Biomed or Biology degree?

I’m a year 13 studying biology, psych, econ and predicted an A, A*, A. I’m completely unsure on which degree to do, biomed or biological sciences. i fit the requirements to do both so that’s not the issue. which one has better job opportunities? my biggest fear is coming out of uni and literally never being able to find a job.

i like both of the courses equally

Reply 1

McGinger

Go to Uni Open Days, listen to the different subject presentations, and ask questions.

Reply 2

TopBun

Speaking as a parent helping my daughter make a similar decision - (and apologies if you know this all already) broadly speaking (sorry bad pun) Biological Sciences covers a much broader range of topics compared to Biomed. And Biomed comes in 2 flavours, IBMS Biomed courses that let you work as a Biomed Scientist in NHS and non IBMS Biomed (often at the more 'selective' Unis) that seem more intended to take you towards post grad / research. Do those career paths appeal at all?

My reading is IBMS Biomed graduate folks are in demand, but do need some work experience and the NHS pay rates aren't sparkling.

Non IMBS Biomed applicants seem to be a mix of folks who wanted to do Medicine but didn't get the grades or folks who genuinely want to work in (mostly human) health related arena and are okay with competing to get on a Masters / PhD to do that (e.g. my daughter). Lancaster is an interesting option if you are unsure, they are one of the few selective unis that do IBMS and non IBMS courses.

I am encouraging Biological Sciences, partly because it is broader than Biomed (so beyond human health) but still offers lots of opportunity to find a specialism my daughter will love - which is part of the challenge with being a research scientist (which is what I did myself after graduation). In reality the programme content can look quite similar at some Unis when you unpick the module choices, but some Unis are less keen on transfers between programmes after year 1 than others.

Speaking as a parent and academic (who has worked as a placement tutor) I would really encourage you to find courses / unis that are really active in enabling placements - like Loughborough, Warwick etc. A placement can significantly enhance your employability, it usually improves your final year grade and it usually helps clarify what direction you want (or don't want) in your career.

Don't underestimate the different feel of different unis, which ones have you been to and liked? Really wanting to be at your chosen uni can enhance your employability because you will really want to be there and really want to do well.

Don't underestimate the difference in the modules of the programmes and the biases / preferences of the Unis (back to McGinger comment above about talking to unis and students). For example Bristol has some really interesting programmes, but like to see a strong Chemistry grade - you aren't doing Chemistry so might find Bristol a bit less fun. Loughborough only do a couple of Bio programmes but do (probably unsurprisingly) bias to human performance and elite sport side of things

- my daughter and I went through all her UCAS Uni / course choices, printed out the module choices and went through them - only 2 courses made the cut, so her Firm and Insurance were actually really obvious