Course Options and Advice

Entry into Year 1

Year 1 students will be automatically registered for our four compulsory courses and two recommended courses:  

Compulsory Year 1 courses:

• Biology 1A: Variation (BILG08020, 20 credits)
• Biology 1B: Life (BILG08021, 20 credits)
• Biology 1C: Discovery (BILG08022, 20 credits)
• Biology 1D: Environment (BILG08023, 20 credits)

If you are doing the ‘with Management’ degree (C1N1), you must also take 40 credits of compulsory business courses. Please see the DRPS for more information.

Recommended Year 1 courses:

• Biological Chemistry 1A (CHEM08022, 20 credits)
• Biological Chemistry 1B (CHEM08023, 20 credits)

Chemistry underpins many biological concepts which is why we recommend you take these courses, particularly if you haven't taken Advanced Higher Chemistry (or equivalent). For students without an Advanced Higher (or equivalent) we recommend taking both Biological Chemistry 1A and Biological Chemistry 1B, otherwise just Biological Chemistry 1B is enough.

Any courses other than those listed above will require some research, we'd recommend having a look at the Course Options Hub. In general, Year 1 is the best time to take outside courses because taking them later may restrict your honours options. You must check that any outside course timetables with your compulsory courses, that it is at the appropriate level (SCQF Level 8 for Year 1 and 2 courses) and that you meet any pre-requisites.

Your choices should also be discussed with your Student Adviser or Cohort Lead during Welcome Week. 

Entry into Year 2

Students will be registered for our three compulsory Year 2 courses:

• Biology 2A: Data Exploration in Biology (BILG08024, 20 credits)
• Biology 2B: Genetics and Evolution (BILG08025, 20 credits)
• Biology 2C: Systems and Regulation (BILG08026, 20 credits)

We also offer a variety of recommended courses in the School that you can choose to take. Some of these are recommended for particular honours programmes in year 3. Please have a look at the "Students progressing into Year 2 or 3" Guide in the "Study Guides" section of our Course Guides page. Your choices should also be discussed with your Student Adviser or Cohort Lead during Welcome Week.

Course Guides

Entry into Year 3

You will be pre-registered for the courses which are compulsory for your choice of honours programme. There are recommended courses for each programme, and you can also decide on other courses to take.   

These course choices should be discussed with your Student Adviser during Welcome Week. 

Please have a look at the "Students progressing into Year 2 or 3" Guide in the "Study Guides" section of our Course Guides page.

Course Guides

Every year you will choose the courses that you wish to take, in consultation with your Student Adviser. We host a meeting in February when the options and opportunities for the next academic year will be explained by the Director of Teaching.

You will also be issued with a ‘Programme Guide for Years 2 and 3', which contains lists of required courses for each honours programme. You can find this on our Course Guides page in the "Study Guides" section.

Course Guides

After this meeting, we will ask you to choose your provisional course choices for Year 2 (this helps the BTO to plan for the year ahead). 

You must take the three compulsory Biological Sciences courses as part of your Year 2 curriculum. You will also need to consider which courses are recommended for the honours programme you are interested in studying in Year 3.

Honours programme Choices

At the end of Year 2, you will also be asked for your choice of honours programme, ranking your choices 1 to 4. 

You will be placed in the highest ranked programmes for which you are qualified by the Progression Board (which meets in June and in September).  

Full details of the procedure for registering your choices will be given at a meeting during the year. 

Like in Year 2, we host a meeting in February where our Director of Teaching will outline the options and opportunities available for the next academic year.

You will also be issued with a ‘Programme Guide for Years 2 and 3', which contains lists of required courses for each honours programme. You can find this on our Course Guides page in the "Study Guides" section.

Course Guides

After this meeting, we will ask you to choose your provisional course choices for Year 3 (this helps the BTO to plan for the year ahead). We will also ask you to choose which honours programme you would like to do. You will need to make sure that the courses you choose cover the compulsory courses for the honours programme you are interested in studying.

Choosing Courses for Year 3

All students admitted to Senior Honours will be automatically registered for the compulsory courses for their honours programme.

You will also need to choose elective courses. You will receive an email to your student email account toward the end of Year 3 to provide a link you can use to choose your honours electives. You will be asked to choose more electives than your programme requires you to take (ranked), then we will try to give you your top choices wherever possible.

Choosing Courses for Year 4

Your Student Adviser or Cohort Lead are a great source of information and can provide academic advice about the best courses for different degree programmes and further guidance will also be provided in the appropriate Study Guide for the year of entry, which are available online on the Course Guides pages.

Course Guides

In theory you can choose almost any course offered from across the University provided it fits within the timetable of the compulsory courses for your degree. Year 1 and Year 2 will provide the best opportunity to choose ‘outside’ courses.  

A complete list of all the University courses can be found in the Degree Regulations and Programmes of Study (DRPS), or on Path.

DRPS

Please note that a limited number of courses are restricted to particular programmes and some courses may be oversubscribed. 

• Students intending to take Honours in Ecology or Zoology are required to attend field courses in Years 3 and 4.  
• Usually all programmes will attend a Residential or Field Course in Year 4.  
• All Residential and Field Courses will incur an additional charge that is paid in the year it is taken.  

Year 4 Residential Field Course - Firbush