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Welcome to the University of Manchester and the School of Biological Sciences

1.General Information

1.1 Expectations

1.1.1 Guide to Handbook

Before engaging in your studies, please take the time to familiarise yourself with the Handbook which provides useful resources and essential information supporting and guiding you through the academic year. It will be assumed that you have read and understood the contents of this Handbook. Please, talk to your Academic Advisor or Student Support Hub if anything is not clear to you.

1.1.2 Professionalism

For many of you, joining university means starting your professional life. Certain professional standards will be expected of you, and these will also be an essential criterion in any reference letters from supervisors or advisors that future employers will want to know about. Therefore, make sure from the start that you adhere to professional standards:

Reliability: execute agreed tasks according to an agreed standard and schedule; don’t have others remind you; delays should be justified and communicated timely (e.g. to your advisor, supervisor or peers during team tasks).

Punctuality: be there at start of timetabled events or agreed meetings (inform well in advance to make aware of delays and their reasons).

High standards of performance: the main quality control from now on will be your marks; set high standards from start to avoid disappointment at a later stage – but find a good balance that enables you to have a wholesome social life.

Swift, effective and respectful communication: check your email at least twice a day and respond swiftly, to avoid that others have to send you reminders; respond with precise messages clearly addressing the point; communicate with respect and embed any requests in a clear context that make it easy for the receiver to understand your point or request.

Self-organisation: you will be faced with many overlapping tasks and are expected to develop routines and means of organisation that enable you to perform reliably and at high standard.

Self-motivation: your success will depend on your ability to motivate yourself for your studies and beyond; consider autodidactic means as well as interactive learning and working in groups to enhance your subject-relevant knowledge and understanding; taught units provide only a framework on which you are expected to expand in your allocated study time.

Team spirit: use any team tasks to improve your ability to work in groups; be an active and reliable driver of work processes rather than passive receiver that slows down a team; be respectful, constructive, reliable and diplomatic in your interaction and communication.

1.1.3 Code of conduct and discipline

1.1.3.1 Infringement of copyright

  • The University of Manchester is currently involved in a number of legal engagements with internet/web-based sites devoted to student resources.  These sites allow students to upload lecture notes in exchange for benefits.  Uploads that contain University of Manchester materials (i.e. the materials that we provide you with) do infringe copyright and the intellectual property of staff.
  • Materials include PPT downloads, PDF downloads, documents, the video-based resources that we provide you with, including screenshots and audio recordings and also assessments. These internet sites distance themselves (rightly) from ownership of these materials, and so it is the individual who uploads or shares any materials who is directly in breach of the University of Manchester governance as it relates to copyright and the intellectual property of staff.  This is true even if the persons up loading the material are no longer members of the University of Manchester community.   By accessing these folders, you agree not to share the contents of the materials with a third party, which includes internet or web-based sources.

1.2. Forms of communication during your studies

Effective communication between you, staff of the School and central university administration is vital, providing you with key information (e.g. timetables, examinations, course assessment marks etc.) and often requiring your swift responses. There are different forms of communication:

  • Email: You will be provided with an ‘@student.manchester.ac.uk’ email address and your personal username or password, which MUST be kept secret. This email account is your primary form of professional communication. You are expected to monitor your email on a regular and frequent basis (at least twice a day) and to respond swiftly and appropriately. Acquiring professional standards of communication (see Sect. 1.1.2.) is an important learning outcome of your studies and will be an essential item in reference letters by your advisors or supervisors.
  • Verbal communication: Staff may occasionally make verbal announcements in lectures and practicals that might not be available in written form (e.g. information about assignments or health and safety instructions). If you are late or unable to attend, check with fellow students or staff whether information was missed.
  • Student newsletters: During term-time, you will receive weekly newsletters from the SBS Hub. The newsletters contain information specifically tailored to SBS students. We recommend spending time reviewing the contents each week.
  • SBS Student Sharepoint: The SBS Student Sharepoint site pulls together information and key links for students, including information about course unit plans, careers, wellbeing, mitigating circumstances and assessment. The Sharepoint site is available at the following link: School of Biological Sciences Student Information – Home (sharepoint.com)
  • Confidentiality disclaimer: Information that you share with us will be treated confidentially. However, the University may share appropriate information relating to your health and/or conduct with external organisations such as your professional employer(s) [for example, relevant NHS Trust, Professional and Statutory Regulatory Bodies (PSRB)], placement and training providers and/or regulators. This may occur where concerns in relation to your health and/or conduct arise and the University considers it necessary for them to be disclosed to one or more of the above organisations. The University’s Privacy Notice for Registered Students includes further information about how the University may use and process your personal data, including the legal basis and conditions which may be relevant to such processing (see section 6 of the Privacy Notice). The University will only disclose special category data (such as data relating to your health) to a third-party organisation where one of the additional conditions are satisfied (see section 9 of the Privacy Notice), including where processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.

1.2.1       KEY CONTACTS IN THE SCHOOL OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES

1.2.1.1 Student Support Hub

Student Support Hub (G.483 Stopford Building; Email: sbs.hub@manchester.ac.uk, phone: +44 (0)161 275 1487) opening times:

  • 09:00 -17:00 Monday to Friday during term-time
  • 10:00 – 16:00 outside of term-time

The Student Support Hub is your first stop for queries relating to your programme or courses and general student support including career advice special needs and wellbeing support. The list below outlines support available at the Student Support Hub:

  • Mitigating circumstances for exams and assessments
  • General course information
  • Specific course enquiries
  • Wellbeing support
  • Requesting a letter
  • Requesting a document
  • Help with study skills
  • Information on campus facilities
  • Registering as a student
  • Graduation information
  • General enquiries

1.2.1.2 Director of Education

Professor Nicky High

Email: nicky.high@manchester.ac.uk

1.2.1.3 Deputy Directors of Studies

Dr Lisa Swanton – Programmes and Curriculum

Professor Donald Ward – Assessment and Progression

Dr Helen Graham – Digital and Flexible Learning

Dr Ingo Schiessl – Admissions and Recruitment

Dr Maria Canal – Inclusive Education

Dr Katherine Hinchliffe – Student Experience

1.2.1.4 Senior Advisors

Email: senioradvisors.sbs@manchester.ac.uk

1.2.1.5 Head of School – Biological Sciences

Professor Simon Hubbard

1.2.1.6  Programme Directors

The role of the Programme Director is to oversee the content of your Degree Programme, approve your choice of optional course units during Welcome Week and assist your Academic Advisor in giving you advice on academic matters.

Degree Programme Programme Director Programme Director Email
Biochemistry Prof Andrew Doig/ Dr Gino andrew.doig@manchester.ac.uk
Poulin  

gino.poulin@manchester.ac.uk
Biology Dr Thomas Nuhse Thomas.Nuhse@manchester.ac.uk
Biology with Science & Society Dr Ruth Grady ruth.grady@manchester.ac.uk
Biomedical Sciences Dr Tristan Pocock (L1) Tristan.pocock@manchester.ac.uk
Dr Michelle Keown (L2) michelle.e.keown@manchester.ac.uk
Dr Rebecca Dearman (L3) rebecca.dearman@manchester.ac.uk
Biotechnology Dr Dennis Linton James.D.Linton@manchester.ac.uk
Cell Biology Dr Patrick Gallois patrick.g.gallois@manchester.ac.uk
Genetics Dr Kimberly Mace kimberly.mace@manchester.ac.uk
Immunology Dr Kathleen Nolan kathleen.nolan@manchester.ac.uk
Medical Biochemistry Dr Tom Millard tom.millard@manchester.ac.uk
Medical Physiology Dr Liz Sheader elizabeth.a.sheader@manchester.ac.uk
Microbiology Dr Jen Cavet jennifer.s.cavet@manchester.ac.uk
Molecular Biology Dr Susan Taylor susan.h.taylor@manchester.ac.uk
MSci Programmes Dr Lisa Swanton lisa.swanton@manchester.ac.uk
Dr Martin Pool martin.r.pool@manchester.ac.uk
Neuroscience Dr Nicholas Glossop Nicholas.glossop@manchester.ac.uk
Pharmacology Stacey Lee stacey.lee@manchester.ac.uk
Zoology Ben Chapman ben.chapman-2@manchester.ac.uk

1.3 General regulations for attendance of teaching units

1.3.1. Attendance and engagement regulations

Your attendance on your programme is monitored for welfare purposes. Typically, one of the first signs a student might be struggling, either personally or academically, is that they start missing their teaching sessions. Therefore, we monitor your attendance so we can see when a student’s engagement drops and proactively reach out to the student to make sure they are okay. However, there are some academic consequences if you do not attend certain sessions, without a credible reason.

Your attendance will be monitored in all timetabled sessions, except drop-ins. Some sessions are compulsory and some are optional. If you miss compulsory sessions without a credible reason you will receive emails from the Student Support team and your tutor, and you may fail a unit on attendance. If you miss optional sessions, whilst you won’t be penalised for this, you will still receive emails after missing a certain amount of these sessions to check on your well-being.

