Biomedical Science with Integrated Foundation Year

A Brighton Biomedical Science degree prepares you for a variety of rewarding career paths, including research, disease diagnosis, treatment development, and clinical healthcare.

At Brighton you’ll be part of a community that helps you grow, no matter what your background. This course offers an extra year to prepare you for study at degree level. You’ll gain scientific and data skills that will help maximise your degree’s potential.

You’ll have loads of opportunities to build real-world experience, including a paid placement after year two and opportunities to take a funded research internship, so you’ll build confidence and career skills from day one. Our inclusive approach to learning will help you go further; we’ll make sure you play to your strengths and learn in ways that suit you best.

Brighton graduates go on to work in NHS pathology labs, biotech firms and global pharma, and also progress to postgraduate medicine, research and academia.

Top reasons to choose this course

• Foundation year that opens up opportunities if you don’t hold the required qualifications for the BSc(Hons), are changing career or returning to study.

• Explore the human body in depth and build the knowledge, lab skills and clinical insights to help shape the future of healthcare.

• Get hands-on from year one: you’ll study biochemistry, pharmacology, genetics, infection science and blood science.

• Learn in specialist labs using atomic force microscopes and the custom designed Brighton Integrative Genomics (BIG) Unit used for analysing of cell genes and proteins.

• Complete projects, take part in hospital visits, gain experience on placement in a hospital or within industry and get the latest professional insights through guest lectures.

• Learn with researchers in regenerative medicine and lifelong health.

• Boost your CV with a paid placement year after your second year and funded internship opportunities such as the Brighton Student Research Experience Scheme (SRES).

• Progress to a degree that’s duel-accredited by the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS) and Royal Society of Biology.

• Register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) as a biomedical scientist on graduation by doing your placement in an IBMS-approved NHS pathology lab and completing the IBMS Certificate of Competence and the Registration Training Portfolio while you study.

Why Brighton is a great place to study Biomedical Science
Less than an hour from central London, Brighton & Hove is home to the University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust and research centres including the Sussex Cancer Centre, offering clinical visit opportunities and real-world experience close to campus.

Named one of the best cities on the planet and the third best city in the UK by Time Out, Brighton is also a hub for health and life sciences innovation where inclusivity, diversity and wellbeing are celebrated.

Course Modules

Foundation year
During your foundation year you’ll be introduced to key concepts in biology, chemistry and data handling to prepare you for study at undergraduate level. You’ll also develop your skills in problem-solving, analysis and communication skills.

Core modules
Foundation Biology
Foundation Study Skills
Foundation Chemistry
Data Handling for Science

Year 1
In your first year, you will learn the foundations of biomedical science and be introduced to lab techniques used in professional practice. You will study areas including genetics and molecular biology, biochemistry, human physiology and infection science.

Core modules
Essential Skills for Bioscientists
Fundamentals in Genetics and Evolution
Introduction to Biochemistry
Introduction to Human Physiology
Introduction to Infection Sciences
Fundamentals in Blood Sciences

Year 2
You will build on the knowledge gained in your first year, broaden your research skills and explore topics that include diet and exercise, infection and immunity, molecular cell biology, genetics and genomics, human biochemistry and metabolism.

Core modules
Infection and Immunity
Intermediate Blood Sciences
Clinical Genetics and Molecular Biology
Intermediate Human Physiology
Human Biochemistry, Metabolism and Pharmacology
Research Skills and Professional Development

Optional placement year
Doing a placement in an IBMS-approved NHS pathology lab could enable you to register as a biomedical scientist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) when you graduate.

Final year
The focus is the final year of your biomedical science degree course is more on the clinical aspects: including blood sciences, cellular pathology, clinical immunology and microbiology, and innovations in bioscience research. You will undertake a project linked with one of our research groups.

Core modules
Advanced Diagnostics in Blood Science
Cellular Pathology
Bioscience Research Project
Clinical Microbiology and Immunology
Innovations in Bioscience Research