Biology
Course overview
UCAS code: C100
Entrance requirements: A*AA (with the A* in a science or Maths)
Course duration: 4 years (MBiol); 3 years (BA)
Subject requirements
Required subjects: Biology and either Chemistry, Physics or Maths
Recommended subjects: Not applicable
Helpful subjects: Not applicable
Other course requirements
Admissions tests: None
Written Work: None
Admissions statistics*
Interviewed: 48%
Successful: 15%
Intake: 106
*3-year average 2021-23
Contact
Email: [email protected]
Unistats information for this course can be found at the bottom of the page
Please note that there may be no data available if the number of course participants is very small.
About the course
Biology, the study of life, is an exciting and rapidly developing subject. Breakthroughs in Biology are playing a key role in addressing global challenges, from disease and poverty to biodiversity loss and climate change.
The study of living things has undergone tremendous progress in recent years. This progress has been accompanied by an integration of different biological disciplines.
This newly revised and upgraded Oxford Biology course was first introduced in 2019. The structure of the course encourages a cross-disciplinary approach. Following an introduction to fundamental biological principles in the first year, the second and third years allow students to choose options of particular interest and specialise in these areas with increasing depth. The options cover a comprehensive range of topics, which currently include but are not limited to:
- animal behaviour and physiology
- cell biology
- conservation
- developmental biology
- disease biology and host-microbe interactions
- ecology
- evolutionary biology
- genomics
- plant physiology and molecular biology.
The course offers an optional fourth year. This means that students can either leave after three years with a BA or choose to stay on and complete an extended research project under the supervision of qualified academic staff. Progression to the 4-year MBiol is contingent on satisfactory academic performance in the first three years.
The Biology degree is taught by the Department of Biology, with almost all teaching taking place in the University's Science Area. Additional resources include the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, the Botanic Garden, the Herbarium, the Arboretum, the John Krebs Field Station and Wytham Woods. There is a compulsory UK residential field course to study ecology in the first year, and optional residential field courses in the UK and overseas are available in the second year.
The course puts a strong emphasis on research skills training, which is an integral part of teaching across all years.
Compulsory skills training in the first year includes carefully selected dissections that have been designed with animal welfare and conservation principles in mind.
Skills training in the second year is also compulsory and covers a whole range of more advanced practical and quantitative skills essential for a modern biologist. Students can choose from a range of extended skills courses that last one or two weeks. Examples include ecological fieldwork (in the UK or overseas), genome sequencing and genome editing.
In the third year, students specialise on a narrower range of options, and skills training continues in the form of journal clubs and computer classes. Please note that despite the University's efforts to subsidise the course, fieldwork in the second, third and fourth years requires financial contributions from the student.
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'Throughout my whole life my head has buzzed with questions; questions about humans, plants, the oceans and the microscopic world invisible to the naked eye. Oxford offers me the answers to these questions. It’s incredible! There’s loads of practical work, from a brilliant week-long field trip in the UK in your first year, to tropical Borneo in your second. Lab work is a great chance to test the theories you’ve learnt in lectures and the supervisors are always happy to offer help and explanation.' Claire | 'I'd always been interested in biology from a young age. I'd loved learning about the human body and was practically brought up on David Attenborough documentaries – therefore, learning more about the subject was a natural fit! The course at Oxford in particular spanned the whole topic, covering everything there is to know, and I liked the flexibility this could give me, simultaneously allowing me to learn about a broad spectrum of topics but also enabling me to discover what I found most interesting and specialise accordingly! It has also taught me more about the practical skills required, and thus the course has really helped me to become a well-rounded biologist.' Stephanie | 'With biology, there's no shortage of new and exciting research going on, and the breadth of content in the first year is just mind-blowing! It's a really great idea to give students a taste of all aspects of the subject today, as from the second year onward there are increasing opportunities for specialisation. That ability to drop less interesting topics and really focus on the ones you love is a most welcome form of flexibility.' Alexandros |
Unistats information
Discover Uni course data provides applicants with Unistats statistics about undergraduate life at Oxford for a particular undergraduate course.
Please select 'see course data' to view the full Unistats data for Biology.
Please note that there may be no data available if the number of course participants is very small.
Visit the Studying at Oxford section of this page for a more general insight into what studying here is likely to be like.
Biology
A typical week
In the first year, your typical weekly timetable can be broken down into the following categories:
- Lectures: around eight hours a week
- Research skills: around six hours of laboratory practical demonstrations (practicals), one hour of computer practicals and one hour of group discussion sessions each week
- Tutorials: this will depend on individual colleges, but on average one hour a week, plus preparation time.
In the second and third years, the lecture and research skills workload remains roughly the same although there is a greater element of choice over the subjects studied.
Lectures and practical class sizes will vary depending on the options chosen, ranging from as few as 20 students in a class up to potentially 120 students in a class. In the third and fourth years, variable hours are also spent on research projects.