We monitor attendance through a system called SEAtS (Student Engagement and Attendance system). This is a new system for September 2024. You will need to download the SEAtS app on your phone or use the web version on your laptop. You can find further details about how to download SEAtS and how to use the system here - School of Biological Sciences Student Information - Home (sharepoint.com)

Your timetable will mainly consist of lectures, tutorials and practical sessions.

Lectures

Your attendance in lectures is not compulsory. However, we strongly encourage you to attend all your timetabled lectures since it is well known that there is a good correlation between lecture attendance and academic performance. Whilst these are optional, your attendance will still be logged for well-being purposes. Therefore, you will still be asked to scan a QR code and log your attendance via SEAtS in your lectures. If your attendance in lectures drops below 50% you will receive an email from the Student Support and Wellbeing team to make sure you are doing okay.

Tutorials

Tutorial sessions are compulsory. You must attend all your timetabled tutorials, and your academic tutor will record your attendance or absence using SEAtS. If you miss 2 or more tutorials without an authorised reason you will fail the tutorial unit. Therefore, if you do need to miss a tutorial, due to illness or personal reasons, you must submit an absence form via the SEAtS app on the day that the tutorial is scheduled.

If you miss one tutorial and do not submit an absence form you will receive an email from the Student Support team notifying you that if you miss one more tutorial, without a valid reason, you will fail the unit.

If you miss 2 or more tutorial sessions, for any reason, you will need to submit mitigating circumstances. You can find further information about mitigating circumstances on the Sharepoint site - School of Biological Sciences Student Information - Home (sharepoint.com)

Practical session

Practical sessions are compulsory. You must attend all your timetabled practical sessions. If you miss 2 or more practical sessions without an authorised reason, this will impact on the final unit mark. Therefore, if you do need to miss a practical, due to illness or personal reasons, you must submit an absence form via the SEAtS app.

 If you miss 2 or more practical sessions without an authorised reason, this will impact on the final unit mark. Therefore, if you do need to miss a practical, due to illness or personal reasons, you must submit an absence form via the SEAtS app on the day that the practical is scheduled.

If you miss 2 or more practical sessions you will need to submit mitigating circumstances. You can find further information about mitigating circumstances on the Sharepoint site - School of Biological Sciences Student Information - Home (sharepoint.com)

Logging an absence 

We understand there may be reasons why you need to miss a compulsory timetabled session. This could be due to illness, mental health, bereavement, medical appointments, as well as other unforeseen circumstances. If you have a reason to miss a tutorial or practical session you must notify the Student Support team by submitting an absence form via the SEAtS app.  You can find instructions of how to log an absence form on SEAtS here - School of Biological Sciences Student Information - Home (sharepoint.com)

Please note that you can self-certify for absence up to 7 days for the following reasons: medical/health appointments, DASS plan related absence, family and personal emergency, illness/unwell, train strikes, and unexpected caring responsibilities. The SEAtS system will automatically log these absences. However, this does not automatically authorise absence. The Student Support team will check these reasons and can revoke any automatic approvals generated by the SEAtS system.

If you select ‘other’ on the absence form or need to be absent for over 7 days these absences will not be automatically approved and approval will be needed from a member of staff before it can be logged as an authorised absence.

If you need longer than 7 days off you cannot self-certify for this and we will need evidence to support your absence.

You need to log the absence form on the day you will be absent for. You cannot log absences in retrospect, unless you have a credible reason to do so.

If you do not log an absence form your absence in any compulsory sessions will be unauthorised. This could lead to failing a unit on attendance

1.3.2 Religious observance

The University will make every effort to avoid timetabling assessments on religious days or festivals for those students whose commitment to the observance of their faith would otherwise cause them to miss the assessment. If this may affect you, you must fill in an ‘Examination and Religious Observance form’ from the Student Services Centre by the deadlines outlined on the form (LINK to affected by your religious observance or from satisfying overall attendance requirements). If religious observance means that you miss a lecture or other class, supporting material may be provided via Blackboard. However, if you want further notes from the lecture you must make your own arrangements (e.g. copy them from other students). Similar principles apply if religious observance affects your attendance at assessments (e.g. presentations or practical tests). Because lectures, practicals and assessments for the semester are scheduled in advance, you must notify the Senior Advisor team of your requests for religious observance allowances by the Thursday before the start of teaching each semester, and the School will use its best efforts to reschedule the assessment to accommodate your needs (e.g. by changing your scheduled slot in a programme of assessed presentations). Deadlines for handing in assessed work will not normally be extended to allow for religious observance, and you must therefore plan your work accordingly.

1.3.3.   Health & Safety

White lab coats and safety spectacles are required for all practical classes and will be provided at the start of the academic year – it is your responsibility to ensure that you bring your lab coat and safety spectacles to each practical. A pocket calculator will also be necessary.

1.3.4. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Within teaching sessions and tutorials there will be increasing use of interactive e-learning resources, therefore you should bring your own mobile device for use in these sessions. Help configuring your devices for use with the University applications will be available during Welcome Week for first year students and through the Library helpdesk for all years

2. IMPORTANT DATES IN 2024-2025

You can find your personalized timetable here: Publish (manchester.ac.uk) The location of the mentioned university buildings can be found on the campus map: here.

2.1 Key semester dates and deadlines

A summary of the key dates is given below and additional information can be found here: http://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/key-dates/

Note: Some non-BIOL units may also continue to teach over reading week.

2.2 Examination Dates:

Semester 1: Thursday 9th January 2025- Friday 24th January 2025

Semester 2: Monday 12th May 2025 – Wednesday 4th June 2025

Resits: Monday 18th August 2025 – Friday 29th August 2025

2.3 Examination Result publication dates:

Semester 1: w/c Monday 24th February 2025

Semester 2: w/c Monday 14th July 2025

August/September Resit examination period: w/c Monday 18th September 2025

3. UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING & LEARNING VISION

3.1 University vision

The University’s general vision including teaching and learning: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/vision?

3.2 The School of Biological Sciences vision

The School’s general aims are to offer undergraduate students a broad and thorough education in biological sciences within an institutional culture of high quality research and scholarship. The School aims to:

  • deliver a range of broad and specialist degrees, informed by current research, which will equip students for careers within and outside science;
  • meet student requirements for diversity of provision and opportunity of transfer between disciplines within biological sciences by providing a structure of flexibility and choice within the undergraduate programmes;
  • provide students with subject-specific knowledge and practical skills linked to generic transferable skills which are integrated within the curriculum;
  • ensure students develop skills in independent learning;
  • provide a variety of teaching methods and assessment strategies, student choice and constructive feedback that will enable all students to succeed;
  • provide students with effective induction information, and ongoing academic and pastoral support and advice in order to enhance students’ learning experience and empower them to take ownership of their education and successfully progress to further study or employment;
  • focus skilled academic and professional services staff on student achievement, wellbeing and career readiness;
  • operate a management structure which monitors the delivery and quality of teaching provision in order to ensure high standards across our wide range of programmes;
  • endeavour to ensure wider access to all who may benefit from higher education;
  • endeavour to ensure that students’ progress through programmes and acquire qualifications, knowledge and skills appropriate to their academic abilities, leading to positive exit paths;
  • endeavour to ensure that students enhance their employability by developing professional skills and competencies within the curriculum; provide inclusive learning spaces and welcome activities to contribute to an environment where students can thrive and achieve their aspirations;
  • provide inclusive curricula and course materials that reflect diverse experiences, validate student identities and provide a space for positive challenge, debate and engagement;
  • create learning spaces that encourage collaboration and informal interactions;
  • provide inclusive teaching and learning practices to ensure that all students feel valued, included and a sense of belonging within the educational community.

 3.3 Royal Society of Biology accreditation

Al four-year pathways including integrated masters (MSci; see 4.2.9) and the three pathways with placements (see 4.2.6/7/8) have been accredited by the Society of Biology. Degree accreditations by the Royal Society of Biology recognise academic excellence in the biosciences, and highlights degrees that educate the research and development leaders and innovators of the future ( https://www.rsb.org.uk/education/accreditation. The accreditation criteria require evidence that graduates from the programmes meet defined sets of learning outcomes, including gaining a substantial period of research experience. Our School has been successful in demonstrating that our programmes meet these criteria. In recognition of your time spent on , as a graduate of an accredited programme, you can apply for membership of the Society of Biology at Member (MRSB) level after just one year of practice, rather than the usual three years. This will allow you to attain the qualifications of Chartered Biologist or Chartered Scientist two years sooner than graduates from other Degree Programmes. Further information is available from the Royal Society of Biology.

4. YOUR DEGREE PROGRAMME

4.1 Registration

The University of Manchester has a student system which allows you to complete most of the registration process online from home using the University’s Student Services webpage. We strongly recommend that you complete the 10-step registration process online before you arrive in Manchester. Registration help is available online via the Welcome Site and the Student Services and Registration Helpline +44 (0)161 275 5000.

