst at Cardiff University have been integral to building my career to date.” Clare Baranowski – Marine Biologist