Course summary

Are you interested in a career in the health services, in a pharmaceutical company or in medical research? Whether you're looking for a change of career, or may not have the scientific background or entry requirements for a degree in Biomedical Science, our Foundation Year offers the opportunity to fill any knowledge gaps and build your confidence. This programme is designed for students who do not meet the requirements for direct entry to Stage 1 of our degree courses, and is an excellent conversion course for applicants who have shown academic ability in non-science subjects. As well as learning about the latest developments in the understanding and treatment of human diseases, you develop wider transferable skills in problem solving, communication and teamwork. Reasons to study Biomedical Science with a Foundation Year at Kent

• Our foundation year offers you the flexibility to progress to degrees across our Division of Natural Sciences. You may choose a degree in Biomedical Science, but equally you could opt for a degree within another area of Biosciences, or Chemistry, Forensic Science or Sport and Exercise Sciences.

• Regular investment in our laboratories ensures you learn in a world-class environment.

• Our lecturers are both innovative teachers and active researchers. Two of our academic staff have been awarded National Teaching Fellowships.

• Study a wide range of modules and build your degree around your interests.

• Focus on your future with expert careers advice and the opportunity to take a paid Summer Studentship, giving you valuable hands-on experience in our research labs.

• Get real-world experience and see how your degree can help build a better world with hospital visits as part of your course.

• We collaborate with research groups in industry and academia and have excellent links with local employers, including the NHS, Lonza and Sekisui Diagnostics, Roche, Sanofi and Pfizer.

• Get involved with science outside of the lab by joining Kent BioSoc. This student-run society holds a seminar series, academic talks, trips and social events.

• In your foundation year, you study compulsory modules in biology, chemistry and scientific methods, plus a choice of optional modules. On successful completion of the foundation year, you will have reached a standard above A level and so be fully equipped to tackle a BSc degree course.

• In your Biomedical Science degree, you'll explore the biochemical processes that occur in the human body, learn how they respond to diseases and how this knowledge can be used to identify and treat diseases. Practical work is at the heart of our teaching and this allows you to gain skills that are in high demand in the industry. We give you extensive practical training and you spend up to two-and-a-half days a week in the laboratory.

• Early in your degree you develop your skills as a bio scientist, covering biological chemistry, genetics, molecular and cellular biology, human physiology and disease, and metabolism. Modules go on to include advanced immunology, hematology and blood transfusion, and pathogens. In your final year you complete a research project which can be lab or literature based. You have a broad choice of optional modules including neuroscience, bioinformatics and genomics and cancer biology.