The final stage of registration is conducted by members of staff from the Student Services Centre. You will be provided with:

  • your University Username and Password required to access online University services (sign up and activate your account without delay)
  • your Student Card; keep this card safe and always have it with you on campus to access the Library and the Stopford Building or as compulsory identification at

4.2 Degree programmes and pathways

We offer a number of different degree programmes overseen by a dedicated Programme Director (section 1.2.1.6.). Standard degree programmes are 3 years, and there are several 4-year pathways available. Programmes are built on a modular unit structure, and you will take a number of core (mandatory) and optional units each year.  The course units available for each degree programme can be viewed online Course unit information | MyManchester. An overview of each pathway is explained in the following:

4.2.1. Overview of standard 3-year degree programmes

Before choosing your teaching units, it is important to understand that the University has a system of credit rating of all course units, which is intended to give you an indication of the proportion of your time that the work of a unit is expected to take. A full year’s workload expected of you is 120 credits; this equates to 30 weeks work at 40 hours per week, hence a total of 1200 hours per academic year. Therefore, you can expect to spend ~100 hours on a typical 10- credit unit. This time includes all the work for that unit, such as reading, e-learning activities, assessments and revision, as well as direct contact hours.

It is extremely important and your responsibility to ensure that you take the correct number of units to meet the 120 credit requirement in each year of your studies. As specified in the University’s Manual of Academic Procedures, you should aim to take no more than 60 credits per semester; a maximum of 70 credits and minimum of 50 credits in one semester may be allowed, but only with the consent of your Programme Director (section 1.2.1.6.). The programmes are built on a modular unit structure, and in Year 1, you will take:

  • 9 lecture units (Section 4.2.3.) over the academic year (90 credits in total)
  • a tutorial unit (Section 4.2.4) that runs over the entire year (10 credits)
  • 2 practical units (Section 4.2.5), one in each semester (20 credits in total)

Please be aware that the School reserves the right to withdraw or alter units should there be changes in academic staff or insufficient registrations. See our student support website for further information and guidance on using the course unit selection system. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to contact sbs.programmes@manchester.ac.uk.

4.2.2. Core and optional lecture units

For each degree programme, there is a set of core units that are mandatory (obligatory) and which you will be automatically enrolled in.

In addition, you reach our full credit requirement by actively choosing and enrolling in a range of optional units; guidance on these choices can be given by your Academic Advisor or Programme Director. Optional lecture-only units are provided by the School of Biological Sciences (coded BIOL) and some units from outside the School are available (see Section 4.2.3). No more than 20 credits of your lecture-based units should be taken from units without a BIOL code. This will differ for some programmes such as Biology with Science and Society. In all cases, please refer to your Programme Structure. You should read the unit specifications carefully before deciding upon your optional units.

You MUST take account of potential timetable clashes between your chosen options. For this, please be aware that lecture units offered by the School of Biological Sciences are delivered and examined during a single semester, whereas certain units offered outside the School may run over the whole academic year and are examined in May/June.

4.2.3. Lecture units

4.2.3.1. Lecture unit contents and expectation

Lecture units will include a mixture of lectures and interactive sessions that will be delivered on campus. Through these teaching sessions you will cover the key topics for your Programme and have the opportunity to engage in discussion with your peers and teaching staff. On campus teaching sessions will be supplemented by online resources for independent study, which will help you explore the topics covered in more depth. Recordings (podcasts) of lectures will also be available for you to review at a later time. Please be aware that all tutorials and practical classes are compulsory and will be delivered face-to-face on campus.

4.2.3.2. Lecture units provided by the School of Biological Sciences

These lecture units are indicated by the ‘BIOL’ suffix followed by a unit number. A list of these units can be found here: Course unit information | MyManchester.

4.2.3.3. Lecture units from outside our School

When enrolled in the standard degree pathway, you can choose up to 20 credits from a range of external lecture units. Several 4-year pathways may include external units as compulsory core units. Eligible external units are provided by:

  • The Alliance Manchester Business School (BMAN and MCEL units): The Manchester Business School offers the opportunity to enhance your degree with an entrepreneurship- or business-related units. Please see the MBS website further details.
  • The Language Enhancement Access Programme (LEAP):  The ‘language through the institution-wide enhancement access programme’ (LEAP) by the ‘University Centre for Academic English language’ offers courses available to students from across the University. They may be studied on a credit or non-credit basis to complement your degree. For more information on the full range of languages and levels please consult the LEAP website. If you are considering registering for a language module you must discuss this with your Programme Director at registration during Welcome week. If your Programme Director approves your application for a LEAP course, you must enrol with the LEAP office by filling in an enrolment form. Enrol early, since participant numbers are limited and will be assigned on a first-come-first-serve basis.
  • Units offered by the University College for Interdisciplinary Learning (UCIL): The University College for Interdisciplinary Learning (UCIL) offers the opportunity to broaden your horizons by taking a unit outside your subject and studying with undergraduates from across the university. See the UCIL website for further details including short taster courses and information on how to enrol.
  • Units offered by Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (HSTM units): The history of science, technology and medicine (HSTM) combines science subjects with approaches typical of arts and humanities subjects. It explores historical aspects of science to understand modern societies. See the HSTM website for further details of optional units offered.

4.2.4. Tutorials

Tutorials are held in small groups of 10-12 students. Tutorials are not timetabled centrally and are arranged at a time suitable for your Tutor and all students in the group. You MUST respond to your tutor promptly to ensure tutorial times are agreed without delay and suitable rooms can be booked. Please note that sessions may fall into early (8am-9am) or late slots (5pm-6pm), and chances to fall into those times increase the longer you take to arrange with your group and tutor.

4.2.5. Practical Units and Field courses in Year 1

In Semester 1, all students take the practical unit ‘BIOL10401 Introduction to Laboratory Science’. In Semester 2, you will do either a laboratory-based practical unit or a field course, depending on your degree programme. You will be asked to submit your choice of three field courses and/or practical units or RSM units (depending on your programme) in rank order. If there are not enough places on a field course or RSM unit for everyone to get their first choice, places will be allocated based on an anonymized motivational statement. You will be informed at the end of Semester 1, Week 6, as to whether or not you have been accepted on your first-choice course. Note that attendance at laboratory sessions or field courses is compulsory (Regulation XX: Monitoring Attendance and Wellbeing of Students).

4.2.5.1. Practical units

The ‘BIOL10401 Introduction to Laboratory Science’ unit in Semester 1 is compulsory for all Degree Programmes. It is designed to introduce you to some of the fundamental experimental techniques and skills used in biological research including microscopy, spectrophotometry and gel electrophoresis. Laboratory sessions will take place in the Stopford teaching laboratories throughout the semester, and each session will be preceded by an online pre-laboratory exercise and followed by online post-laboratory work.

Practical units available in Semester 2 are ‘BIOL10412 Introduction to Experimental Biology – Molecular and Cellular Biology stream’ or ‘BIOL10422 Introduction to Experimental Biology – Human Biology stream’. Which unit you take will depend on your Degree Programme. Students of the Biology and the Biology with Science and Society Degree Programmes can either choose the lab-based BIOL10412 unit or participate in a field course.

4.2.5.2.Field Courses

Field courses will be available to students of the Biology, Biology with Science and Society, and Zoology Degree Programmes. All field courses, whether residential or non-residential, are ~2 weeks in duration. They take place during the Easter or summer vacation at locations suitable for marine or terrestrial field work within the UK and overseas.

If you are studying Zoology, you will enrol on a 10-credit field course as part of your compulsory units in both your first and second year. Other degree programmes offer a field course as part of the practical unit requirement in Year 1 or the Research Skills Module (RSM) in Year 2  Course unit information | MyManchester. The following field courses are available:

Year 1

  • BIOL10642 Field Course in Animal Behaviour and Diversity
  • BIOL10622 Field Course in Mediterranean Biodiversity and Conservation (not available to zoologists since largely floral surveys)
  • BIOL10602 Field Course in Marine Biology
  • BIOL10662 Non-residential Field Course in Ecology & Behaviour

Year 2

  • BIOL20552 Tropical Ecology & Conservation
  • BIOL20872 Urban Biodiversity & Conservation
  • BIOL20182 Island Biodiversity

There are a number of requirements to attend field courses:

  • For those taking field courses, it is compulsory to attend the Field Course Talk in Semester 1, where you will be given essential information beyond what is provided here. For further advice and information, please contact Dr Ben Chapman.
  • It is very important that you are fully committed to attending and paying the fee for your field course so that we can effectively plan the trips; we start booking flights and accommodation at the end of Semester 1. We therefore require a £300-500 non-refundable deposit to secure your place on residential field courses, to be paid at the time of If you have any concerns about paying for a field course, please contact the Student Support Hub for advice.
  • You will be asked to sign a declaration form to confirm that you will meet all the requirements for attending your field course. In addition to payment, all students need to fill in all compulsory documentation pre and post their field courses by the given deadlines: My Placement
  • All students undertaking residential and non-residential field courses must complete a Travel Health Self-Assessment. Depending on the location of your field course and the information included in your Travel Health Self-Assessment, you may need to attend an appointment with Occupational Health or your own GP. The field course administrative team will provide links and guidance.
  • Residential Field Courses outside of Europe: Your medical fitness to travel must be confirmed by our Occupational Health team, who will issue your ‘Fitness to Travel’ certificate which you will need to submit to the Field Course Administration Team and which is required to be fully covered by the University’s Travel Insurance policy (including any claim relating to your pre-existing condition). For this, you require not only the self-assessment, but you also have to fill out the Health Screening Questionnaire and may need to attend an appointment with Occupational Health who will also determine whether you require vaccinations. You will therefore be required to submit a copy of your vaccination history; please be fully up-to-date with your NHS vaccination schedule.
  • UK students travelling in Europe will need a valid UK Global Health Insurance Card which can be arranged online.
  • For your own safety and comfort, it is strongly advised to bring suitable footwear and clothing.