Most tutorials, classes, and lectures are delivered by staff who are tutors in their subject. Many are world-leading experts with years of experience in teaching and research. Some teaching may also be delivered by trained PhD students and early career researchers with hands-on research experience.
To find out more about how our teaching year is structured, visit our Academic Year page.
Course structure
Year 1
Courses | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Three written exam papers (assessing lecture material and research skills); assessed practical write-ups |
Year 2
Courses | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Two written exam papers; coursework |
Year 3
Courses | Assessment |
|---|---|
A full list of current options is available on the Biology website. | Three written exam papers; coursework |
Year 4 (Optional MBiol*)
Courses | Assessment |
|---|---|
The fourth year will give you the chance to pursue an in-depth research project under the supervision of an academic member of staff. There will also be a mini-conference in which all students have the opportunity to present their work to their peers. | Dissertation |
* Students can choose to leave after three years and graduate with a BA, or they can continue to a fourth year and graduate with an MBiol. Progression to the MBiol is contingent on satisfactory academic performance in the first three years.
The content and format of this course may change in some circumstances. Read further information about potential course changes.
Academic requirements
Qualification | Requirement |
|---|---|
A-levels: | A*AA – Biology and either Chemistry, Physics or Mathematics are required, and the A* must be in a science or Mathematics (view the full list of subjects in which an A* grade will be acceptable) |
Advanced Highers: | AA/AAB |
International Baccalaureate (IB): | 39 (including core points) – Biology and either Chemistry, Physics or Mathematics are required with 7 in HL Mathematics or a science |
Any other equivalent qualifications: | View information on other UK qualifications, and international qualifications. |
Wherever possible, your grades are considered in the context in which they have been achieved.
Read further information on how we use contextual data.
Subject requirements
| Essential: | Candidates are required to have Biology and either Chemistry, Physics or Mathematics to A-level, Advanced Higher, Higher Level in the IB or another equivalent. |
|---|
If a practical component forms part of any of your science A‐levels used to meet your offer, we expect you to pass it.
If English is not your first language you may also need to meet our English language requirements.
Applying
All candidates must follow the application procedure as shown on our Applying to Oxford pages.
The following information gives specific details for students applying for this course.
All applicants must apply for the MBiol. Students can choose to leave after three years and graduate with a BA, or they can continue to a fourth year and graduate with an MBiol. Progression to the MBiol is contingent on satisfactory academic performance in the first three years.
Written work and admissions tests
You do not need to take a written test or submit any written work as part of an application for this course.
What are tutors looking for?
Tutors are looking for an enthusiasm for biology and potential to study it at university.
Interviews are not designed to test factual knowledge primarily, instead, they show an applicant’s ability to think critically and independently, and to understand the biological knowledge they have accrued up to that time. Be prepared to talk about particular aspects of biology that you find personally interesting.
The process is rigorous but sympathetic. Applicants may be asked to examine and comment on biological diagrams or images, or to interpret a graph, a written passage or a simple set of data, provided during the interview.
Visit the Biology website for more detail on the selection criteria for this course.
Careers
Around 40% of Oxford biology graduates go on to further study such as a research doctorate or postgraduate course in an applied field, while the vast majority of the remainder embark on a professional career after graduating in areas as diverse as education, research, not for profit, health, environmental work, media, marketing, and consultancy.
Hannah, now a research assistant at the Royal Veterinary College, reports:
‘My degree gave me a keen interest in my subject and the skills to pursue it. So far I have tracked rhinos across deserts, chased birds across oceans, and am currently working with chickens!’
After graduation, Jenny spent several years in a medical communication agency environment and now has her own business, working directly with major global pharmaceutical companies. She explains:
‘The tutorial system and writing opportunities during my degree were critical in developing the skills needed to analyse and interpret data, present them clearly and concisely in context and discuss results of clinical trials.’
The new Biology course was introduced for the first time in 2019; hence only career data for a single cohort of graduates is currently available. The information reported here is therefore based on the more extensive data from the previous 3-year BA in Biological Sciences, corroborated by information from the first cohort of graduates from the new course.
We don't want anyone who has the academic ability to get a place to study here to be held back by their financial circumstances. To meet that aim, Oxford offers one of the most generous financial support packages available for UK students and this may be supplemented by support from your college.
Fees
For more information please refer to our course fees page. Fees will usually increase annually. For details, please see our guidance on likely increases to fees and charges.
Living costs
Living costs at Oxford might be less than you’d expect, as our world-class resources and college provision can help keep costs down.
Living costs for the academic year starting in 2025 are estimated to be between £1,425 and £2,035 for each month you are in Oxford. Our academic year is made up of three eight-week terms, so you would not usually need to be in Oxford for much more than six months of the year but may wish to budget over a nine-month period to ensure you also have sufficient funds during the holidays to meet essential costs. For further details please visit our living costs webpage.
