UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS AND OUTREACH

University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD

If you require an accessible version of the document, please contact Undergraduate Admissions by
email ([email protected] ) or via the online form (http://www.ox.ac.uk/ask).

Biology Course Information Sheet for entry in 2024

Biology is an exciting and rapidly developing subject area with great relevance to addressing global
challenges from disease and poverty to biodiversity loss and climate change.

The study of living things has undergone tremendous expansion in recent years. Topics such as cell
biology, developmental biology, evolutionary biology and ecology, all of which are covered in the
course, are advancing at a great pace. This expansion has been accompanied by an integration of
different biological disciplines. A biologist with an interest in tropical plants may well use many of
the tools and techniques that are indispensable to a molecular geneticist.

The structure of the Oxford Biology course encourages a cross-disciplinary approach. Following an
introduction to fundamental biological principals in the first year, the options system in the second
and third years allows students to specialise in detailed aspects of animals, plants, cells or ecology of
their choosing. The options system encompasses a comprehensive range of topics.

The course offers advanced research skills training, and an optional fourth year. This means students
can either leave after three years with a BA or choose to stay on and complete an extended project
(which can be lab or field based) under the supervision of an academic member of staff. Progression
to the 4-year MBiol is contingent on satisfactory academic performance in the first three years.

The Biology degree is taught by the Department of Biology, with almost all teaching taking place in
the University's Science Area. Additional resources include the Oxford University Museum of Natural
History, the Botanic Garden, the Herbarium, the Arboretum, the John Krebs Field Station and
Wytham Woods.

Skills training is an integral part of teaching across all years and there is a compulsory field trip for all
first-year students to study ecology.

Compulsory skills training in the first year includes carefully selected dissections that have been
designed with animal welfare and conservation principles in mind.

Skills training in the second year is also compulsory and covers a whole range of more advanced
practical and quantitative skills essential for a modern biologist. In the second year, students can
choose from a range of extended skills courses that last one or two weeks. Examples include
ecological fieldwork (in the UK or overseas), genome sequencing and genome editing.

In the third year, students specialise on a narrower range of options, and skills training continues in
the form of journal clubs and computer classes. Please note that despite the University's efforts to
subsidise the course, field-work in the second, third and fourth years requires financial contributions
from the student.
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A typical week
In the first year, your typical weekly timetable can be broken down into the following categories:

• Lectures: around eight hours a week

• Research skills: around six hours of laboratory practical demonstrations (practicals), one
hour of computer practicals and one hour of synthesis sessions each week
• Tutorials: one hour a week, plus preparation time.

In the second and third years, the lecture and research skills workload remains roughly the same
although there is a greater element of choice over the subjects studied.

Lectures and practical class sizes will vary depending on the options chosen, ranging from up to 120
students in the class to as few as 20 students in the class. In the second, third and fourth years,
variable hours are also spent on research projects.

Most tutorials, classes, and lectures are delivered by staff who are tutors in their subject. Many are
world-leading experts with years of experience in teaching and research. Some teaching may also be
delivered by trained PhD students and early career researchers with hands-on research experience.

To find out more about how our teaching year is structured, visit our Academic Year page.

Course structure
YEAR 1

COURSES ASSESSMENT

• The three compulsory themes are: Three written exam papers (assessing
o Diversity of life lecture material and research skills);
o Building a phenotype assessed practical write-ups
o Ecology and evolution
• Compulsory skills training including a mini-
project in the first term
• A field course in the summer term

YEAR 2

COURSES ASSESSMENT

• In Year 2 there is greater specialisation, and Two written exam papers; coursework
you can choose from three of four themes
from:
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YEAR 2

o Genomics and Host-microbe

interactions
o Cell and developmental biology
o Organisms - behaviour and
physiology
o Ecology and evolution
• Compulsory skills training, including a range
of extended skills training courses, lasting
for either one or two weeks

YEAR 3

COURSES ASSESSMENT

• The course broadens into a Three written exam papers; coursework

choice of eight options arising
from the four second year
themes. Students select a
minimum of four of the eight
options.
• Regular skills training regardless
of course choices

A full list of current options is available

on the Biology website.