4.2.6. Degrees “with industrial/professional experience” placement

On this pathway you attend the standard BSc degree programme but ‘intercalate’ your studies after the second year with a placement of at least 9 months in an industrial or academic research environment. The placement is assessed via a project report and an oral viva examination at the start of your final year. Placement experience will help with later career decisions and significantly strengthen your success on future job or PhD applications.

Additional intended learning outcomes of the ‘with industrial/professional experience’ placement pathway are:

  • gained experience in professional work environments including the required interpersonal and professional skills;
  • high quality practical skills and specific knowledge relating to science in applied settings developed interpersonal skills within a workplace environment.

Students on this degree pathway will take the same units in year 1 and 2 as the students on standard BSc degree programmes (although your programme director may suggest certain optional units that better prepare you for a placement). You will apply for your placement during year 2, and the placement office will support you with information events and lists of available placements. However, be aware that placements are obtained competitively and cannot be guaranteed, often requiring a formal application including your curriculum vitae, reference letters (e.g. from your advisor) and potentially involving an interview. Following the placement year, you will continue with your university studies by completing the third year of your BSc degree programme. At the start of this Final Year, you will submit (and be viva’ed on) a written Placement year report worth approximately 9% of the overall degree mark.

Eligibility & progression: To remain eligible for a placement when progressing into Year-2, you must, in addition to the standard Year-1 progression criteria, fulfil the following criteria:

  • obtain an overall year average of at least 60% (including a mark of at least 70% obtained in a tutorial assignment for Writing and Referencing skills (BIOL10741)
  • pass all compulsory (ie non-compensatable) units with mark of at least 40%
  • no more than one unit with a mark of less than 40%. A mark of at least 30% must be obtained.
  • You must also attend a compulsory meeting for prospective placement students in May of Year-1 (to be confirmed). If you fail to meet these requirements, you will be changed to the corresponding 3-year BSc degree.

Please note that the requirement to pass core units at first attempt cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are not core. If you do not meet these criteria, your course will be automatically changed to a standard degree.

Students who terminate their placement early and do not complete a minimum of 9 months, will not be eligible to graduate ‘with Industrial/Professional Experience’. They will be transferred to the respective three-year BSc degree programme, and must apply for an interruption to cover for the disallowed placement year (for deadlines and procedures see the Year 2 handbook).

4.2.7. Degrees “with modern language” placement

Description: This degree pathway is organised as the “with industrial/professional experience” pathway (see 4.2.6), with two key differences: (1) in all three academic years, you replace 20 credits per year of your optional degree units with language courses (listed on the School of Arts, Languages and Cultures website; 40 credits in the case of with-Japanese or Mandarin); (2) language placements are restricted to universities in countries that match your chosen language and with whom the School of Biological Sciences has a student exchange agreement. Language placements are for 9 months (in Europe) or 10 months (in Japan and China). On completing the four-year joint degrees with a language, students will have:

  • acquired a sound working knowledge of the target language including its use in the context of the biological sciences;
  • acquired an appreciation of the culture and institutions of an appropriate country;
  • gained experience of research work in an overseas institution.

Timetabling may be challenging so you must check carefully that your core units do not clash (tell the staff in the Student Support Hub immediately if they do). You may only choose optional units that do not clash with your language schedule.

To begin discussions about potential placements, you will be contacted by the Language Placement Coordinator (Patrick Gallois) at the beginning of Year 2, who remains an important point of contact in addition to the Placement Office. It will be your responsibility to visit the websites of candidate universities and identify and contact the local student exchange coordinator (the Placement Office can provide details) as well as potential project supervisors during the first semester of your second year. You are guaranteed a placement under the exchange agreement, but you may have to approach various supervisors before you are accepted into a research group. Following the placement year, you will continue with your university studies by completing the third year of your BSc degree programme. At the start of this Final Year, you will submit (and be viva’ed on) a written Placement year report worth approximately 9% of the overall degree mark.

Eligibility & progression: To remain eligible for a “with modern language” placement, when progressing into Year-2 you must, in addition to the standard Year-1 progression criteria, fulfil the following criteria:

  • obtain an overall year average of at least 60% (including a mark of at least 70% obtained in a tutorial assignment for Writing and Referencing skills (BIOL10741)
  • pass all compulsory (ie non-compensatable) units with mark of at least 40%
  • no more than one unit with a mark of less than 40%. A mark of at least 30% must be obtained.

Any language unit you take cannot be compensated, and a minimum mark of 40 must be achieved for you to remain on the Modern Language pathway. If you are removed from the Modern Language programme due to failure of a language unit at first attempt, but the mark is in the compensation range (30-39), compensation can then be applied following the standard compensation rules.

4.2.8. Degrees “with Entrepreneurship” placement

Description: You will choose a standard BSc degree programme where you will take units worth 100 credits in each of the three years. The remaining 20 credits per year are entrepreneurship units that replace optional units on your standard degree and are chosen from a list on the Alliance Manchester Business School’s Masood (Manchester) Entrepreneurship Centre (MEG) website. Timetabling may be challenging so you must check carefully that your core units do not clash (otherwise inform the staff in the Student Support Hub without delay). You may only choose optional units that do not clash with your business units.  Following year 2, you will intercalate by performing an industry placement (120 credits) . On completing the four-year “with Entrepreneurship” programme, you will have:

  • acquired knowledge of business skills including research & development, financial planning, exploring the market potential of products and processes and creating business plans;
  • acquired skills in applying entrepreneurial knowledge to turn scientific discoveries and research into applications

During Year 2, you will be helped by the Placement Office to apply for placements in industry settings. However, placements are obtained competitively, and a place cannot be guaranteed; it will require a formal application including your curriculum vitae, reference letters (e.g. from your advisor) and potentially involving an interview. Following the placement year, you will continue with your university studies by completing the third year of your BSc degree programme. At the start of this Final Year, you will submit (and be viva’ed on) a written Placement year report worth approximately 9% of the overall degree mark.

Eligibility & progression:  To remain eligible for a “with Entrepreneurship” placement, when progressing into Year-2 you must, in addition to the standard Year-1 progression criteria, fulfil the following criteria:

  • obtain an overall year average of at least 60% (including a mark of at least 70% obtained in a tutorial assignment for Writing and Referencing skills (BIOL10741)
  • pass all compulsory (ie non-compensatable) units with mark of at least 40%
  • no more than one unit with a mark of less than 40%. A mark of at least 30% must be obtained.

If you fail to meet these requirements, you will be changed to the corresponding 3-year BSc degree. Note that after week 2 of Semester 1 (first year) you are unable to change to “with Entrepreneurship” programmes.

4.2.9. Degree programmes with “integrated master” (MSci)

Description: You will choose a standard BSc degree programme and attend the first two years normally. In year 3, you will take the degree-specific five lecture units including their exams and attend the standard tutorial sessions which will prepare you for problem and essay papers in the final exams. You will not engage in any ‘final year project’ units that would normally form part of your degree programme. Instead, you will be assigned to one of your chosen MSci projects in a Manchester research group at start of semester 5, and participate in the following units:

  • BIOL33000 MSci Research Project Proposal (10 credits) – writing a literature review and outline of your future MSci project (overseen by your future project supervisor)
  • BIOL33012 MSci Experimental Skills Module (20 credits) – a two-week group practical in the subject area of your degree programme
  • Up to two of the following (as determined by your Programme Director):
    • BIOL33011 MSci Bioinformatics Tools and Resources (10 credits)
    • BIOL33021 Computational Approaches to Biology (10 credits)
    • BIOL33031 Reproducible Data Science (10 credits)

During Year 4, you will complete a seven-month research project which includes the marked completion of an oral presentation, poster presentation and project report. On completing the four-year MSci programmes, students will have:

  • gained experience in the planning and design of cutting-edge research;
  • developed high quality experimental, data analysis and data management skills;
  • acquired skills in the different forms of science communication.