Financial support
Home | A tuition fee loan is available from the UK government to cover course fees in full for Home (UK, Irish nationals and other eligible students with UK citizens' rights - see below*) students undertaking their first undergraduate degree**, so you don’t need to pay your course fees up front. In 2025 Oxford is offering one of the most generous bursary packages of any UK university to Home students with a family income of around £50,000 or less, with additional opportunities available to UK students from households with incomes of £32,500 or less. The UK government also provides living costs support to Home students from the UK and those with settled status who meet the residence requirements. *For courses starting on or after 1 August 2021, the UK government has confirmed that EU, other EEA, and Swiss Nationals will be eligible for student finance from the UK government if they have UK citizens’ rights (i.e. if they have pre-settled or settled status, or if they are an Irish citizen covered by the Common Travel Area arrangement). The support you can access from the government will depend on your residency status. |
Islands | Islands students are entitled to different support to that of students from the rest of the UK. Please refer the links below for information on the support to you available from your funding agency: |
Overseas | Please refer to the "Other Scholarships" section of our Oxford Bursaries and Scholarships page. |
**If you have studied at undergraduate level before and completed your course, you will be classed as an Equivalent or Lower Qualification student (ELQ) and won’t be eligible to receive government or Oxford funding
Additional Fees and Charges Information for Biology
First-year students are required to undertake a UK-based residential field course in the summer term (typically 6 days). You will study living organisms in a range of environments, both terrestrial and marine, and the content is assessed as part of the first-year examinations. The University covers all costs for this compulsory trip, including food and accommodation.
Towards the end of the second year, you will complete a two-week skills course. A range of courses will be offered and will include some optional field trips away from Oxford. In 2024, this will include:
- Oxford and Dorset: to study conservation programmes aiming to reverse biodiversity loss;
- Northern Ireland and Wytham: to study the field ecology of birds, split between Northern Ireland and our field-study centre in Oxford;
- Borneo: to study tropical rainforest ecology of both animals and plants.
As a guide, estimated costs for these optional courses in 2024 are:
- £440 for Oxford/Dorset;
- £475 for Northern Ireland/Wytham, plus whatever students spend on lunches and evening meals during the trip;
- £1900 for Borneo.
If you stay on for the fourth year, as part of your course requirements, you will undertake a project. Depending on your choice of topic and the research tools required, you may have to contribute to costs, but only in exceptional circumstances, for example, if you choose to conduct extensive fieldwork in expensive locations. You may choose a project that will incur no extra costs.
Contextual information
Unistats course data from Discover Uni provides applicants with statistics about a particular undergraduate course at Oxford. For a more holistic insight into what studying your chosen course here is likely to be like, we would encourage you to view the information below as well as to explore our website more widely.
The Oxford tutorial
College tutorials are central to teaching at Oxford. Typically, they take place in your college and are led by your academic tutor(s) who teach as well as do their own research. Students will also receive teaching in a variety of other ways, depending on the course. This will include lectures and classes, and may include laboratory work and fieldwork. However, tutorials offer a level of personalised attention from academic experts unavailable at most universities.
During tutorials (normally lasting an hour), college subject tutors will give you and one or two tutorial partners feedback on prepared work and cover a topic in depth. The other student(s) in your tutorials will be doing the same course as you. Such regular and rigorous academic discussion develops and facilitates learning in a way that isn’t possible through lectures alone. Tutorials also allow for close progress monitoring so tutors can quickly provide additional support if necessary.
Read more about tutorials and an Oxford education
College life
Our colleges are at the heart of Oxford’s reputation as one of the best universities in the world.
- At Oxford, everyone is a member of a college as well as their subject department(s) and the University. Students therefore have both the benefits of belonging to a large, renowned institution and to a small and friendly academic community. Each college or hall is made up of academic and support staff, and students. Colleges provide a safe, supportive environment leaving you free to focus on your studies, enjoy time with friends and make the most of the huge variety of opportunities.
- Each college has a unique character, but generally their facilities are similar. Each one, large or small, will have the following essential facilities:
- Porters’ lodge (a staffed entrance and reception)
- Dining hall
- Lending library (often open 24/7 in term time)
- Student accommodation
- Tutors’ teaching rooms
- Chapel and/or music rooms
- Laundry
- Green spaces
- Common room (known as the JCR).
- All first-year students are offered college accommodation either on the main site of their college or in a nearby college annexe. This means that your neighbours will also be ‘freshers’ and new to life at Oxford. This accommodation is guaranteed, so you don’t need to worry about finding somewhere to live after accepting a place here, all of this is organised for you before you arrive.
- All colleges offer at least one further year of accommodation and some offer it for the entire duration of your degree. You may choose to take up the option to live in your college for the whole of your time at Oxford, or you might decide to arrange your own accommodation after your first year – perhaps because you want to live with friends from other colleges.
- While college academic tutors primarily support your academic development, you can also ask their advice on other things. Lots of other college staff including welfare officers help students settle in and are available to offer guidance on practical or health matters. Current students also actively support students in earlier years, sometimes as part of a college ‘family’ or as peer supporters trained by the University’s Counselling Service.
FIND OUT MORE
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