Natural Sciences BSc (Hons)

Gain the benefits of studying across different scientific disciplines with the flexibility to shape your degree to your career aspirations.

This is the course for you if you love science and want to study more than one science subject at university.

You will choose your own pathway to suit your interests and strengths. You’ll be able to take your existing scientific skills further, explore new areas and apply what you’ve learnt in practical and relevant ways.

Employers will value your ability to bring problem-solving skills from a variety of different angles. You’ll graduate with the breadth of knowledge and practical skills to prepare you for a career in industry or for postgraduate research.

If you decide your interests fit better within a single science, you may be able to transfer to biology, biochemistry, chemistry, pharmacology or physics after year one.

Pathways

When you start your course, you can shape your degree to your interests by choosing a combination of two main subjects based on your previous qualifications. You can choose two mains from this list:

• Biology
• Biochemistry
• Chemistry
• Environmental science (available as a main on the BSc only)
• Pharmacology
• Physics

Your two mains can be complemented by an additional subject, including maths, management, psychology or education. Note that not all main subject combinations are possible, so biology can’t be combined with biochemistry, and physics can’t be combined with pharmacology or biochemistry.

You will follow your own path, developing lab skills and an understanding of the interdisciplinary relationship between the core sciences.

• If you want a more in-depth study experience, you could consider applying for our MSci Natural Sciences course.

Supporting your studies

You’ll have a personal tutor who’ll normally stay with you throughout the course, and a current student will be your peer mentor to help you with everything from study choices to social life.

The Natural Sciences Society organise events throughout the year, so you’ll be able to meet and share experiences with fellow students. In fact, with the subjects on offer, you’ll get to meet a wider range of students than on single-honours courses.

Put your learning into practice

As well as teaching, our academics carry out their own research in all branches of science, so you’ll always be up-to-date with the latest developments. You’ll have the option to work alongside them on your own research project and apply your knowledge to current challenges.

Develop your professional skills

Our Natural Sciences courses are designed to develop a wide range of professional and scientific skills that you’ll need as a graduate scientist. We have teams of specialist staff in the Faculty of Science, and the University who will work with, and support you in your search for graduate career opportunities. The support available includes skills workshops that are designed to prepare you for the recruitment process.

Specialist facilities

At Bath, you’ll learn alongside single-honours students in the subjects you choose, so you’ll be able to access all the specialised facilities offered by that department, giving you a great depth of practical experience. Depending on your chosen subjects, you will have access to a range of well-equipped undergraduate teaching laboratories, characterisation facilities (including NMR, mass spectrometry, diffraction, and chromatography and microscopy), and our high-performance computing facilities.

Get ready for your future career

Having the experience of solving problems from multiple angles ensures Natural Sciences graduates are suitable for a wide range of challenges in modern science, from atomic research to epidemiology, sustainable technology or environmental science. You’ll also have skills for careers built on a scientific background, such as working in scientific and manufacturing industries or roles in management, marketing, sales, lecturing, purchasing or patenting.

Recent employers include:

• Wessex Water
• Wellcome Trust
• Lloyds Banking
• National Physics Laboratory

Many of our graduates also choose to go on to postgraduate study in preparation for academic or industry-based research careers.

• Find out more about what our graduates go on to do.

Learn more on our Virtual Experience page

You can learn more about studying Natural Sciences at Bath by visiting our Natural Sciences Virtual Experience page to hear from staff and students.