Eligibility & progression:  To remain eligible for the MSci programme, when progressing into Year-2 you must, in addition to the standard Year-1 progression criteria, fulfil the following criteria:

  • obtain an overall year average of at least 60% (including a mark of at least 70% obtained in a tutorial assignment for Writing and Referencing skills (BIOL10741)
  • pass all compulsory (ie non-compensatable) units with mark of at least 40%
  • no more than one unit with a mark of less than 40%. A mark of at least 30% must be obtained.

In addition, the number of places on the MSci degree pathway in third year is limited to 70 students from all BSc degree programmes, and student admission will be determined by rank of performance at the end of year-2. If you fail to meet the progression criteria or fall below the admission threshold, your course will automatically be changed to the standard 3-year BSc programme. The requirement to pass core units at first attempt cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are not core.

It is possible to apply to transfer onto the MSci pathway at any point until a deadline in the late spring of Year-2 provided that all MSci progression criteria (including one’s performance exceeding the admission threshold) have been met. The only exception is where students registered for a Placement programme receive an offer of a Placement that had been applied for, at which point transfer to MSci is no longer possible. (For deadlines and procedures see the Year 2 handbook).

4.3. Changing degree programme or pathways

If you feel that you no longer wish to continue on a programme or pathway of your choice and would like to transfer to another programme or pathway, please act fast by discussing this with your Academic Advisor as . If agreed, please complete a ‘Degree Programme Change Request‘ adhering to the deadlines listed in section 2.3. Be aware that transfers between programmes or pathways may depend on exam performance in certain units, or some of your unit choices up to this point may be incompatible with the new programme or pathway.

4.4 Study Abroad

A period overseas during Year 3 is a requirement if you are studying one of the degrees with a language (see Section 4.2.7. Language degrees).  Students on a 3-year or MSci programme also have an opportunity to study abroad in Semester 1 of Year 2.  It is not possible to undertake the Study Abroad scheme and an industrial/professional experience placement.

The courses taken whilst studying abroad must be a close replacement for the units that would be taken if a student remained in Manchester.  Students may be able to take courses that are not available in Manchester, but must always obtain the permission of their Programme Director.  The courses are assessed by the overseas university and contribute (60 credits) to the degree in place of units a student would have taken in Manchester.  To be eligible for this scheme, students must obtain an average of 60% (and no fails) in Year 1.

Students must discuss the possibility of applying to the Study Abroad scheme with their Programme Director and the Academic Exchange Adviser for Biological Sciences. Applications are considered by the Placements and International Programmes Office and the deadline for applications is usually January/February of Year 1. Further information about the process is available here.

 

5. ASSESSMENT AND EXAMINATIONS

5.1. Turnitin

Submitting your work

All assignments must be submitted electronically. The published deadlines for assessments all relate to the electronic submission which is completed via Blackboard, using the Turnitin system in the majority of cases. You must submit by the deadline advertised in your timetable/assessment handbook.

  • Submitting an electronic copy of the work
  • Log onto Blackboard via My Manchester
  • Click on the relevant course unit
  • Go to assessment folder
  • Upload your assignment through the Turnitin submission link

Turnitin

The University uses electronic systems for the purposes of detecting plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice and for marking. Such systems include Turnitin, the plagiarism detection service used by the University.

The School also reserves the right to submit work handed in by you for formative or summative assessment to Turnitin and/or other electronic systems used by the University.

Please note that when work is submitted to the relevant electronic systems, it may be copied and then stored in a database to allow appropriate checks to be made.

The Policy on Submission of Work for Summative Assessment on Taught Programmes sets out the main arrangements for students submitting assessment on taught programmes. It includes information about Disability Advisory and Support Servies (DASS) automatic extensions, late submission and plagiarism detection.

Please note that you can only upload one document so you cannot save your references/appendices as a separate document.

Once you have uploaded your work, you can then re-upload it as many times as you like up until the deadline if you make further changes (you cannot re-upload after the deadline has passed). Please not that if you re-upload your work, this will overwrite your original submission and we cannot guarantee that it will be possible to retrieve it.

If you have an extension (including DASS) and need to re-upload your work after the standard deadline has passed, you may be unable to do this; if you are in this situation, please send a pdf copy of the work you want to upload to sbs.assessment@manchester.ac.uk and we will re-upload it for you.

On occasions, Turnitin can tun slowly, therefore ensure you allow yourself plenty of time to upload your work to avoid receiving a late penalty (more information below).

5.2. Deadlines, penalties and document limits

Deadlines: Items of coursework, such as essays and write-ups, will normally have strict deadlines. Submission dates and times are in UK local time, and it is the responsibility of students to ensure that they check the relevant time zone. Any work that has been submitted at least 1 minute past the deadline or later is classed as late, except in cases where an extension has already been agreed via DASS, the extensions process or mitigating circumstances. Late submission will be subject to a penalty consisting in a reduction of 10 marks per each 24 hours or part thereof past the deadline until a zero mark is applied. At 10 days late submission, the work is considered as not submitted and the school reserves the right to not mark the work or provide feedback. Students who submit referral assignments (Section 5.5.4) after the deadline will be automatically subject to a mark of zero. The full university guidance on late submission can be found here.

Page/word limit: Coursework will normally have a specified content limit. This will normally be a maximum page number or word count (usually with a 10% margin). It is your responsibility to ensure that you understand exactly what the limits are and how they are to be achieved. Exceeding the specified page limit will result in a deduction of 20 marks per page or part thereof.

Format: A typical School of Biological Sciences instruction for coursework including essays, reports and write-ups is worded along the lines of: “The [submission] must not exceed [x] pages of text excluding the list of references. Text must be in Arial, 10 point, one and a half line spacing, with margins of at least 2.5 cm all around the text. ALL supporting material, such as figures, tables, text boxes etc. must be included in the page limit, and you are advised to ensure that any such items are sufficiently large to be read and understood with ease.” You should conform to the format that has been specified. If the work needs to be converted to a PDF for submission you must check very carefully that the conversion is accurate and conforms to the guidelines well in advance of the submission deadline. A penalty of 20 marks (out of 100) will be applied to all SBS coursework or exams that are incorrectly formatted (i.e. does not follow the specified guidelines on line spacing, margins, figure position, sections etc). Existing penalties for lateness (10 marks per day or part thereof) and length (20 marks per page or part thereof) will continue to be applied as noted above. Where an assignment is incorrectly formatted and up to one page over length, then a single 20-mark penalty will be applied.

5.3.  Examinations

The First Year Examinations for SBS (BIOL) units consist of multiple choice and short answer questions, in all level 1 lecture units. These will be sat on campus under invigilated conditions. Written exams will be sat during the examination period at the end of the semester in which the unit is taught (i.e. January or May/June). Units that run across both semesters will normally be examined in the May/June exam period. Units taken from other Schools may be examined at a different time. ATTENDANCE AT ALL APPROPRIATE EXAMINATIONS IS COMPULSORY.

To prepare for examinations, you are encouraged to use any quizzes and practice exercises posted on Blackboard and to look at copies of past examination papers and any mock examples available. Past papers can usually be obtained from the My Learning tab in your MyManchester portal, where you can search for papers by Faculty, School, exam name or code, year or semester. However, past MCQ-based exams – including those for most BIOL first year units – are not available. If the unit has no past papers, the Unit Coordinator should make questions that are representative of the kind that will be set in the examination available at least 6 weeks before the exam.

The pass mark for unit examinations is 40%. You will normally be expected to pass all the units you have taken before you can proceed to the next academic year. However, compensation may be possible, if the unit mark is between 30 and 39%, when the examination board may award you the credits for the unit [see Section 6.3 Pass marks and compensation (Level 1)]. Otherwise, all units failed must be re-taken during the August/September examination period (see Section 5.5.4 August/September referrals).

You MUST have passed the sufficient examinations to obtain 120 credits in your current academic year to progress onto the next academic year of your degree programme. So failing again during the August/September re-take exam may lead to your exclusion from further courses and examinations in the School of Biological Sciences.

NB: Calculators capable of storing and retrieving text (or having a full alphabet keyboard) are not permitted in University examinations. Please refer to the “Guidance on the use of calculators in examinations” for further information.

5.3.1. Multiple choice examinations

The majority of the examinations for first year units and a few examinations for second year units will be wholly or partly comprised of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). You are advised:

  • to follow carefully all written instructions for completing the examination and ensure you provide all your answers on the MCQ answer sheet provided by the invigilator.
  • to make yourself familiar with the various rubrics that we use by looking at past examination papers, mock examination papers and exemplar questions provided by the unit delivery team.
  • to read the rubric to questions carefully. For example, one rubric may ask you to choose the ONE MOST SUITABLE option, and another may ask you to identify the ONE INCORRECT option.
  • to read the questions carefully; a good MCQ is intended to make you
  • that all MCQs in the School, unless otherwise stated, are marked by a technique that includes a negative correction for wrong answers. The correction that is subtracted for each wrong answer is 1/(n-1), where n is the number of This is intended to ensure that you will gain no benefit from guessing at random. All questions will include an option which will allow you to decline to answer the question, thereby scoring zero, rather than randomly guessing an answer and risking a negative score. Despite this negative marking, unless the number of options is few (three or fewer), it is to your advantage to make informed guesses, i.e. if you know some of the options can be excluded, you should make a guess at the other options. On average you will gain more marks when you get these informed guesses right than you will lose when you get them wrong.

