- UCAS course code
- B940
- UCAS institution code
- M20
Early clearing information
This course is available through clearing for home and international applicants
If you already have your exam results, meet the entry requirements, and are not holding an offer from a university or college, then you may be able to apply to this course.
Contact the admissions team
Bachelor of Science (BSc)
BSc Biomedical Sciences
Duration: 3 years
Year of entry: 2025
UCAS course code: B940 / Institution code: M20
- Key features:
Study abroad
- Typical A-level offer: AAA-AAB including specific subjects
- Typical contextual A-level offer: AAB-ABC including specific subjects
- Refugee/care-experienced offer: ABB-ABC including specific subjects
- Typical International Baccalaureate offer: 36-35 points overall with 6, 6, 6 to 6, 6, 5 at HL, including specific requirements
Fees and funding
Fees
Tuition fees for home students commencing their studies in September 2025 will be £9,535 per annum (subject to Parliamentary approval). Tuition fees for international students will be £34,500 per annum. For general information please see the undergraduate finance pages.
Additional expenses
Policy on additional costs
All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).
Course unit details:
Human Reproductive Biology
| Unit code | BIOL31561 |
|---|---|
| Credit rating | 10 |
| Unit level | Level 3 |
| Teaching period(s) | Semester 1 |
| Available as a free choice unit? | No |
Overview
In this unit, students from a wide range of backgrounds explore how reproduction is controlled, influenced by medical and pharmacological intervention and affected by disease.
Aims
This integrative unit teaches students the basic science underpinning reproductive processes, including elements of endocrinology, cell and developmental biology, vascular biology and physiology. We aim to train them to link foundational knowledge to contemporary advances in reproductive biology as well as current developments and practice in reproductive and fetal medicine. In addition to basic mechanism, we offer students insight into disorders that affect a significant proportion of pregnancies, including miscarriage, preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction, and help them develop an understanding of how disease in late pregnancy is caused by earlier events and the consequences for mother and baby.
Learning outcomes
Upon completion of this unit, students will have gained an overall understanding of human reproduction, its associated technologies and reproductive disorders. They will be able to describe:
- The mechanisms of action of peptide and steroid hormones.
- Gamete production in male and female, fertilisation, the pre-implantation embryo, implantation and placental function.
- How this knowledge is put to use in assisted reproduction.
- How placental dysfunction can lead to major disorders of pregnancy and contemporary research developments aimed at addressing these.
- How imaging techniques can reveal embryonic and fetal growth.
- How genetics has been exploited in mouse and human to probe aspects of reproductive physiology.
- How events before and during pregnancy can influence health in later life.
They will be able to integrate this knowledge into outputs that draw on a range of course topics and show an awareness of current advances.
Syllabus
- Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis.
- Steroids and their receptors.
- Spermatogenesis, testicular stem cells and fertility in the male.
- Ovarian and uterine function in the menstrual cycle.
- Fertilisation and pre-implantation development.
- Assisted reproductive technologies.
- Implantation, placental development and fetal imaging.
- Vascular adaptations in pregnancy.
- The major diseases of pregnancy: miscarriage, pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction.
- Developmental programming: how events during embryonic and fetal life affect health in the adult.
Employability skills
- Analytical skills
- The course has a strong focus on integrative thinking, especially in relation to examination essay questions. Material from different parts of the course has to be understood in its own right, , then brought together to reach a level of understanding that allows links between topics to be perceived and understood, as for example in parallels between male and female gonadal function, or hormone action across the two reproductive tracts.
- Innovation/creativity
- In the context of integrative thinking and developing expertise in the appropriate uses of outside information. Also in the use of diagrams and flow charts in examinations and presentations.
- Oral communication
- Students work in small groups to produce and deliver presentations. Students draft essay answers and formulate questions, based on their current understanding, to initiate face-to-face dialogue with tutors in lectures and workshops.
- Research
- Background reading to consolidate lecture information into a coherent understanding of complex topics. Exploration of current findings is encouraged by means of directed reading including recommended primary literature and review papers.
- Written communication
- Students can formulate reasonable questions for email dialogue with tutors. Students provide written feedback to peers for the peer review element of the GBL assignment (see assessment below).
- Other
- The unit provides students with an insight into the way basic science studies in reproduction have led to medical advances that have a profound impact on lifestyles and choices regarding family size and personal health. The raised awareness of the science-societal interface that students acquire is generalisable to other areas of science, medicine and health, and will be of value in many workplace settings.
Assessment methods
| Method | Weight |
|---|---|
| Written exam | 70% |
| Oral assessment/presentation | 30% |
1.5 hour written examination (70%); GBL assignment (presentation) (30%)
Feedback methods
Group feedback is provided on the GBL presentation assessment. Feedback is provided throughout out the course via the course discussion board .During the course there are also face-to-face discussion sessions with tutors, centred around past exam questions. There is a post-exam clinic.
Recommended reading
Compulsory, recommended, background and further reading are provided in the lectures. Lecturers make frequent references to other lectures to help students recognise links between topics and integrate the course content. To some extent outside reading depends on the background of the individual, and students are expected to fill in or revise topics upon which they are rusty. For example, some life sciences students may not have studied the menstrual cycle or steroid hormones since A level. Students should make sure that the necessary basic foundations are in place by cross-referencing between lectures, and only then extend their reading to encompass recent advances. Detailed guidance about reading is given on the course Blackboard site.
General sources:
- Johnson M (2018) Essential Reproduction (8th edition) Wiley-Blackwell.
- Jones RE and Lopez KH (2014) Human Reproductive Biology (4th edition) Academic Press (revision and refresher)
- Heffner LJ and Schust DJ (2014) The Reproductive System at a Glance (4th Edn).Wiley-Blackwell.
Study hours
| Scheduled activity hours | |
|---|---|
| Assessment written exam | 1.5 |
| Lectures | 18 |
| Independent study hours | |
|---|---|
| Independent study | 80.5 |
Teaching staff
| Staff member | Role |
|---|---|
| Sarah Hatherill | Unit coordinator |