Is DeMontfort good for a Biomedical Science course?

I am assuming given you know about the IBMS accreditation, you are aware of the necessity of it to work in the NHS lab.
The NHS don’t care where you study, just that you meet the standard (IBMS accredited degree) to do the job.
I am a trainee BMS working in chemistry specialist investigations and studied at UWE in Bristol and have known individuals before who have gone on to work as BMS and attended universities I never heard of prior to, such as Liverpool John Moores Uni.
Don’t pay attention to uni league rankings as it’s jumped up crap meant to encourage people to put RG unis first. Student reviews can be helpful but I would say take them with a grain of salt just because if you have a negative experience on something, you are more likely to write a negative review as opposed to someone who had a neutral or positive experience, it’s human nature.
If unsure, perhaps take advantage of an open day or something, that could answer some of your questions.
Good luck and happy to answer any questions you have!

I am assuming given you know about the IBMS accreditation, you are aware of the necessity of it to work in the NHS lab.
The NHS don’t care where you study, just that you meet the standard (IBMS accredited degree) to do the job.
I am a trainee BMS working in chemistry specialist investigations and studied at UWE in Bristol and have known individuals before who have gone on to work as BMS and attended universities I never heard of prior to, such as Liverpool John Moores Uni.
Don’t pay attention to uni league rankings as it’s jumped up crap meant to encourage people to put RG unis first. Student reviews can be helpful but I would say take them with a grain of salt just because if you have a negative experience on something, you are more likely to write a negative review as opposed to someone who had a neutral or positive experience, it’s human nature.
If unsure, perhaps take advantage of an open day or something, that could answer some of your questions.
Good luck and happy to answer any questions you have!

Heyy,
Thank you so much! I am really stressing out with this "prestige" thing, I know it's all mainly just crap, I'm 22 and fed up with some parts of the academic system, but I am still trying to maintain a certain level of difficulty so I know that the course is worth it and not too easy, turning me unprepared for the working environment or leaving me with shallow knowledge? o.o My opinion is somewhere in between, but yea at the end of the day IBMS accreditation is still IBMS accreditation and that's that.
I was wondering if you could tell me a bit about your academic journey, if you found any placement after year 2 and how you did it or found it (or what is the more specific criteria to actually find a certified lab - so that your experience there will be actually worth for the IBMS Portofolio) and what did you do after graduation - any masters, did you straight up get a job, and how did you get where you are now? 😀 I've seen lots people online saying that this degree can be useless or that it is extremely hard to find a job... which I refuse to believe as I am a consistent person and I know consistency and dedication can lead you to interesting places.
Sorry if these are too many questions!!
Thank you!!

Hi;
My academic journey was definitely an interesting one. Personally I ended up retaking my A Levels and failing them miserably despite retaking it and so ended up on the Foundation Year route. My initial goal was to be a teacher and so didn’t end up taking the placement year as I didn’t think I would need it (tldr, I hated teaching and jumped ship after two years).
After leaving, I got a job in the COVID Lighthouse Labs as an AP for three years before leaving to do my Masters (also Biomedical Science but specialising in clinical biochemistry). During this time, I was doing my portfolio but apparently my lab manager didn’t manage to put my application through properly to the IBMS meaning I was unofficially doing my portfolio, however, this was still advantageous to me to some degree… as I knew exactly how to answer interview questions and after graduating, managed to get a job as a trainee BMS within about 3 months of graduating (well, interview was successful, didn’t start until 2 months later as I needed to find a place to move to as the actual hospital was about 120 miles from my parent’s place).
With regards to the degree being “useless”, I wouldn’t say that’s even remotely true. I will however state one thing, there are LOADS more people taking Biomed than there are jobs out there available for it (took me a solid 6 months and a pandemic to find a job as I kept being told I didn’t have enough experience and all the experience was going to the already experienced individuals). So, I would say it is a very saturated market.
I will state though in the interview stage between graduating and my final job, I was informed that if I was successful for the post, I would have to wait 2-3 years before starting my portfolio because I will not lie, there is a MASSIVE queue for the number of people wanting to do it as everyone else in the lab wants to do it, you just have to join the back of the queue… unless you get lucky like myself and get a trainee post (fair warning, I saw maybe 4-5 of these posts go in 3 months and this was dotted around the country from Hull to Plymouth).
I will provide a brief overview beneath this for myself;
1. Graduated in 2018 from my BSc
2. Started doing a teaching course and left teaching in December 2019 (when the plague hit)
3. Manage to find a job in 2020 as a Medical Laboratory Assistant in the Lighthouse Labs
4. About 3 months later, I get promoted to an Associate Practitioner
5. Stay in that post for 3 years (with a 2 month gap in the middle as Boris Johnson closed them before my one opened up again about 2 months later and brought back about 10% of the staff).
6. In 2023, I start my MSc and graduate with a Merit in November 2024
7. In March 2025, I am successful in my interview for a clin chem trainee post
I have noticed one thing though, or this may be unique to the south east, I don’t know. A LOT of labs are being taken over by private companies and so are not NHS labs despite being in the hospitals, it’s bizarre.
In all honesty, had a gone straight into the NHS, I suspect I would be a BMS by now, however, that’s water under the bridge now… I will not deny it will be a potentially long slog for you and hope it works out for you but it’s not useless, but it will require a lot of work and grit (and even more patience)!
I will say though, if you want to be a BMS, you will need a strong stomach as it’s more than just blood, spinal fluid, tissue fluid etc… yes you have to handle a lot of faeces and pee. I’m not telling you this to put you off, I’m telling you so you know what you’re getting into.

Hey guys,
I am thinking about transferring from University of Brighton Biomedical Science Bsc to DeMontfort University Biomedical Science after Year 1 as my family lives around Leicester and it is very hard for me to keep up in such a far away city. I wondered if DeMontfort University is good when it comes to the Biomedical Science course. I know it is IBMS accredited, which is the most important aspect now, but I keep seeing these ranks, that make you think it is one of the worst universities for this course - or in general? x.x I've seen a few forums where people said that DeMontfort biomed feels like college and not like a more advanced uni experience or ..similar things.
Can't say I care too much about night life or the city in general as I had lived there for quite a few years. I just strictly care about the competence of the lecturers, the modules/teaching style (if they are more detailed or broad etc and not superficial!) and if they really help you with that placement year or it's just appealing advertising on their website.
I am as well interested in Demontfort biomed assessment types. Are they more inclined to presentations and essays or MCQ/SAQ exams? (besides lab work ofc)
Also if someone here has more experience or knows more about these universities, would it be a mistake to give up on biomed at brighton? Or is it better if i have UoB on my cv instead of DeMontfort? I like the academic environment and stuff here in brighton, the course seems pretty good - can't complain. I know biomed in brighton is accredited by Royal Society of Biology - would that be a loss? (as DeMontfort does not have this accreditation)
Thank you in advance!!!