---
title: "Science education in England"
chunk: 10/14
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_education_in_England"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:21:10.973540+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

A bachelor's degree is the first level a student must attain before they can be described as a graduate; it is an RQF level 6 qualification (although bachelor degrees in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine are RQF level 7). That means that foundation degree graduates (RQF level 5) will have to 'top-up' to a full degree before they can be referred to as graduates. Undergraduate university-level science education continues to build on the core and derived areas covered at KS3–5, but at a substantially more advanced level. Students studying bachelor degrees in the traditional sciences of physics, biology, and chemistry will typically study all KS3/4 core areas and their derived areas for their respective sciences in great detail. Also, students get the opportunity to study bachelor degrees in subjects that have developed from the core and derived areas of the three sciences to become independent subjects in their own right. For example, geology developed from several KS3/4 core areas of chemistry and physics; molecular biology developed from biochemistry and genetics, which are two KS3/4 core areas of biology; organic chemistry developed from several KS3/4 core areas of chemistry; astronomy is generally considered to be a branch of physics, but it is also an ancient science in its own right. It is even possible for a student to study one of the KS3/4 core areas as a bachelor's degree; for instance, a student could do a degree in biochemistry. Not all undergraduate students studying science study for science degrees; many will study science as part of a vocational degree, such as engineering, pharmacy, medicine, dentistry, nursing, veterinary medicine, allied health professions, and so on. And some will study science as part of a higher/degree apprenticeship. In such cases, the student will generally tend to study the parts of the traditional sciences that are relevant to their vocation or apprenticeship. For example, after the 'premedical' stage, medical students in English universities study several KS3/4 core and derived areas of biology in depth, but in most cases, this is only where they relate to humans; very little relating to other animals and nothing relating to plants are covered. Experiments (practicals), which have been important to the science curriculum since KS1, can be quite extensive at university level, and by the time of the dissertation project, the student may well be doing complex experiments lasting weeks or months unsupervised (although they will still have a supervisor on hand). Bachelor science degrees in England are offered by both universities and some further education colleges.
University-level teachers (also referred to in England as lecturers) will typically teach one topic of the science the student is studying, but two notable differences between university-level science education in further education colleges and universities are that in universities, there is a close connection between teaching and research. In other words, it is common for a university teacher to be a researcher in the area they teach—this applies not just to science, but to all areas; such connection between teaching and research does not occur in further education colleges in England. And the other difference is that further education colleges must have their degrees approved by universities. Although universities do not need approval for their science degrees and are free to set their own content, they generally get many of their science courses accredited by professional bodies. So, for example, universities offering biology degrees commonly get these programmes accredited by the Royal Society of Biology; for chemistry degrees, it is the Royal Society of Chemistry; for physics degrees, it is the Institute of Physics; for geology degrees, it is the Geological Society, and so on. Accreditation of a science degree by a professional body is a precondition if the student studying the degree wishes to become a member of the body following graduation, and subsequently acquire chartered status. In addition, UK universities are obliged to ensure that their degrees meet the standards agreed to in the Bologna Process to which the UK is a co-signatory. The QAA certifies those British degrees that meet those standards.

=== Master's level ===

A master's degree is the next level after a bachelor's degree; it is an RQF level 7 qualification. In England, it is actually possible to combine a master's with a bachelor's degree—these are called integrated degrees. It is, however, common for students to do bachelor's and master's as separate degrees in England. Master's degree science education tends to be highly focused on one or two of the core or derived areas covered at KS3–5 and the bachelor's degree, and it is even possible to study a 'derived from a derived' field. For example, structural biology developed from molecular biology, which in turn developed from the biology KS3/4 core areas of biochemistry and genetics; solid-state physics developed from several K3/4 core areas of physics, but it also developed from quantum mechanics, which itself developed from several physics KS3/4 core areas. As mentioned earlier, there are opportunities for a student to study one core area for their bachelor's degree, for instance, a biochemistry bachelor's degree, but it is really at the master's level that true specialisation begins. The initial stages of many (but not all) master degree programmes require attendance to classroom lessons and even exams, but the later stages will be entirely research-based.

=== Doctorate level ===