Second Year Transfer

I am starting my second year of Uni at the University of Bradford on their Biomedical Science course this year. I have received an offer from the University of York for a second point of entry on their Biomedical Sciences course.
I'm unsure whether to go through with it as the course at Bradford is IBMS accredited, while the one at York is RSB accredited. Could I get a second opinion on this?

Reply 1

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

Original post by AtlasButter

Hi @AtlasButter

Do you want to work as a biomedical scientist in the NHS? The IBMS (Institute of Biomedical Science) accredits courses that meet it's standards to basically say "this course teaches you stuff that's relevant to become a biomedical scientist" which is needed as part of your application to the HCPC (The Health and Care Professions Council) to become qualified. I believe you also need a year of laboratory training in an NHS lab to complete your portfolio, so if it is a career you are interested in I would start looking into now as many people do this year as a placement year between their second and third year at university (although I think there is the possibility to do it after graduation).

Non-IBMS accredited degrees are normally aimed more at jobs in research/industry so they don't try to meet the accreditation (as it means more limited module options). IBMS accredited degrees can also be used to go down these pathways, but they also open up the option of becoming a biomedical scientist. You could do a non-IBMS accredited degree and do top up modules after graduation to meet the criteria but it can be very expensive from what I've heard.

I don't really think an RSB accreditation is super important in my opinion? I highly doubt any graduate roles would be selective based on it - but someone please correct me if I'm wrong!

I'll attach some links to information about working as a biomedical scientist below, but I don't know too much about it as I study biochemistry. I would recommend talking to your careers team at university or potentially if you have an academic tutor in the biosciences department they would be able to give you some advice.

https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/healthcare-science/roles-healthcare-science/life-sciences/biomedical-science
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/biomedical-scientist
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/biomedical-scientist

I hope I could help a little!
Rebecca (Lancaster Student Ambassador)