FdSc Applied Science

(Wiltshire College and University Centre, Salisbury Campus)

UCAS Code:
F100
Institution:
B50
Delivery:
Full time according to Funding Council definitions

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Delivered at Wiltshire College and University Centre's Salisbury campus, this course will prepare you for working in a scientific environment; be it a Biological, Biochemical, Chemical or Forensic environment. The course will give you sufficient vocational skills and knowledge to be attractive to employers at the end of the two years study, although an additional third year onto a top-up course to achieve a full BSc degree would place all the knowledge gained and skills developed to good use in the scientific field.

If you do not meet the entry requirements for the FdSc, you can opt to take a foundation year before progressing on to the FdSc Applied Science. The number of students in any one year will be relatively small so all students will have maximum support from each module and personal tutor. You will need to research current topics in your area of study and a specific module has been designed in the first year to help you understand how best to achieve this.

There is no work placement requirement but in the second year of the FdSc, a Work Related Project may require you to liaise with a local company or organisation, applying your knowledge gained to a real-world issue linked to your area of interest within the programme.

Overall, the course is intended to produce students who are ‘fit for work’ with the theoretical and practical knowledge which would benefit any employer in the forensic or scientific field.

Interested in studying this course part-time? Enquire now.

Image description — Wiltshire college life science facilities 1

Key information

Next start date:

September 2021

Location:

Wiltshire College and University Centre, Salisbury

Duration:

FdSc 2 years full-time, 3 years part-time, or with foundation year 3 years full-time, 5 years part-time

Required subjects:

Biology

Entry requirements:

For September 2021 entry:

FdSc: 48 UCAS Tariff Points (normally to include Biology), e.g. 2Es or 1C at A Level or an AVCE Double Award at EE or BTEC / City and Guilds National Technical Diploma. For more information check out our 2021 entry requirements.

With Foundation Year: 32 UCAS Tariff Points and 3 GCSEs in English, Science and Maths (grade C/4) or equivalent.

International entry requirements:

For September 2021 entry: If English is not your first language you'll need IELTS (Academic) 6.0 with minimum 5.5 in each component or equivalent. For more information check out our International entry requirements.

Course details

Students will be given the opportunity to participate in lectures and workshops, plan and deliver presentations to their peers, research areas of relevance to the degree programme, critically evaluate the validity and implications of information and work with a wide variety of Applied Science hardware and software.

Details of the assessment methods and contact hours for each unit of the course can be found in the programme specification.

Download the foundation degree programme specification FdSc (pdf 398kb)Download the foundation degree programme specification FdSc with foundation year

Foundation year

Foundations in Biology: This unit provides the necessary skills and knowledge to gain an understanding of some of the key principles in biology and microbiology. Essential biological practical skills and techniques are built into the practical aspects of the module which supports the theoretical subject material.
Foundations in Chemistry: This unit provides the necessary skills and knowledge to gain a fundamental knowledge of organic, inorganic and physical chemistry. Essential chemical operations such as mole calculations and developing chemical formula will be incorporated into the practical aspects where basic chemical techniques will be introduced.
Mathematical Science Skills: This unit will give you confidence in mathematics allowing you to perform calculations on a range of scientific data and to be able to represent the findings in an appropriate format including graphs. To carry this out, it is essential to be able to convert the data between systems of units and to understand how to present very large and very small numbers in standard form. Basic statistical analysis of tabulated data will be carried out to introduce the concept of confidence limits.
Practical Science: This unit will increase your confidence in identifying suitable scientific practical techniques in order to carry out a wide variety of chemical, biological and physical practical tasks. You will develop your practical scientific skills across chemistry and biology to achieve given outcomes whilst working safely.

FdSc Year 1

Introduction to Applied Science: This module provides you with key aspects of Science to investigate which will be used to demonstrate the application of scientific principles that the student will encounter in subsequent units within their programme.
Fundamental Chemistry: This module provides the underpinning knowledge and skills necessary for a scientist which are studied in greater depth in the remainder of the modules for this programme.
Essential Biology and Physiology: This module provides you with an understanding of basic cell structures and an awareness of different cell types and relates the structure and activities of cell components to their functions and to cellular activities.
Mathematics for Science: This module provides you with confidence in performing calculations on a range of scientific data and to be able to represent the findings in an appropriate format including graphs.
Academic Writing Skills: This module prepares you for producing extended pieces of writing on scientific topics using the conventional format that shows clarity and consistency.
Practical Laboratory Skills: This module provides you with confidence in identifying suitable scientific practical techniques in order to carry out a wide variety of chemical and biological practical tasks.

