The Student Room Group

Oxford biology or Cambridge Bio NatSci

Hi all,

I’m applying to uni this year and can’t really decide between Oxford biology or Cambridge biological natural sciences.

My main concern is that, since Oxford doesn’t have an admission test, given my A-Level predicted grades (Biology A*, Maths A*, Further Maths A*, Chemistry A) and GCSE results (8 9s, 1 8, and 2 7s), I’m afraid that I might not even be called back for interviews.

I also don’t have any lab experience or work experience outside of school, which I know wouldn’t be a problem if I apply to Bio NatSci, but I'm not sure if that's also the case for biology at Oxford.

Any advice at all would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much in advance.
The courses are very different in structure. I would advise against choosing based on admissions alone.
Original post by playfulsheep

I also don’t have any lab experience or work experience outside of school, which I know wouldn’t be a problem if I apply to Bio NatSci, but I'm not sure if that's also the case for biology at Oxford.


You don't need work experience for an academic subject. You need to show your interest in your subject through wider reading beyond the curriculum. Have a look at the suggested reading lists on the Oxbridge websites:

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/suggested-subject-resources
https://www.natsci.tripos.cam.ac.uk/prospective-students/reading
Reply 3
Natural Sciences at all Unis offers you the opportunity to study other sciences alongside Biology, and therefore the connections between sciences, and its this overlap that makes it such a valuable degree and in demand in industry/research. Straight Biology is more limiting.

Read the course descriptions in detail - each Uni's course will be slightly different in structure / available subjects :
Natural Sciences, BA (Hons) and MSci | Undergraduate Study (cam.ac.uk)
Natural Sciences - Lancaster University
Natural Sciences (bath.ac.uk)
Natural Sciences - Durham University
School of Natural Sciences - School of Natural Sciences, University of York
Natural Sciences | Undergraduate study | Loughborough University (lboro.ac.uk)
etc

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