Zoology with Integrated Foundation Year

Begin an immersive journey to understand life on Earth with our BSc Zoology with Integrated Foundation Year. Join the Integrated Foundation year to develop your scientific skills and confidence, ready to begin your degree.
Study for a Zoology degree at Royal Holloway and examine animal diversity, behaviour and evolution. Develop your understanding of how animals interact with their environments.
The natural world is changing at an ever-increasing rate. As the world evolves, many animal species are under threat. Humans too experience health issues by disconnecting from nature.
Our zoology degree is highly flexible from day one. You’ll benefit from practical teaching, based on our research in areas such as local wildlife conservation (Surrey Wildlife Trust) or our Europe-wide pollinator work (PoshBee). You’ll also be part of our vibrant community of world-leading researchers and student societies.

The wider picture
Enjoy our extraordinary green campus with direct exposure to many biodiverse habitats and ecosystems
Gain first-hand experience with our marine biology field course to Scotland or our Borneo tropical rainforest expedition
Boost your employability with our authentic assessments, focused on skills development and preparing you for your career

Make your mark
Your final year research project lets you focus on a subject of your choosing. And our course opens the door to a wide range of careers. Decide to be a scientific and biodiversity advisor, data scientist, biological safety officer, science teacher, conservationist or ecology consultant. Or even a wildlife filmmaker. Royal Holloway bioscience graduates consistently enjoy a high graduate employability record.

We sometimes make changes to our courses to improve your experience. If this happens, we’ll let you know as soon as possible.

Core Modules
Foundation Year
Foundation Mathematics for Life Scientists
Global and Planetary Health
Foundation Life Sciences and The Environment
Foundation Practical Skills and Research (Biological Sciences)
Foundation Statistics for Life Sciences
Environmental Science for Foundation Life Sciences
Life Sciences II: Organ Systems
Year 1
Becoming a Bioscientist
Cell Biology and the Origin of Life
Genetics
Ecology and Conservation
Introductory Animal Physiology
Vertebrate Evolution and Diversity
Academic Integrity
Year 2
Invertebrate Biology: Structure, Behaviour and Evolution
Biological Data Analysis and Interpretation
Animal Behaviour
Evolution
Year 3
Individual Research Project
Extreme Animal Physiology
Optional Modules
Below is a taster of some of the exciting optional modules that students on the course could choose from during this academic year. Please be aware these do change over time, and optional modules may be withdrawn or new ones added.

Year 1
Fundamental Biochemistry
Protein Biochemistry and Enzymology
Introduction to Human Physiology
Biology in a Changing World
Biomes and Ecosystems
Chemistry of Life
Year 2
Microbiology
Cell Dynamics: Division and Movement
Human Physiology in Health and Disease
Developmental Biology
Plant Biotic Interactions and Ecological Networks
Practical Field Ecology
Applications of Molecular Genetics in Biology
Marine Biology
Molecular Biology
Immunology
Dissertation - Extended Essay

In your Foundation Year, teaching methods include a mixture of lectures, practical classes and workshops, laboratory classes, individual tutorials, and supervisory sessions. Outside of the classroom you’ll undertake guided and independent practice. You will be assigned a Personal Tutor in the Department of Biological Sciences and will have regular scheduled sessions. In the Foundation Year, you’ll also be assigned a Personal Tutor in the Centre for the Development of Academic Skills (CeDAS). Assessments are varied; practical exercises, weekly problem sheets, set exercises, written examinations, laboratory reports. In addition the Foundation Year offers a full range of skills-based training.

Each year you will take modules worth a total of 120 credits, with most individual modules worth 15 credits. In your final year, your Individual Research Project is worth 30 credits.

The first year is formative, while outcomes of your second and third year contribute one third and two-thirds of your final degree classification respectively.

You will attend a mixture of lectures, seminars and small-group tutorials, with class sizes that range from 6 to 180 students. Practical classes are a major part of all first and second year modules, and include experiments that are integral to the subject, helping to familarise you with the material and augment your understanding of key topics. These are either laboratory-based or field-based with laboratory follow-up. In your third year, you will complete an individual research project supervised by one of our academics, and you may have the opportunity to contribute towards a published scientific paper. The individual research project is assessed on the basis of a written report, supervisor assessment, and an oral presentation.

During your first and second years, you will complete essays and reports, and sit written examinations. In your third year, assignments include a range of activities, such as preparation of posters, oral presentations, creation of leaflets and podcasts, coursework essays, mock research grant applications and scientific news-and-views articles, as well as analysis of data from online repositories in mini-research projects.