Course and Module Catalogue

• The personal tutor role is seen as an important one, offering students a clearly identified and accessible ‘contact person’ for pastoral and academic concerns. The personal tutor is responsible for providing students with advice and guidance concerning academic performance and progress, supporting and advising students with personal difficulties. Personal tutors report to the Year Tutor or Course Leader about any student whose progress is a cause for concern which can initiate a chain of events and processes, involving the academic skills tutors, disability and welfare support, counselling service, student services, and the Students’ Union (each where appropriate) as well as the School’s own Student Guidance and Support Officer.
• Students attend an induction week at the start of their course, during which they are given information about the rules, regulations, practices and procedures of the University. A meeting with their Personal Tutor is scheduled, when they are given a Course Guide and a timetable along with advice about relevant topics such as time management.
• Flying Start is a key programme of all courses. This is an intensive programme of lectures, laboratory practicals, problem solving sessions, group work and social activities with several objectives and aims: to build the student community by building social cohesion within the cohort and by meeting with all members of staff within the Department; to familiarize the students with good laboratory practice, local H&S procedures and build responsibility within the cohort; to demonstrate learning strategy and build clear expectations of rigour and self-discipline amongst the cohort particularly with respect to independent study, library use and problem solving individually and in set groups. The programme also covers key elements of biodiversity and the concept of evolution by natural selection through a tutorial and problem solving session involving small group work, library research and then feedback from the groups on a specific problem in biodiversity and evolution.
• A special feature of these courses is the inclusion of “self-study” modules, the first of which systematic and timetabled sessions with the student’s Personal Tutor to address specific key points in the students development including: PDP, CV and career planning skills (enterprise and employability), promotion of independent study requiring each student to investigate a chosen topic and produce written reports early in Year 1 as well as oral presentations to build confidence in key transferable and subject specific skills. These appear in all levels of the courses, are designed to develop the students’ capacity for independent study (in the context of their chosen subject), in addition to their communication skills, and culminate in the Research Project in the Final Year, which requires students to undertake an individual and original piece of work.
• The Personal Development Planning (PDP) process is facilitated by the Personal Tutor in the context of these self-study modules.
• Student attendance is monitored in accordance with the University regulations. Attendance at lectures is monitored electronically and students who fail to attend regularly are contacted to ensure that there are no major problems being encountered.
• The School of Applied Sciences possesses modern purpose-built suites of chemistry, biology and pharmacy laboratories. These have equipment that students are likely to meet in a typical industry, hospital or research laboratory.

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• BBC at A Level including two relevant Science subjects. The endorsement for practical work is an essential part of Science A-level study, and is a requirement for entry to our degree course. For the Advanced Accredited Courses BBB at ‘A’ Level including an ‘A’ level in chemistry and 2 other sciences subjects.

• DDM in BTEC Level 3 Extended Diploma in Applied Science. Alternatively, a BTEC Health and Social Care is acceptable but must be accompanied by another Science A Level at grade C or above.

• 120 UCAS tariff points from a combination of Level 3 qualifications including a grade B in a Chemistry A-Level, plus another relevant Science subject.

• Access to Higher Education Diploma with 45 Level 3 credits at Merit or above to include modules in relevant science subjects.

• International Baccalaureate with an overall score of 31 points to include modules in relevant science subjects.

• Successful completion of the University of Huddersfield Science Extended degree course.

• Applications are also welcomed from mature candidates capable of benefiting from the course.

• Advanced Accredited courses require ABB at ‘A’ level with the ‘A’ grade in Chemistry or Biology and the remaining 2 ‘A’ levels in relevant science subjects.

• Full details of entry requirements are given in the University Prospectus Entry requirements for all courses in the Biological Sciences Suite are covered by the regulations of the University.

• There is a comprehensive framework for the monitoring and improvement in quality and standards.

• The School of Applied Sciences Board monitors quality and standards, with a devolved responsibility being taken by the School Teaching and Learning Committee. The Biology Suite Course Committee manages the courses.  This is a sub-committee of the School Board.  The Course Committee considers all feedback and evaluation.
• Student Feedback is an integral part of course evaluation and improvement. Students provide feedback through a variety of means including formal module and course evaluation questionnaires, the Student Panel and membership of the Course Committee. The final Year National Student Survey is now a key metric of student satisfaction published by the Government annually.
• Employer Feedback is sought through feedback questionnaires involving employers of our graduates and through monitoring from placement providers.
• External Examiners provide evaluation of the standards achieved by the students. The course team is required to formally respond to comments raised by External Examiners and to report on progress made in addressing any areas on concern.
• All forms of feedback, including a review of progression and completion rates are included in the annual course monitoring report. This is considered through the process of annual evaluation of courses and enables areas of weakness to be identified and clear action plans to be determined and monitored.  In addition to the annual monitoring processes the University organises a quinquennial review at School level.

The report of the Review Panel for the Subject Review/Re-Validation of the of the Biological Sciences subject area, held on Monday 14 March 2016 was recently published. The review was undertaken in accordance with Section G of the University’s handbook of Quality Assurance Procedures for Taught Courses, September 2015. The panel recommended to the University Teaching and Learning Committee that the courses within the Biological Sciences subject area should be revalidated.  The panel were unanimous in their decision to revalidate the course within the subject area.

The panel wished to specifically commend the teaching team on:

• The facilities available to students and staff
• The Resource Centre
• The student representatives and their work ethic
• Their extensive efforts in trying to improve the engagement with students from within the subject area