Biological Sciences (Zoology)

BSc (Hons) or MBiol

UCAS code: BSc C300, MBiol C130

Start dates: September 2025 / September 2026

Full time: BSc 3 years, 4 year sandwich MBiol 4 years, 5 year sandwich

Part time: BSc 6 years/ MBiol 8 years

Location: Headington

School(s): School of Biological and Medical Sciences

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Overview

How has animal behaviour evolved over time? What effect is environmental change having on endangered species? If these questions intrigue you, then our Biological Sciences (Zoology) degree is for you. You’ll develop detailed knowledge of the biology of animals, from cells and molecules to conservation work.

Zoology seeks to address issues including loss of biodiversity, wildlife conservation, genetically modified organisms, cloning and disease outbreaks. As active researchers in areas such as gene regulation, conservation, biodiversity, and neurobiology, our teaching staff are well-positioned to help you apply fundamental biology to real life issues.

Through academic and practical exercises, you’ll gain skills that are essential in the workplace. We’ll train you in lab and field techniques using modern technology. We’ll also equip you in data handling, computing, report writing, and teamwork.

We’re in the business of creating bioscientists for the future. That’s why we’re investing in our relationships with the local biosciences industry and conservation organisations.

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Why Oxford Brookes University?

  • Amazing facilities

    A range of teaching labs with industry-standard equipment and research labs for projects.

  • Course flexibility

    Tailor the course to suit your interests, choose from a range of modules, start with a foundation year, take a year in industry or transfer onto our Integrated Masters.

  • Student support

    We pride ourselves on the connection our staff have with our students. This will support your academic and personal development.

  • Strong links with industry

    We enjoy strong working relationships with organisations like environmental consultancies, the Environment Agency, Wildlife Trusts, RSPB, and animal rescue centres. These benefit our students through guest speakers and work experience opportunities.

  • Learn a language

    Our university-wide language programme is available to full-time undergraduate and postgraduate students on many of our courses, and can be taken as a credit on some courses.

  • Study abroad

    You may be able to go on a European or international study exchange while you are at Brookes. Most exchanges take place in the second year. Although we will help as much as we can with your plans, ultimately you are responsible for organising and funding this study abroad.

Course details

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Study modules

Teaching for this course takes place Face to Face and you can expect around 12 hours of contact time per week.
In addition to this, you should also anticipate a workload of 1,200 hours per year. Teaching usually takes place Monday to Friday, between 9.00am and 6.00pm.

Contact hours involve activities such as lectures, seminars, practicals, assessments, and academic advising sessions. These hours differ by year of study and typically increase significantly during placements or other types of work-based learning.

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Please note: As our courses are reviewed regularly as part of our quality assurance framework, the modules you can choose from may vary from those shown here. The structure of the course may also mean some modules are not available to you.

Careers

Our Biological Sciences (Zoology) degree prepares you to take on interesting roles in a variety of industries.

Previous graduates have gone on to work in animal welfare, controlling pests and diseases, drug development, teaching, and research. The degree is also a gateway into careers in management, journalism and the media, finance, law, computing, and leisure.

Typically, our graduates go to work as:

  • researchers
  • lab technicians
  • conservationists
  • teachers
  • lecturers
  • zoo keepers
  • ecologists
  • environmental consultants.

While some graduates work internationally and across the UK, many take up posts in the Oxford area. The city is surrounded by organisations like veterinary practices, wildlife trusts, and the RSPB.

Joint honours options

Entry requirements

Wherever possible we make our conditional offers using the UCAS Tariff. The combination of A-level grades listed here would be just one way of achieving the UCAS Tariff points for this course.

Standard offer

UCAS Tariff Points: 104-128 (BSc) or 112-136 (MBiol)

A Level: BCC - ABB (BSc) or BBC - AAB (MBiol)

IB Points: 29 (BSc) or 30 (MBiol)

BTEC: DMM - DDM (BSc) and (MBiol)

Contextual offer

UCAS Tariff Points: 88 - 96 (BSc) and (MBiol)

A Level: CCD - CCC (BSc) and (MBiol)

IB Points: 27 (BSc) and (MBiol)

BTEC: MMM (BSc) and (MBiol)

International qualifications and equivalences

Tuition fees

Please see the fees note
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Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

Tuition fees

2024 / 25
Home (UK) full time
£9,250

Home (UK) part time
£1,155 per single module

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£1,600

International full time
£16,900

International sandwich (placement)
£1,600

2025 / 26
Home (UK) full time
£9,535

Home (UK) part time
£1,190 per single module

Home (UK) sandwich (placement)
£1,700

International full time
£17,750

International sandwich (placement)
£1,700

Questions about fees?

Contact Student Finance on:

+44 (0)1865 534400

financefees@brookes.ac.uk

Please note, tuition fees for Home students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students in line with an inflationary amount determined by government. Oxford Brookes University intends to maintain its fees for new and returning Home students at the maximum permitted level.

For further information please see our 2025-26 tuition fees FAQs.

Tuition fees for International students may increase in subsequent years both for new and continuing students.

The following factors will be taken into account by the University when it is setting the annual fees: inflationary measures such as the retail price indices, projected increases in University costs, changes in the level of funding received from Government sources, admissions statistics and access considerations including the availability of student support. 

How and when to pay

Tuition fee instalments for the semester are due by the Monday of week 1 of each semester. Students are not liable for full fees for that semester if they leave before week 4. If the leaving date is after week 4, full fees for the semester are payable.

  • For information on payment methods please see our Make a Payment page.
  • For information about refunds please visit our Refund policy page

Financial support and scholarships

For general sources of financial support, see our Fees and funding pages.

Additional costs

Please be aware that some courses will involve some additional costs that are not covered by your fees. Specific additional costs for this course are detailed below.

There are some additional costs for the course including the purchase of a lab coat, safety goggles, stationery such as a lab notebook, printing and text books (though the library will have some copies). If the student opts for the placement year then there will be living costs associated with this year but we encourage students to seek a placement with a bursary or a paid placement to mitigate this. Work experience also may also incur travel costs.

Information from Discover Uni

Full-time study

Part-time study

Programme changes:
On rare occasions we may need to make changes to our course programmes after they have been published on the website. For more information, please visit our changes to programmes page.