Zoology

About this course
Zoology is key to tackling some of the major challenges facing our planet today. On your three-year Zoology degree, you'll benefit from close links with Marwell Wildlife and explore all areas of animal life from cell biology to entire ecosystems, developing an understanding of fields including evolution, conservation, and behaviour through our broad range of modules.

You'll graduate with extensive experience and expertise from our academic staff, who embed their high-profile research into our degrees. Through the flexibility to tailor your course to your passions you'll kickstart you career in the sector that interests you most; recent graduates have explored careers in fields ranging from veterinary medicine and conservation, to animal or farm management.

Key features of the course:

• Study surrounded by researchers who shape the programme with their world-changing research

• Gain real-life skills suited to industry, to enhance your employment prospects

• Benefit from our unique link with world-renowned conservation charity Marwell Wildlife, located only a few miles from our campus in Southampton, which provides another opportunity to develop specific interests and expertise in zoology that can also propel your career

• Seize opportunities to study abroad at partner universities around the world, and from field trips in locations across the UK and locations abroad like Spain and Belize

• Join a University where 96% of Biological Sciences graduates were in employment or further study 15 months after graduating (Graduate Outcomes 2022/23, published 2025).

Student support
From day one, you'll join a welcoming and supportive Biological Sciences community home to researchers who are paving the way for advancements in science and eager to share their findings with their peers and our student community. You'll be supported by your personal academic tutor and guided throughout your degree to ensure you graduate primed and ready for your future career in industry, in research, or in further study.

Further information
Biological Sciences programmes at Southampton are accredited by the Royal Biological Society, meaning you'll graduate from a course commended across the sector.

Throughout this course you'll explore the breadth of the discipline, starting with a broad base and then allowing you to choose from our extensive offering of optional modules, providing flexibility to tailor your degree to your interests and ambitions.

Year 1: Fundamentals of biology, from cells to ecosystems, including interactions between humans and life on earth.

Year 2: Key principles of zoology from developmental biology to evolution and carry out zoology-focussed fieldwork, optional modules to allow you to begin to tailor your degree, and training in statistics and experimental design.

Year 3: Choose from a range of projects, from lab to data to field-based, or focussing on bioscience business, education or communication. Select optional modules that give an in-depth focus on concepts and topics that interest you.

You will also have opportunities to tailor your learning through fieldwork, lab practicals and if you wish, a semester abroad or a year in employment. Module structure may vary to keep your learning up to date with advances in zoology.

For full list of all modules available, please visit the course page.

You'll learn, and be assessed, through a range of methods designed to equip you with the skills you need for success after graduating.

The learning activities include lectures, classes and tutorials, coursework, individual and group projects, and independent learning.

The assessment methods include coursework, laboratory reports and essays, individual and group projects, oral presentations, written and practical exams.