Chemistry - BSc (Hons)

Course structure

Duration: 4 years full-time

After successfully completing stage 1 at your first attempt, with an average pass mark of at least 60%, you have the opportunity to spend a year in industry between Stages 2 and 3. We give advice and guidance on finding a placement.

Please note that acceptance onto the course is not a guarantee of a placement. The responsibility of finding a placement is on the student, with help and support from the department. If you cannot find a placement, you will be required to change your registration for the equivalent BSc programme without the Year in Industry option.

The course structure below gives a flavour of the modules and provides details of the content of this programme. This listing is based on the current curriculum and may change year to year in response to new curriculum developments and innovation.

• Stage 1
• Stage 2
• Year abroad
• Stage 3

Teaching and assessment

The degree is made of a combination of lectures, laboratory classes, project work and problem solving seminars.

Assessment is by a combination of written examinations, continuous assessment and other assignments. You must pass the Stage 1 examinations in order to go on to Stage 2. The year in industry mark also counts towards your final degree result.

Coursework assessments include practical laboratory skills, presentation skills as well as essay and report writing.

Please note that there are degree thresholds at stage 1 that you will be required to pass in order to continue onto the next stages. 

Contact hours

For a student studying full time, each academic year of the programme will comprise 1200 learning hours which include both direct contact hours and private study hours.  The precise breakdown of hours will be subject dependent and will vary according to modules.  Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.

Methods of assessment will vary according to subject specialism and individual modules.  Please refer to the individual module details under Course Structure.

Programme aims

The programme aims to:

• Instil a sense of enthusiasm for chemistry, an appreciation of its application in different contexts and involve students in an intellectually stimulating and satisfying experience of learning and studying.
• Provide a broad, balanced foundation of chemical knowledge and practical skills.
• Widen access to as broad a range of students as practicable.
• Develop students’ ability to apply their knowledge and skills to the solution of chemical science problems.
• Develop students’ ability to apply their chemical knowledge and skills to the solution of theoretical and practical problems in chemistry.
• Teach students a wide range of practical skills including a knowledge, understanding and ability to assess safety in the laboratory environment.
• Teach students the appropriate generic skills that will be of value in chemical and non-chemical employment.
• Provide a stimulating, research-active environment in which students are supported and motivated to achieve their academic and personal potential.
• Enable students to graduate with an understanding of scientific methodology, the ability to use this in the solution of problems in and outside of a laboratory environment, and the ability to undertake and report on an experimental investigation using such methodology.
• Establish an appreciation of the importance and sustainability of the chemical sciences in an industrial, academic, economic, environmental and social context.
• Provide the knowledge and skillsfor students to proceed to graduate employment or to further their studies.
• Further develop students’ work-related skills and provide experience of a workplace culture through the opportunity to spend a year in industry.

Learning outcomes

Knowledge and understanding

You gain knowledge and understanding of:

• Core and foundation scientific physical, biological, and chemical concepts, terminology, theory, units, conventions, and laboratory practise and methods in relation to the chemical sciences.
• Areas of chemistry including: properties of chemical elements, states of matter, organic functional groups, physiochemical principles, organic and inorganic materials, synthetic pathways, analytical chemistry, medicinal chemistry, biochemistry, fires and explosions.
• Appreciate developments at the forefront of some areas of chemical science.

Intellectual skills

You gain the following intellectual abilities:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of essential facts, concepts, principles and theories relating to the subject and to this to the solution of qualitative and quantitative problems.
• Recognise and analyse problems and plan strategies for their solution by the evaluation, interpretation and synthesis of scientific information and data.
• Use computational methods for the practical application of theory and to use IT and data-processing skills to search for, assess and interpret chemical information and data.
• Skills in essay writing and presenting scientific material and arguments clearly and correctly, in writing and orally, to a range of audiences and communicate complex scientific argument to a lay audience.

Subject-specific skills

You gain subject-specific skills in the following:

• Safe handling of chemical materials, taking into account their physical and chemical properties, including any specific hazards associated with their use and risk assessment.
• The ability to carry out documented standard laboratory procedures involved in synthetic and analytical work in relation to organic and inorganic systems, skills in observational and instrumental monitoring of physiochemical events and changes and the systematic and reliable documentation of the above and the operation of standard analytical instruments employed in the chemical sciences.
• Collate, interpret and explain the significance and underlying theory of experimental data, including an assessment of limits of accuracy.
• Use experimental data to inform future work.
• The ability to implement research projects including competence in the design and execution of experiments.

Transferable skills

You gain transferable skills in the following:

• Communication, written and oral.
• The ability to undertake further training of a professional nature.
• Problem-solving, relating to qualitative and quantitative information, extending to situations where evaluations have to be made on the basis of limited information.
• Numeracy and computational abilities, including such aspects as error analysis, order-of-magnitude estimations, correct use of units and modes of data presentation.
• Information-retrieval, in relation to primary and secondary information sources, including online computer searches.
• IT abilities, such as word-processing and spreadsheet use, data-logging and storage, and internet communication.
• Interpersonal skills, the ability to interact with other people and to engage in team working within a professional environment.
• Time-management and organisation, as evidenced by the ability to plan and implement efficient and effective modes of working.
• To be able to continue your professional development and employment.
• The ability to function effectively in an industrial or commercial environment through a Year in Industry.

Careers

Your Future

You graduate with an excellent grounding in scientific knowledge and extensive laboratory experience. In addition, you also develop the key transferable skills sought by employers, such as:

• excellent communication skills
• work independently or as part of a team
• the ability to solve problems and think analytically
• time management.

This means that our graduates are well equipped for careers across a range of fields and have gone on to work for companies such as SG Technologies Ltd., Reckitt, Concept Life Sciences, and GSK. You can read their stories, and find out about the range of support and extra opportunities available to further your career potential here