5.3.2. Practical assessments

Most of the practicals will require you to do some background reading before the session, so please come prepared.

Practical work is assessed either as written work that you submit during or at the end of a unit, your ability to perform a task during a practical session, and/or as an online assessment or examination at the end of the unit. Details of assessment will be given to you at the start of each unit. Short answer questions and essay-type questions are NOT negatively marked. You will not lose marks for incorrect material (but will not gain any either) so it is worth writing something, even if you are not sure it is correct.

If you fail to submit an assessment by the due date and time, it will not normally be possible for it to be marked. If ill-health prevents you attending a practical session or meeting a submission deadline, see the Section 7.1.1. Guidelines on ill health.

NB: In many practical classes you will work as one of a pair or larger group of students. Be careful that you feel confident with all the procedures yourself and do not leave it to others to do tasks for you: remember, in the exam you will be on your own. Furthermore, although you will most likely obtain results as part of a group, it is essential that any practical work that you submit for assessment is written in your own words, unless you have been specifically instructed to submit a group report (see Section 5.9 Plagiarism, collusion and other forms of academic malpractice).

5.3.3 Tutorial assessments

Most of the work submitted in tutorials is assessed. You must obtain a pass mark on this work to be able to progress to Year 2. If you obtain a mean mark of <40% for your tutorial work, OR if your attendance is unsatisfactory, you will fail BIOL10000 and will be required to write an extended essay during the summer vacation.

The compensation rules for examinations (see 6.3 Section Pass marks and compensation rules (Level 1) will only be applied if you pass the tutorial assessments AND fulfil the attendance requirement for tutorials units.

Assessments associated with the BIOL10741 Writing and Referencing Skills Unit are monitored for the work elements of the Work and Attendance Regulations [see Section Work and attendance regulations (Level 1)] and are also part of the tutorial assessment. Failure to complete these assessments satisfactorily will result in automatic failure of the tutorial unit, and you will be required to complete tutorial referral work over the summer vacation.

The marks for tutorial assessments and Writing and Referencing Skills units in Year 1 are not included in the calculation of your mean mark for the year. Nevertheless, you will be unable to progress to Year 2 if you have not passed the tutorial unit and obtained the credits for it.

5.3.4 August/September referrals

If you pass a minimum of 40 credits at 40% or above but have failed to meet the expected standard in up to 80 of the remaining credits, you will be able to have one more attempt at the assessment. This is known as a ‘referred assessment‘ and these assessments will normally take place during the August/September examination period. This will all happen in good time for the examination board to make decisions on your progression for next year’s enrolment. Please note that:

  1. No more than 80 credits can be referred, i.e. if a student fails more than 80 credits, they will not be able to attend the re-sit exams. Note that non-compensatable units cannot be carried into the following year of study.
  2. It will be the mark that you obtain in the referral examination that will determine whether you obtain a pass in a unit (we do NOT take the better of marks obtained on the first or second attempt). The mark will be derived solely from the referral examination and will not include any coursework components carried over from the first sitting, unless the exam is being taken as a first attempt.
  3. To give credit for passing referral examinations, any passed referral mark will be capped at 30% for the purposes of progression and will be recorded on academic transcripts as 30R. If your original mark for the unit was between 30 and 39, it will instead be capped at this mark, e.g. 35R. This is the mark that will then factor into your year mark.
  4. Should you still not pass the Examination on this referral (when the compensation rules will again be applied) the following decisions by the Board of Examiners may be taken: You may be:
    1. permitted to carry forward up to 20 failed credits to the next year of your degree programme. This decision is at the discretion of the Board of Examiners and will be based on your academic standing and any mitigating circumstances. Whole units must be repeated in attendance, with assessments taken in Marks are capped to the lowest compensatable mark. Failed non-compensatable units, e.g. BIOL10401, cannot be carried over to subsequent levels [See section 6.3 Pass marks and compensation rules (Levels 1 and 2)].
    2. permitted to repeat the year on your current degree programme in This option is at the discretion of the Board of Examiners and can only be granted after the Board of Examiners meets in September to discuss the results of the referral examinations. It will normally only be available where you can demonstrate that your current academic performance is likely to improve in the following year and will be dependent on availability of places for the following year. Due to limits on student numbers, this can only be offered in certain circumstances and it is not possible to simply request to repeat the year. You may only do this if it is offered to you by the Board of Examiners.
    3. permitted to take a year where you would have to ‘Resit Without Attendance’, which means that you would not attend any classes and would just take the referrals during the exam periods. All outstanding assessments would need to be passed for you to progress to the next level of your
    4. excluded from your Degree

Dates for the August/September examination period are printed at the front of this handbook. Please consider this when making summer plans. Should you be ill and unable to take an examination in January or May/June you will need to be available for the referral opportunity. It is NOT possible to take referral examinations at another location, online (where it is an on-campus examination}, or to take them at a different time to the other students.

5.4. Criteria for marking answers on theory examination papers

Criteria for marking theory papers is available on the Faculty intranet: https://app.bmh.manchester.ac.uk/public/downloads.aspx?docld=131640

5.5. Examination feedback

Students have a right to receive feedback on their examination performance from Unit Coordinators. This may be done in a number of ways:

  • Unit Coordinator may publish a general feedback document outlining how questions were answered, addressing general strengths and weaknesses of students and giving a general indication of how well the questions were answered.
  • For handwritten (paper) exams, Unit Coordinators may organise script viewing sessions following the release of examination results where students will be able to view handwritten feedback provided by markers in their exam scripts. Students will be notified in advance when the session is due to take place and will be able to request specifically which scripts they want to view in advance. Students will be able to view all exam scripts in the same session.
  • For essay-based exams submitted to Turnitin, students will be able to view marker’s comments online after the exam results have been

HOWEVER, PLEASE NOTE

  • that for MCQ Examinations, there is no opportunity to view the answer sheets, and no individual feedback will be provided on these exams; only generic, cohort-level feedback.
  • that a student DOES NOT have the right to challenge any academic judgements on the quality of the answer. This means there is NO opportunity for papers to be re-marked.

5.6 Guidelines on feedback to students during the teaching period

Feedback is a broad term, which can be interpreted in different ways. The purpose of this section is to define the activities associated with feedback mechanisms, as they relate to lecture-based BIOL units so that you are aware of the feedback available for any unit which you decide to take.

  • Lecturers are expected to provide general guidance to students on appropriate reading material and other learning resources for the unit in advance of the start of the unit on
  • We encourage you to ask questions through any appropriate medium. If you ask questions, for example by email, please make sure you include your own interpretation of the answer, including the literature sources that you used, and ask whether your interpretation or understanding are correct. For example:
    • Wrong format: “Can you tell me the primary role of voltage-gated sodium channels?”
    • Correct format: “It is my understanding that voltage-gated sodium channels are primarily responsible for the depolarising phase of the action potential. I used Kandel’s Principles of Neuroscience to obtain this information. Is this correct?”
  • NB: The School does not publish marking schemes or answers to examination questions – you are expected to deduce these yourself using text books, peers, and PASS sessions.
  • In addition to providing the mandatory level of feedback, Unit Coordinators may provide more detailed feedback on your work. You should consult the feedback entry within the unit description in this handbook for further details on the additional feedback provided.

Please note that the comments on examination papers are intended primarily to allow the first marker to communicate the rationale for their marking to the moderator and external examiner. These comments are not written with the [primary] aim of providing feedback to the student, although the student may find that the comments do provide them with beneficial insights into their performance.

5.7 Plagiarism, collusion and other forms of academic malpractice

Academic Malpractice is a serious offence – it is treated as seriously as cheating in exams. As a student, you are expected to cooperate in the learning process throughout your programme of study by completing assignments of various kinds that are the product of your own study or research. Coursework, reports and essays submitted for assessment must be your own work, unless an assignment is a joint group projects as clearly instructed by the Unit Coordinator. Please, be aware that there are regular cases where students, knowingly or unknowingly, commit plagiarism or some other form of academic malpractice during their assignments, which is regarded a serious offence and will be penalised affecting the mark of your submission, and you may even fail the unit (with or without loss of credits).

It is your own responsibility to ensure that you understand what constitutes academic malpractice; COMMITTING ACADEMIC MALPRACTICE UNINTENTIONALLY IS NO DEFENCE!  

Training on how to avoid malpractice will also form an important part of the first stage of the Writing and Referencing skills modules in Year 1, you will be given exercises and guidance on plagiarism/academic malpractice in tutorials; if you are still unsure about any aspect of this, you should ask your Academic Advisor for advice and/or visit the many helpful links provided in Section 1.1.3. Some brief guidance is provided in the following.

