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Discover Biology and Biosciences

Congratulations on your offer

We’re pleased to offer you a place on one of our Biology and Biosciences courses. As part of the Department of Biology, you’ll be prepared for a range of roles where you can make a real impact. You’ll be immersed in a rich research environment that’ll give you the skills and opportunities to advance human knowledge and understanding today, to make a difference to tomorrow’s world.

With a range of practical experiences and all field trips paid for by us, it’s easy to see why we’re 1st in the North West and Top 10 in the UK for ‘teaching on my course’ (National Student Survey 2025 – Biosciences).

What’s next? Your offer holder day.

Choose from one of the following dates:

  • Saturday 31 January
  • Wednesday 25 February
  • Saturday 14 March

Take part in a subject taster session, meet your tutors and find out more from our students. You can also tour the campus, view accommodation and make friends with your future classmates. Keep an eye on your email inbox for more information on how to book your place or you can email us with the date you’d like to attend.

Facilities available to you

Our two buildings incorporate impressive, modern laboratories, offering exciting and highly relevant practice experience from across the biological sciences. You’ll also get to benefit from our new £17.4m Life Sciences building, featuring dedicated student research labs. Other laboratories include fluorescence and scanning electron microscopes, DNA extraction and analysis equipment, climate-controlled insectaries and more.

Biotechnology

The department is fitted with state-of-the-art labs and equipment which include dedicated facilities for:

  • microbiology
  • molecular biology
  • cell and tissue culture
  • microscopy and vector biology

Available equipment and techniques include anaerobic microbiology chambers, gas chromatography, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), laboratory-size parallel bioreactor system for plant and mammalian applications including drug development, fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS), several types of microscopy, DNA extraction and sequencing, qPCR and PCR facilities and mosquito-rearing facilities.

Plus, 100% of students are employed in highly skilled occupations 15 months after graduating.

Biomedical Science

Access our state-of-the-art cell culture facility dedicated to undergraduate student teaching and research. This facility encompasses:

  • class-II safety cabinets
  • various humidified incubators
  • a fully automated inverted fluorescence microscope to monitor cell growth
  • study of advanced cell culture experiments

You’ll have access to modern biomedical research equipment, including cooled centrifuges for small and large tubes, fine-scales, pH-meters, water-bathes, hot-plates, various shakers, consumables and material for Western-blotting, toxicity and hormone level analyses.

Biology

Biology facilities are wide-ranging with access to equipment such as a Scanning Electron Microscope, biotechnology labs and insectaries where we rear the world’s most deadly organism, the mosquito.

Ecology and Conservation

Our ecology teaching and research take advantage of the outstanding countryside in the vicinity. This includes one of the best coastlines in Europe, ancient woodlands and distinctive rare habitats. The department has the use of a private local woodland for research. We also have excellent lab facilities, including soil labs and microscopy facilities, dedicated labs for invertebrate ecology and plant science, including reference collections and bookable labs open to all students.

Students in white lab coats writing in books.

Prepare for your degree

Before you start your studies, you could:

Supporting you

When you become a student here, you’ll be allocated a Personal Tutor. They will be your main source of support in your academic department. They’ll be with you as you progress throughout your degree, supporting you in three areas: professional/career-related support, pastoral support and signposting you to information you need. But they aren’t just there when you need support. They are also there to celebrate your successes, help with planning your progress and much more.

Hear from our students

When you study one of our biology and bioscience degrees, you’ll combine technical, analytical and communication skills that will enhance your employability prospects. The Department of Biology has an active research culture and an extensive network of relationships with organisations and other universities in the UK and overseas.

Find out more about what our students have to say about their course, work placements available and their experiences as Edge Hill students.

Alice Thomas stood in a lab

Nowhere else provided the breadth of study and module choice I found at Edge Hill. I was able to really experiment and find what I wanted to study and then specialise in the final year.

Alice Thomas

BSc (Hons) Biology

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Emily Webber

There have been multiple opportunities for me to travel and study abroad. This is through field trips, where we gained experience of common data collection techniques, and Study Abroad, where I was able to spend the summer studying in Mexico.

Emily Webber

BSc (Hons) Biology

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Enioluwa Olawoore profile photo in a biology lab

We get to experience various sectors of biotechnology, including plant, industrial, medical and microbial biotechnology.

Enioluwa Olawoore

BSc (Hons) Biotechnology

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My advice for students who find themselves in Clearing is firstly, don’t panic. There are so many people in the same position. Stay true to what you want in a university but also be ready to take on any suggestions. Remember that the process is about finding the best university to suit you, not the misconception of Clearing that it’s just to fill seats. For myself, Clearing was almost like a second chance to pick the right university for me, and I can wholeheartedly say that it paid off.

Eve Davies

BSc (Hons) Biology

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Madeleine Fyers profile photo, sat at a desk with a computer

The belief Edge Hill has in their students is one of the things that makes Edge Hill very special. Throughout my entire degree all of the staff in the Biology department have continued to believe in me.

Madeleine Fyers

BSc (Hons) Plant Science

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Biology student Megan

I handled a sea anemone as big as my head during a marine biology field trip – the kind of real-world experience you can’t get in a classroom.

Megan Quail

BSc (Hons) Biology

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Photo of Oisin Mag Uidhir with orangutan at Blackpool Zoo

I was given the opportunity to work in partnership with Blackpool Zoo. I’m studying their Bornean orangutans and western lowland gorillas. No matter what your area of interest within the department, there’s something for you.

Óisín Mag Uidhir

BSc (Hons) Ecology and Conservation

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Marco Dobson

I’ve gained invaluable experience undertaking countless ecological surveys in the most phenomenal environments both in the UK and abroad.

Marco Dobson

BSc (Hons) Ecology and Conservation

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BSc (Hons) Plant Science alumni student, Ethan Mitchell-Innes

So many opportunities are provided, all you need to do is take them.

Ethan Mitchell-Innes

BSc (Hons) Plant Science

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Chat to our students

Got any questions about studying biology at Edge Hill? Want to know more about student life? Or just want to chat about Edge Hill in general? 

Take a look at our Virtual Open Day

Immerse yourself in our campus with our virtual tour. Explore the buildings from your own home and get a feel for our learning, living and leisure spaces. Roam the halls of our iconic buildings. Start your virtual open day.