Zoology

Study animals and biodiversity at every scale. You'll learn how animals function, how to conserve biodiversity, and how evolution works, whilst putting your skills and knowledge into practice in the lab and field.

Our three-year BSc Zoology course is about animals, their evolution, and their interactions with each other, the environment and biodiversity conservation.

You'll study microbes, invertebrates, birds, fish, mammals, and humans and learn how they evolved, how their physiology works, how they behave, and how they respond to global change.

You’ll even discover how their biodiversity is maintained and lost, and use this knowledge to help us address important issues such as tropical wildlife conservation, disease outbreaks, and maintaining functioning ecosystems.

At Sheffield, you’ll be encouraged to be creative, think independently, and express your ideas. You'll be in the lab completing in-depth practicals, and studying animal anatomy and physiology in our Alfred Denny Museum of Zoology. You'll learn off campus too, carrying out fieldwork in the Peak District, visiting scientific spots around the country, and embarking on a once-in-a-lifetime field course in the UK or abroad.

As you progress through your degree you’ll have the option to specialise in key areas, such as biodiversity conservation, evolutionary biology, genetics or ecological modelling.

No matter what areas of zoology you choose to study, you'll develop practical laboratory and transferable skills that make our graduates attractive to employers, including project management, problem-solving, communication skills, and data analysis.

All this experience will prepare you for your third-year research project where you could be laboratory based, field-based, focus on computer modelling, or even science communication.

Gain extra experience as part of your degree
You can add an extra year of research experience with an integrated masters (MBiolSci), or spend a year on a work placement and gain transferable skills working with a top employer.

Why study this course?

• Top 10 in the UK for zoology: Guardian University Guide 2025

• Get out of the classroom: You'll learn in the lab, the Peak District and embark on a once-in-a-lifetime field course in the UK or abroad.

• State-of-the-art facilities: Use world-leading facilities to investigate climate change, model organisms, and the dynamics of populations and biodiversity.