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Best UK universities for Zoology?

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows which UK unis are most well known for zoology? (Excluding the biggies like Oxbridge, Edinburgh and London Unis) Every league table has different pick for the best. I basically want to know which Unis are best known in the working field, and would look good on a cv lol.
Original post by Clawd
Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows which UK unis are most well known for zoology? (Excluding the biggies like Oxbridge, Edinburgh and London Unis) Every league table has different pick for the best. I basically want to know which Unis are best known in the working field, and would look good on a cv lol.

Good evening @Clawd

It's great to hear you are thinking about studying Zoology.

In terms of choosing the best university, it is down to students' preferences, some students prefer a university with more hands-on zoology experience, such as; Gloucester, Bangor, and A.R.U. Whereas universities which are more research-based include; Reading Uni , Newcastle, and Exeter.

Similarly, when it comes to your CV, recruiters tend to look at your experience rather than where your degree came from. I would advise you to focus on what makes you happy, and how you prefer to study, e.g lecture-based studying or smaller groups. Some universities do not have exams, so this might be something to consider when choosing a university.

At the University of Reading, we have a virtual tour which students can use to look around the university from their own homes. You can find this via this link.

I believe it is a good-quality education; the lectures are amazing, and the opportunities they provide students are good. So far, I have had around 8 field trips and 12 or more laboratory experiences, including for examination purposes.At Reading, there are two semesters per academic year. Throughout the year, you need to have 120 credits. Each module is worth 20 credits, so you must complete six. Ideally, you will have 3 modules per semester, but the modules don't always work out like this. It depends on when the optional modules are taught.

If you have any questions about the university or the course, please let me know.

All the best,
Ella
BSc Ecology.
Reply 2
Original post by UniofReading
Good evening @Clawd
It's great to hear you are thinking about studying Zoology.
In terms of choosing the best university, it is down to students' preferences, some students prefer a university with more hands-on zoology experience, such as; Gloucester, Bangor, and A.R.U. Whereas universities which are more research-based include; Reading Uni , Newcastle, and Exeter.
Similarly, when it comes to your CV, recruiters tend to look at your experience rather than where your degree came from. I would advise you to focus on what makes you happy, and how you prefer to study, e.g lecture-based studying or smaller groups. Some universities do not have exams, so this might be something to consider when choosing a university.
At the University of Reading, we have a virtual tour which students can use to look around the university from their own homes. You can find this via this link.
I believe it is a good-quality education; the lectures are amazing, and the opportunities they provide students are good. So far, I have had around 8 field trips and 12 or more laboratory experiences, including for examination purposes.At Reading, there are two semesters per academic year. Throughout the year, you need to have 120 credits. Each module is worth 20 credits, so you must complete six. Ideally, you will have 3 modules per semester, but the modules don't always work out like this. It depends on when the optional modules are taught.
If you have any questions about the university or the course, please let me know.
All the best,
Ella
BSc Ecology.

Thank you Ella, this was really helpful. :smile:
Original post by Clawd
Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows which UK unis are most well known for zoology? (Excluding the biggies like Oxbridge, Edinburgh and London Unis) Every league table has different pick for the best. I basically want to know which Unis are best known in the working field, and would look good on a cv lol.

Hi @Clawd,

Agreeing with the comments above it does depend if you are wanting a more research based or hands-on course. For research based I would suggest looking at Russel Group universities as they all carry out their own research as well as doing teaching.

I studied BSc Zoology and have gone on to do an MRes in Wildlife conservation. For me the two biggest universities for zoology courses at the time were Exeter University and the University of Southampton.

Once you have narrowed it down to a few universities I suggest looking in detail at the modules you will be taught so you can pick the degree best suited to you. For me I found Southampton's course to be a lot more flexible with the opportunity to even take a few modules outside of zoology. I subsequently took modules from Biology, Environmental Science and Marine Biology to tailor the course to me exact interests.

Another way to help decide is to look outside of the course at things like the campus, city and general location. For example, I liked that Southampton was only a 1hr 15min train to London.

I hope this helps you with your choices,
Abby - 4th year UoS student
Original post by Clawd
Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows which UK unis are most well known for zoology? (Excluding the biggies like Oxbridge, Edinburgh and London Unis) Every league table has different pick for the best. I basically want to know which Unis are best known in the working field, and would look good on a cv lol.
hi @Clawd My daughter is doing zoo biology at Nottingham trent uni. They also offer zoology, but the Zoo biology is very similar and she also gets more chance to work with the big cats as work experience is big in zoo biology. Shes in freshers but straight off the bat shes hands on with the animals, which are on campus 🙂 Im in love with the ferrets myself, but theres plenty of animals on site. Shes hoping to get involved with the lambing when the time comes. She had to get a boilersuit and wellies because of it being hands on as well as classroom taught. So she gets the best of both worlds. She did start at Reading last year, but got homesick. Nice campus though and it is classroom based for zoology there. She also saw on open days Chester, Bangor, Lincoln. Think out of those three to be hands on is Bangor. It is in the classroom predominantly but they was hugely pushing on the internship work experience.
Nottingham Trents campus is on Brackenhurst near Southwell, but it is basically 40 mins journey out of Nottingham city to the country side. They do have accommodation on campus and most first years go there. They have a bar on campus and also 2 eateries, and a shop. They do tend to live in the city by year two and commute in, but for first year its lovely as everyone all bonds, and they are doing something animal related course or geography or ecology based. You wont get a maths student at Brackenhurst as its solely geared up for animals. They have horses on site and a working farm too.

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