  • Academic malpractice includes plagiarism, collusion, fabrication or falsification of results and anything else intended by those committing it to achieve credit that they do not properly deserve. This also includes submitting work which you have previously submitted for credit – this is self-plagiarism.
  • You should be aware that all teaching materials and examination papers are subject to copyright by the If these are shared externally, then you will be subject to academic malpractice procedures, and possible legal action.
  • All students are required to confirm that they have read and agree to the University’s declaration on Academic Malpractice as part of the online registration process.
  • A number of measures are taken to detect academic malpractice:
    • As part of the formative and/or summative assessment process, you may be asked to submit electronic versions of your work to TurnitinUK and/or other electronic systems for the purposes of detecting plagiarism and other forms of academic malpractice, and for If you are asked to do this, you must do so within the required timescales.
    • The School reserves the right to submit your work to TurnitinUK and/or other electronic systems, even if you have originally not been asked to do so.
    • Please note that when work is submitted to the relevant electronic systems, it is copied and then stored in a database to allow appropriate checks to be made and to detect self-plagiarism.
    • You will be given an opportunity within the tutorials to submit a draft essay through this system, and it is very much in your best interests to do this so that you understand how it works.
    • If you are suspected of having committed academic malpractice, a disciplinary hearing may be involved and penalties will be applied

5.8 AI statement and links

AI tools have the potential to enhance learning when used appropriately. However, it is important that you understand the potential risks and benefits of these tools if you plan to use them during your studies.

You may use AI tools like any other resource to help you generate ideas, key themes, and plan your assessment, and you may also cite or quote content generated by AI systems. However, passing off work generated by AI as your own is plagiarism, and will be treated as seriously as plagiarism of another person. Indeed, the words and ideas generated by the chatbot or Al tool may make use of other, human authors’ ideas without referencing them, which is plagiarism. Also, generative AI can produce factual errors (“hallucinations”) or biased text; therefore, we urge students to be cautious when using AI.

Some Course Units or assignments may vary this position. In these cases, you will be given detailed instructions on what is and isn’t allowed and may be asked to sign a code of conduct. If you are unclear about what is permissible, contact the course unit lead.

For more detail on the University’s position on the use of AI in teaching and learning, see Artificial Intelligence (AI) Teaching Guidance.

For advice on how to acknowledge and cite content generated by AI see: https://manchester- uk.libanswers.com/teaching-and-learning/faq/264824

5.9 Access to digital resources

The University has committed to ensuring all students have equitable access to hardware, software, connectivity and study spaces as well as opportunities to develop their digital skills.  You can find out more about how to  access  laptop loans from the library, book a quiet space to work or  access software and computers on campus here .

To help develop your digital skills and prepare you for your degree and beyond, you should use the JISC discovery tool to identify your digital skills gaps. The tool produces a report for you and recommends the resources to  ensure you are fully equipped for your academic and professional future.

We recommend that you complete the Current students (Higher Education) question set every year if you are in Year 2 and beyond to keep your digital skills up to date.

5.10 External Examiners

External Examiners are individuals from another institution or organisation who monitor the assessment processes of the University to ensure fairness and academic standards. They ensure that assessment and examination procedures have been fairly and properly implemented and that decisions have been made after appropriate deliberation. They also ensure that standards of awards and levels of student performance are at least comparable with those in equivalent higher education institutions.

External Examiners’ reports relating to programmes within the School of Biological Sciences will be shared with student representatives at the Student/Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC), where details of any actions carried out by the School in response to the External Examiners’ comments will be discussed. You should contact your student representatives if you require any further information about External Examiners’ reports or the process for considering them. The External Examiners for each programme are as follows:

Programme External Examiner Institution
Biochemistry Dr Paul Curnow University of Bristol
Biology Dr David Booth University of Dundee
Biology with Science & Society Dr David Booth University of Dundee
Biomedical Sciences Prof. Rachel Ashworth University of Worcester
Biotechnology To be confirmed To be confirmed
Genetics Prof. Guy Tear King’s College London
Immunology To be confirmed To be confirmed
Medical Biochemistry To be confirmed To be confirmed
Medical Physiology Dr Taufiq Rahman University of Cambridge
Microbiology To be confirmed To be confirmed
Molecular Biology Dr Ben Abell Sheffield Hallam University
Neuroscience To be confirmed To be confirmed
Pharmacology Dr Taufiq Rahman University of Cambridge
Zoology Dr James Gilbert University of Hull

Please note that it is inappropriate for students to make direct contact with External Examiners under any circumstances, in particular with regards to a student’s individual performance in assessments. Other appropriate mechanisms are available for students, including the University’s appeals or complaints procedures and the UMSU Advice Centre (see Section 7.2.2). External Examiners have been requested not to respond to direct queries but to report the matter to their School contact. If students have any queries concerning this, they should contact the Student Support Hubin the first instance.

6. STUDENT PROGRESSION

6.1  Degree Regulations

The degree regulations for students can be found on the University website.

Bachelors Degree classification weighted to 120 credits Classification thresholds: weighted average (0 to 100 mark range) Boundary zone weighted average
First class 70.0 68.0 to 69.9
Upper Second class 60.0 58.0 to 59.9
Lower Second class 50.0 48.0 to 49.9
Third class 40.0 37.0 to 39.9

Note, unlike the BSc degrees, it is not possible to attain a 3rd class for an MSci degree. Consequently, MSci students who obtain a final mark of less than 50% will fail the MSci degree. However, you will be able to graduate with BSc (Hons) degree based on your performance during your first three years.

6.2 First Year Assessments and examinations

First year assessments and examinations contribute 10% to your final degree mark for a BSc degree and 6% for an MSci degree.

Allocation to Research Skills Modules RSMs with restricted numbers in second year for students who have a choice will be based on your overall first year mark.

6.3 Pass marks and Compensation rules

The pass mark for each unit examination is 40%, and ideally you should pass all the units for which you are registered. However, the examiners realise that not all students will achieve this ideal, and some students may pass most of their units, getting good marks in most but failing some by a small number of marks. The following compensation rules are therefore used, whereby good marks can compensate for some fail marks; the degree of compensation permitted will depend on the marks of all your units.

To obtain a compensated pass in the First Year Course Units as a whole you must:

  • pass all elements of the tutorial assessment (see Section Tutorial assessments) and have satisfactory attendance at tutorials and practical classes (see Section Practical assessments)
  • gain a mark of at least 40% in the tutorial unit BIOL10000, both practical units (BIOL10401 and either BIOL10412, BIOL10422, BIOL10602, BIOL10622, BIOL10642 or BIOL10662, depending on your degree programme), and in all designated non-compensatable units for your Degree Programme (see 6.4).
  • gain a mark of at least 70% in BIOL10741 Writing and Referencing Skills
  • achieve marks of at least 40% in at least 80 out of 120 credits (including the tutorial practicals and non-compensatable units) and at least 30% in each of the remaining 40 credits

NB – failure of the – Tutorial unit BIOL10000, and BIOL10741 Writing and Referencing Skills will lead to loss of compensation and all unit assessments with marks less than 40% will have to be resat.

For most Degree Programmes, at least one core non-compensatable unit has been designated in which you must attain a mark of at least 40%. However, failure of these units will not result in overall loss of compensation. Please also note that referrals of these units cannot be avoided by changing to a programme where they are compensatable. Students are expected to complete the year on their current degree programme. Also failed non-compensatable unit credits cannot be carried forward to the next year. A list of these units follows:

6.4 Level 1 Non-compensatable units

Biochemistry

BIOL10212 Biochemistry

BIOL10221 Molecular Biology

 

Biology with Science and Society

BIOL10381 A History of Biology in 20 Objects

 

Biotechnology

BIOL10221 Molecular Biology

 

Genetics

BIOL10521 Genes, Evolution & Development

 

Medical Biochemistry

BIOL10212 Biochemistry

 

Medical Physiology

BIOL10832 Excitable Cells: the Foundations of Neuroscience

 

Microbiology

BIOL10532 Microbes, Humankind & the Environment

 

Molecular Biology

BIOL10221 Molecular Biology

 

Neuroscience

BIOL10832 Excitable Cells: the Foundations of Neuroscience

 

Pharmacology

BIOL10822 Drugs from Molecules to Man

Some field courses do not take place until after the date that we are required to hold the Examination Board. Therefore, marks for these field course units will be excluded and the compensation rules will be applied only to the units that have been taken. However, you should note that:

  1. If you obtain a fail mark in a field course and no compensation is available after applying the compensation rules across ALL your units, you will be required to complete a substantial assignment in lieu of a referral of a field course.
  2. the field course marks WILL be included in the calculation of your mean year mark that will contribute towards your final degree mark.

The University gives the Board of Examiners the right to refuse a referral (re-sit) to a student whose Work and Attendance has been unsatisfactory and who has received an official warning letter.