FdSc Year 2

Professional Development Portfolio: This module places the emphasis on the practical approaches towards students’ personal development planning and self-assessment.
Anatomy and Physiology: The module focuses on a detailed exploration of the vertebrate skeletal, muscle, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine and nervous systems.
Work Related Project: This module allows you to undertake a period of 200 hours of work related learning enabling them to complete a project relevant to the workplace.
Biodiversity Concepts: The module will provide a detailed consideration of the complexity of the issue of biodiversity, its consequences for a functioning ecosystem and the wider implications for society and global systems.
Bioanalytical Techniques: This practical module introduces you to an array of techniques to chemically or physically separate analytes and to characterise the analytes through further processing.
Human Disease: This module provides you with an understanding of the fragility of the human body system and its diseased state in organ systems.

Programme specification

Programme specifications provide definitive records of the University's taught degrees in line with Quality Assurance Agency requirements. Every taught course leading to a BU Award has a programme specification which describes its aims, structure, content and learning outcomes, plus the teaching, learning and assessment methods used.

Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the programme specification, the information is liable to change to take advantage of exciting new approaches to teaching and learning as well as developments in industry.

If you have been unable to locate the programme specification for the course you are interested in, it will be available as soon as the latest version is ready. Alternatively please contact us for assistance.

Your application

For this course we are looking for applicants who:

Have a strong interest in science
Are looking to develop a career in a scientific field.

Applicants should either be young learners aged from 18 to 21 who have not engaged in post-16 education but whose experience since leaving full-time education may have helped to equip them for further study.

Applicants aged over 21 who are mature learners with no formal qualifications or learners with A Levels (or equivalent) which were obtained more than three years ago are welcome to apply.

How to apply

Selection methods

How we assess your application

Our offer making process

Our offer-making will typically be based on your most recent qualifications, including any required subjects where applicable. We'll consider all qualifications when assessing your application, although these may not be part of our offer.

If you do not meet the criteria of your original offer, we may still offer you a place. We will review your whole application and consider all academic qualifications (including those not in the offer) to see if you have the academic potential to succeed on the course. If we feel the answer is yes, we will confirm your place.

Entry requirements

FdSc entry requirements

We use the UCAS Tariff to show our entry requirements and will accept a combination of grades from your qualifications. You can use the UCAS calculator to see how your qualifications equate to tariff points.

We have outlined our entry requirements below using the most common qualifications that we consider for this course. If your qualification is not on the UCAS tariff or listed below, please contact our Future Students Enquiry Team who can advise accordingly. You can also find out more about how we consider your application in our offer-making process section.

For September 2021 entry: 48 UCAS Tariff Points (normally to include Biology), e.g. 2Es or 1C at A Level or an AVCE Double Award at EE or BTEC / City and Guilds National Technical Diploma.

GCSEs: Additionally, candidates will normally be expected to present passes at Grade C or above in at least three other subjects (Double or Triple Science) at GCSE level or equivalent; passes at Grade C and above in English and Mathematics will be normally expected.

Learning through experience demonstrated in portfolios or records of achievement and / or by specific learning tasks set at interview and confirmed by employer reference(s).

A combination of academic and experiential learning to be considered on its individual merits.

Applicants are required to demonstrate a set of basic skills required to fulfil the demands of the programme:

An ability to express themselves in written English.
Basic numerical skills.
A basic understanding of science.

These skills should be demonstrated at levels equivalent to GCSE grades A - C. To this end, applicants may offer:

GCSE, GCE or CSE results.

And / Or

Results of appropriate BTEC or Access programmes to science courses.

And / Or

An accredited record of using these skills in employment.

Other useful information

AccessBU: AccessBU provides you with the opportunity to tell us about your circumstances that are not always evident in your UCAS application. This widening access initiative also considers relevant criteria such as being in care or if you live in an area with a low participation rate in Higher Education - if you are eligible, your offer could be up to 16 UCAS tariff points below the published tariff.

