Is studying pharmacology at Kingston worth it?

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It is a good degree, although Kingston isn't a prestigious university. Employers will look for a first class degree, plus a placement year in industry. Doing an MSc or MRes at a better university later on can help get onto a funded PhD.

Reply 2

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Stop worrying - its a professionally accredited degree with a set syllabus:
"This course meets the core curriculum requirements set out by the British Pharmacological Society (BPS), the professional association for pharmacologists. This course is also accredited by the Royal Society of Biology."

Reply 3

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Original post

by McGinger

Stop worrying - its a professionally accredited degree with a set syllabus:
"This course meets the core curriculum requirements set out by the British Pharmacological Society (BPS), the professional association for pharmacologists. This course is also accredited by the Royal Society of Biology."

If the student is high calibre then studying at Kingston won't be a barrier. But if not, then it is worth a pause for thought.

Reply 4

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Original post

by Physician

If the student is high calibre then studying at Kingston won't be a barrier. But if not, then it is worth a pause for thought.

Could you explain exactly what you mean.

Reply 5

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Original post

by McGinger

Could you explain exactly what you mean.

Bright students will usually shine through regardless of where they study.

Reply 6

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Original post

by Physician

Bright students will usually shine through regardless of where they study.

I think you will find that for the vast majority of subjects 'which Uni' is irrelevant to most employers - and in the case of accredited healthcare degrees, essentially meaningless.

Reply 7

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Original post

by McGinger

I think you will find that for the vast majority of subjects 'which Uni' is irrelevant to most employers - and in the case of accredited healthcare degrees, essentially meaningless.

There are exceptions to this. For a funded PhD project, academics look at your grade, the actual marks obtained, and the calibre of the university you attended. A first class degree would render the university you attended as far less important than what would otherwise be the case. World leading biosciences research companies in Oxford and Cambridge would also expect very strong academic credentials, and it would be unusual for them to hire many graduates from newer universities. They want the best, and they have plenty of them on their doorstep already.

Reply 8

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Original post

by Physician

There are exceptions to this. For a funded PhD project, academics look at your grade, the actual marks obtained, and the calibre of the university you attended. A first class degree would render the university you attended as far less important than what would otherwise be the case. World leading biosciences research companies in Oxford and Cambridge would also expect very strong academic credentials, and it would be unusual for them to hire many graduates from newer universities. They want the best, and they have plenty of them on their doorstep already.

The applicant is asking about employment opportunities after an undergraduate degree - not applying for a PhD at Oxbridge.

Reply 9

Kingston Grace

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Original post

by Anonymous

I was accepted at Kingston but I have heard it's not that great. My biggest concern is employment in research or medical industries. For the students that study pharmacology at Kingston already, do you think its worth it?

Hello,

Firstly congratulations on being accepted at Kingston!

I don't personally study pharmacology at Kingston, so I can only speak from experience on my course (fashion promotion and communication) on how well I think the university prepares you for employment and helps you become more employable.

Firstly at Kingston there is the careers centre which offers lots of great services such as CV building, writing a cover letter, job search, interview preparation, specialist career advice and more. I believe you can even use these services once you have graduated to help you make that next step. As well as the physical careers centre at the Penrhyn Road campus and the drop ins the team does on all 4 campuses, you can also use the online service. The team also put on a range of careers fairs, where you can meet future employees and make connections.

Each course also takes part in the future skills programme which helps you learn about and develop the skills employees are looking for. During my second year through this programme we went to a assessment centre which allowed us to take part in exercises such as interviews, group tasks and presentations that may be expected from us when we apply for a job.

Your course also allows you to do a placement year to get hands on experience in industry. Something I am looking forward to starting next week.

I will leave a link to this previous post I have done that you may find useful to read How Kingston Prepares you for Industry - The Student Room

I hope this helps and if you have any questions feel free to ask :smile:

-Grace (Kingston Rep)

Reply 10

Jakeclarke

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Original post

by Anonymous

I was accepted at Kingston but I have heard it's not that great. My biggest concern is employment in research or medical industries. For the students that study pharmacology at Kingston already, do you think its worth it?

For health/medicine degrees, the uni you go to DOES NOT matter at all- unless you're trying to work in some big private MNCs, you will most certainly get a job through the NHS.

Reply 11

Kingston Maddie

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Original post

by Anonymous

I was accepted at Kingston but I have heard it's not that great. My biggest concern is employment in research or medical industries. For the students that study pharmacology at Kingston already, do you think its worth it?

Hiya
I'm the biological science student rep for Kingston University and we have students who got into Francis Crick, who are doing PhDs, who are working for parliament, training to work as NHS doctors... As long as you put effort and get a first degree there are a lot of great doors open to you.

Best, Maddie (Kingston Rep)

Reply 12

Kingston Jenifer

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Original post

by Anonymous

I was accepted at Kingston but I have heard it's not that great. My biggest concern is employment in research or medical industries. For the students that study pharmacology at Kingston already, do you think its worth it?

Hi there,

so for me personally, my time at Kingston has been really good. It was't my first choice uni as I wanted to go to another uni, but I am so glad I went here. I'm not just saying that because I'm a rep - I took advantage of everything offered to me.

I was involved in:

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Volunteering schemes

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Entrepreneurship schemes

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Student Ambassador

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Society committees

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Worked with KUextra

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used KU webinars to build my own businesses

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worked 1:1 with careers advisors

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work experience schemes

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student DEI schemes

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and of course, experience that I found through being proactive

All of the above I undertook at Kingston, and this lead me to land a placement at a top pharmaceutical company. This has springboard my career in the pharmaceutical industry.

You need to put the effort in. One of my managers at the pharmaceutical company I did a placement in actually went to Kingston Uni. It isn't really about where you go, but what you do with the opportunities given to you. Because equally, I have friends that graduated the year before me, who went to better ranked uni's, that still can't find a graduate job.

Kind regards, Jenifer (Kingston rep)

Reply 13

Phoneetc

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Original post

by Anonymous

I was accepted at Kingston but I have heard it's not that great. My biggest concern is employment in research or medical industries. For the students that study pharmacology at Kingston already, do you think its worth it?

very late but the most important aspect of any pharmacology agree is lab work. as long as you're exposed to sufficient lab work you can essentially learn a lot of the syllabus independently (immunology -> Kuby Immunology 8th edition, etc)
Make sure there is an option for a year in industry as well

(edited 1 month ago)

Reply 14

Kingston Grace