YEAR 4 (Optional MBiol*)

COURSES ASSESSMENT

The fourth year will give you the chance Research project
to pursue an in-depth research project
under the supervision of an academic
member of staff.

There will also be a mini-conference in

which all students have the opportunity
to present their work to their peers.
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University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD

* Students can choose to leave after three years and graduate with a BA, or they can continue to a
fourth year and graduate with an MBiol. Progression to the MBiol is contingent on satisfactory
academic performance in the first three years.

The University will seek to deliver this course in accordance with the description set out above.
However, there may be situations in which it is desirable or necessary for the University to make
changes in course provision, either before or after registration. For further information, please see
the University's Terms and Conditions.

Fees
These annual fees are for full-time students who begin this undergraduate course here in 2024.

Information about how much fees and other costs may increase is set out in the University’s Terms
and Conditions.

Please note that while the University sets out its annual fees as a single figure, this is a combined
figure for both your University and college fees. More information is provided in your Terms and
Conditions.

Fee status Annual Course fees

Home (UK, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands & Isle of Man) £9,250
Overseas (including most EU students – see Note below) £48,620

Note: Irish nationals living in the UK or Ireland, EU, other EEA, and Swiss nationals who have been
granted settled or pre-settled status in the UK under the EU settlement scheme are eligible for
‘Home fee’ status and student loan support, subject to meeting residency requirements. We will
contact you directly if we need further information from you to determine your fee status.

Please refer to the Undergraduate fee status pages for more information.

Living costs
Living costs for the academic year starting in 2024 are estimated to be between £1,345 and £1,955
for each month you are in Oxford. Our academic year is made up of three eight-week terms, so you
would not usually need to be in Oxford for much more than six months of the year but may wish to
budget over a nine-month period to ensure you also have sufficient funds during the holidays to
meet essential costs. For further details please visit our living costs webpage.
UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS AND OUTREACH
University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD

Living costs breakdown

Per month Total for 9 months
Lower range Upper range Lower range Upper range
Food £315 £495 £2,835 £4,455
Accommodation (including utilities) £745 £925 £6,705 £8,325
Personal items £190 £320 £1,710 £2,880
Social activities £40 £95 £360 £855
Study costs £35 £85 £315 £765
Other £20 £35 £180 £315
Total £1,345 £1,955 £12,105 £17,595

In order to provide these likely living costs (which are rounded to the nearest £5), the University and
the Oxford SU conducted a living costs survey to complement existing student expenditure data
from a variety of sources, including the UK government's Student Income and Expenditure Survey
and the National Union of Students (NUS).

The current economic climate and high national rate of inflation make it very hard to estimate
potential changes to the cost of living over the next few years. When planning your finances for any
future years of study in Oxford beyond 2024-25, it is suggested that you allow for potential increases
in living expenses of around 5% each year – although this rate may vary depending on the national
economic situation. UK inflationary increases will be kept under review and the living costs webpage
updated.

Additional Fees and Charges Information for Biology

First-year students are required to undertake a UK-based residential field course in the summer term
(typically 6 days). You will study living organisms in a range of environments, both terrestrial and
marine, and the content is assessed as part of the first-year examinations. The University covers all
costs for this compulsory trip, including food and accommodation.

Towards the end of the second year, you will complete a two-week skills course. A range of courses
will be offered and will include three optional field trips away from Oxford. In 2023, the field trips
are as follows:

• Tenerife: to study the systematics, diversity and ecology of the local plant communities
• Northern Ireland and Wytham: to study the field ecology of birds, split between Northern
Ireland and our field-study centre in Oxford
• Borneo: to study tropical rainforest ecology of both animals and plants

As a guide, estimated costs for these optional courses in 2023 are:

• £675 for Tenerife, plus whatever students spend on lunches and evening meals during the
trip
• £425 for Northern Ireland/Wytham, plus whatever students spend on lunches and evening
meals during the trip
• £1800 for Borneo

If you stay on for the fourth year, as part of your course requirements, you will undertake a project.
Depending on your choice of topic and the research required to complete it, you may have to
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University Offices, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD

contribute to costs, but only in exceptional circumstances, for example, if you choose to conduct
extensive fieldwork in remote locations.

Further details on field trips can be found on the Biology website.