Apprenticeships: We recognise the transferable knowledge and skills gained through apprenticeships and welcome applications from students with a Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship recognised by the Institute for Apprenticeships. Each application will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Deferred entry: We are happy to consider eligible applicants for deferred entry. If you have already submitted your application, you can request a deferral by contacting our Admissions Team.

Direct entry: We welcome applications from students who have previously studied at degree level at other institutions and wish to transfer onto a BU course. Our Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) procedure enables credit awarded from one institution to contribute to a BU award, subject to an application process. Please contact our Future Students Enquiry Team for more information.

Mature applicants: We recognise that mature applicants may have a wealth of experience rather than formal qualifications, so we’ll consider your application on these merits if included in your application. You’ll need to apply to BU in the usual way through UCAS and you may be invited to an interview to discuss your suitability for the course based on the experience you tell us about in your application.

Foundation year entry requirements

For September 2021 entry: 32 UCAS Tariff Points and 3 GCSEs in English, Science and Maths (grade C/4) or equivalent.

Applicants without traditional qualifications are encouraged to apply. We will consider relevant personal and professional experience where it demonstrates an ability to succeed on the course.

GCSE English, Mathematics and Science grade 4 (or grade C in the old grading system). We also accept iGCSEs, Key Skills and Functional Skills and other qualifications at Level 2 of the National Qualifications Framework. See all the equivalencies.

International entry requirements

For September 2021 entry:

You can find details of the international qualifications we accept, and what level of study they apply to, on our entry requirements for non-UK students’ page.

If English is not your first language, you will need to provide evidence that you can understand English to a satisfactory level. English language requirements for this course are normally:

IELTS (Academic) 6.0 with minimum 5.5 in each component or equivalent.

View further information about our English language requirements.

If you do not meet the English language requirement for your degree then why not join our Pre-Sessional English course. Successful completion of our Pre-Sessional English course will meet your English language requirement.

Costs and fees

All fees are quoted in pounds sterling and are per year. Your tuition fees will be the same for each year of your course. You can find full information about funding your studies and paying your fees in our undergraduate fees and funding section. Fees quoted are for tuition only unless stated otherwise.

Further study

Once you have completed your course, you can move on to a top-up degree or the final year of an undergraduate honours degree to achieve the next level of qualification.

Graduates may apply to progress onto the final year of an honours degree or top-up degree at Bournemouth University, at a BU partner college or another institution, subject to a suitable course being offered, places being available and applicants obtaining the University's required entry criteria.

For entry onto a Bournemouth University top-up degree, you will be assessed on your overall mark (there may be a minimum requirement), your performance on the foundation degree and where appropriate an interview with the programme coordinator.

View our top-up degrees webpage

Course staff

On this course you will be taught by staff with relevant expertise and knowledge appropriate to the content of the unit. This could include senior academic staff, qualified professional practitioners and research students, many of whom are actively engaged in research and/or professional practice which is integrated into the teaching of this course. Please note that staff can change.

Mary Gannon – Lecturer in Science

Mary has been delivering teaching and learning to FE and HE students for over 10 years. She has written and lead a range of academic and vocational modules for the University of South Wales with a particular specialism in Cellular and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. Additionally, Mary has previously directed Higher National Apprenticeships in Life Sciences for FE learners at Bridgend College working collaboratively with Pearson, Cogent and QiW to deliver outstanding vocational qualifications.

With her industrial background in a range of Life Science industries including food processing and quality assurance, pharmaceuticals and microbiological testing, she has a wealth of relevant experience which she used to excellent effect in her role of Assessor of work-based learning for Higher Apprenticeships in Life Sciences.

Louise Woodward – Lecturer in Mathematics

Louise graduated from university with a Mathematics honours degree and then completed a Postgraduate Certificate of Education which enabled her to fulfil her ambition of becoming a Mathematics Teacher. Louise spent several years working in a secondary school in Bath where she taught a full range of ages and abilities including A Level before taking a career break to raise her children and help run her family business and smallholding. During this time, she also took on roles as an Exam Marker and School Governor.

Since returning to education at Wiltshire College and University Centre, she has taught a Further Education Mathematics study programme and has implemented and taught two higher level courses.

All statistics shown throughout this page are taken from Unistats, Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE), BU institutional data and Ipsos MORI (National Student Survey) unless otherwise stated.