Keele takes a broad approach to biology, examining the diversity of life and its evolution from the geological past. You’ll consider topics which may include the complexity of biological processes and mechanisms at molecular, cellular, organismal and ecosystem levels, exploring related philosophical and ethical issues. You’ll develop your practical skillset through activities which may include sampling, recording and analysing data in the field and in our well-equipped labs. You will also explore the behaviour and physiology of whole organisms.

Education at Keele has a strong focus on contemporary issues in education and policy making. Studying education means considering its relationship to the economy, its historical evolution, its impact on people’s life chances and identities, how education is organised, and how learners learn. Keele places education in a very contemporary and even future focused context, exploring the ways in which the world of education is changing, and looking at education from philosophical, historical, psychological, cultural and sociological perspectives. This course examines a wide range of topics which may include the changing ideas about childhood, learning, schooling and education, and factors such as poverty, social policies and digital technologies which impact on these. You will explore a range of educational topics, which could include both present and future developments in education and professional practice, against the wider background of social, cultural and economic change.

Biology at Keele offers both breadth and depth of knowledge, preparing you for a range of directly or indirectly related careers. You might work as a research scientist, as an environmental consultant, conservationist, in quality control areas of the food industry, in the pharmaceutical industry or as a scientific writer.

Our undergraduate Education programme is not a teacher-training course but a study of education itself. However, the course does open up a range of opportunities in settings from pre-school to adult learning, as well as a variety of other contexts. On graduating you might work in the social services, in health, or in local or central government. The course also prepares you for further professional study to qualify in areas such as teaching, social work or the legal profession.

When you graduate, you might choose to do a PGCE and become a teacher. You will possess highly developed subject-specific and critical thinking skills that are prized for careers in schools. The course also opens up a range of opportunities outside schools as you will acquire a range of transferable employability skills of relevance to laboratory and industry careers.