If after the application of the above compensation rules you are found to have failed overall, then you will be required to take referral examinations in August/September. If you have passed 40 or more credits at the first attempt the Board of Examiners will specify which unit assessments you are required to refer in order to gain at least a compensated pass for the year in the August/September examinations.

Note the Board of Examiners may choose to exclude you from further study if you are absent without explanation from all exams in a given examination period or if you fail on first attempt more than 80 credits worth of assessments.

ABSENCE FROM EXAMINATIONS/ASSESSMENTS: you must inform the Student Support Hub if you are absent for any examinations or assessments BEFORE THE START OF THE EXAM (see Section 8.6 Absence from examinations due to ill health). If you are absent for all exams within a given examination period, without prior notice and documentation to mitigate this absence, the School will assume that you have withdrawn from your programme of study and will not permit you to progress to the subsequent year.

6.5 Disclosure of marks and record of academic performance

Marks for practical assessments and unit examinations will be made available to you via My Manchester Student Portal; details on how to access them can be found here. Please see section Key Dates and Deadlines (Level 1) (Level 2) for the dates the examination results will be published. Practical assessment and other coursework marks may be published on an ongoing basis.

The School reserves the right to delay the publication of final results in the event there are unprecedented circumstances or issues which need to be resolved before final results can be confirmed.

Decisions on progression to the next year will be communicated to you via My Manchester Portal during the summer vacation. In some circumstances, you will be sent a separate email to both your university and personal email addresses confirming the outcome of the examination board.

It is entirely your responsibility to ensure that you learn the contents of these important messages in a timely manner and understand any action that you are required to take.

6.6 Academic Appeals

Academic Appeals are a way of asking the University to review a recent decision taken by an Examination Board or equivalent body, which affects a student’s progression or status (e.g. where a student is excluded from the University, or transferred to a programme for a lower qualification). However, appeals cannot be made simply on the basis of disagreeing with a mark, or as a challenge to academic judgement. They must instead be based on one of the grounds for appeal detailed in Regulation XIX Academic Appeals.

The University Academic Appeals procedure is available here. Please read this carefully if you are considering submitting an appeal.

The purpose of this regulation is to safeguard the interests of students and may only be used when there are adequate grounds for doing so which are outlined in the regulation. It may not be used simply because you are dissatisfied with the outcome of your assessment or other decision concerning your academic progress.

An appeal which questions the academic or professional judgement of those charged with the responsibility for assessing a student’s academic performance of professional competence shall not be permitted. This means that you may not challenge marks or grades awarded unless you believe that they may have been affected by factors under i-iv below.

The accepted grounds for appeal are as follows:

Circumstances affecting your performance of which, for good reason, the board of examiners or committee may not have been aware when the decision was taken, and which may have had a material effect on the decision. Note: if students wish to appeal on such grounds, they must give credible and compelling reasons with supporting documentation explaining why this information was not made available prior to the decision being made.

  1. An administrative error or procedural irregularity in the assessment process or in putting into effect the regulations for the programme of study such as to cause significant doubt as to whether the decision might have been different if the error or irregularity had not occurred.
  2. Evidence of prejudice or bias or lack of proper assessment on the part of one or more of the examiners.
  3. The supervision or training in respect of research for a dissertation or thesis or equivalent work was unsatisfactory to the point that your performance was seriously

Appeals based upon provisional decisions of the School cannot be considered. This means that you will not be able to submit an appeal until after your marks have been ratified by the Board of Examiners and the results have been released. All recommendations for mitigating circumstances must be approved by the Board of Examiners. Please note that the semester 1 progression board constitutes a meeting of the Board of Examiners, so if you wish to submit an appeal in relation to a semester 1 course unit, this should be submitted within 20 days of the date you receive notification that your semester 1 results are available.

If you wish to pursue an appeal, your first step would be to submit a Stage 1 appeal, which will be sent directly to the School for consideration. You will then receive an outcome from the School, and can then proceed to Stage 2 if your Stage 1 appeal is unsuccessful. A Stage 2 appeal would instead be reviewed by the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health Appeals, Complaints and Discipline team.

Please submit your Stage 1 appeal through this online form. The form will tell you what information you need to provide. You cannot submit a Stage 2 appeal until the School has already considered a Stage 1 appeal.

Please Note:

  • Your Stage 1 appeal must be submitted within 20 working days of the date you were informed of the decision you wish to appeal against, e.g. when your results are released. Any appeal received outside of this timeframe will be automatically rejected.
  • Evidence (e.g. medical evidence) must be provided to support the appeal. Any appeal that does not provide evidence will not be considered.
  • We will not consider any appeals which challenge academic judgment or are in relation to generally being unhappy with a mark that you have been awarded.
  • If you are appealing on the grounds of mitigating circumstances, your appeal must evidence why you did not submit an application for mitigating circumstances to the school prior to the examination board.

Should an informal appeal be rejected, you will then have the right to submit a stage 2 appeal to the Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health Appeals, Complaints and Discipline Team within 10 working days of the date you are notified of the outcome of your informal appeal. This route cannot be pursued until an informal appeal has been considered first. Any Stage 1 appeal outcome you receive will contain information regarding how to do this

Please note you can only appeal on your own behalf. If you want a representative (e.g. a parent) to appeal for you, you must send a letter (or email) with your appeal explaining that you have given them permission to act on your behalf. Students can contact the Students’ Union Advice Service for assistance in drafting an appeal.

For further information on submitting an appeal, please contact sbs.appealsandconduct@manchester.ac.uk. Please note that appeals submitted directly by email to this address will NOT be considered; all appeals must be submitted through the online form.

The Students’ Union Advice Service also provides useful information on the appeals process and can provide advice and guidance.

SUPPORT STRUCTURES

7. SUPPORT YOUR WELLBEING

If you need support with your wellbeing during your time at the University, your first point of contact is the Student Support and Wellbeing team. This team can support you with any wellbeing query or concern and ensure you are signposted to the appropriate support service. The team also work on a range of welfare activity, such as mitigating circumstances, DASS support, change of circumstances, and attendance monitoring.

You can arrange to meet with someone from the Student Support and Wellbeing team by contacting sbs.wellbeing@manchester.ac.uk. You can also have a chat with someone in the team over the phone on +44 (0) 161 275 1487. You can also drop by the Support Hub in Stopford Building. The Hub is open Monday-Friday 9:00am to 17:00pm, during term time.

7.1 ACADEMIC SUPPORT

7.1.1 Academic Advisors

Every student in the School is assigned an Academic Advisor. Your Academic Advisor (normally the same person throughout your course) offers you advice on academic matters, personal problems (if needed), and is your main link to the School and the University.

You must meet your Academic Advisor at regular intervals during your degree. We recommend you speak to your Academic Advisor about any problems that you are having that are affecting your work. We encourage students to take the initiative in raising problems or difficulties (academic or personal) at the earliest possible opportunity so that staff can provide appropriate guidance and support. The expectation is that students will then make appropriate use of all the support and guidance offered at the University.

When you are making applications for summer work, placements, jobs, or further degrees, your Academic Advisor should know you well enough to write an informed reference. You must first contact your Academic Advisor to ask if they are able to provide a reference in the timeframe required – you must give your Academic Advisor sufficient time to prepare and submit the reference. It is also helpful to provide your Advisor with details of the job or degree programme you are appyling to, together with an updated copy of your CV.

7.1.2 Academic Tutors

You will have regular small-group tuition in groups of between 10 and 12 students with an Academic Tutor. You will see several Academic Tutors with different areas of expertise during your undergraduate career. Normally your Academic Advisor will also be your Academic Tutor in Year 1, which gives you a chance to get to know each other.

Attendance at ALL of the academic tutorials and the production of satisfactory work are requirements of all Degree Programmes (see also Section Work and Attendance Regulations (Level 1) (Level 2) (Level 3)).

7.1.3 Programme Directors

The Programme Director oversees the content of your Degree Programme, agrees your choice of optional course units during Welcome Week and assists your Academic Advisor in giving you advice on academic matters. A list of Programme Directors can be found in Section Programme Directors.

7.1.4 Senior Advisor team

There is a team of Senior Advisors for the School who are available (via the Student Support Hub) to discuss any particularly serious problems, or anything you would rather not discuss with your Academic Advisor (including the situation where you may feel it necessary to request a change in Academic Advisor). The team of Senior Advisors can be contacted via email at senioradvisors.sbs@manchester.ac.uk

7.1.5 The University Centre for Academic English

The University Centre for Academic English provides courses and language learning resources. It also offers a wide range of courses and services for international students for whom English is not a first language.

Their Academic Success workshops are available to all registered students. Academic English can be challenging, even for native speakers. Their team of experienced tutors can support you, and help boost your confidence to work independently in English through a series of interactive workshops and self-study materials.

Face to Face – This is an informal reciprocal language learning scheme, in which students can meet with native speakers of the language they are learning to exchange conversation. International students find that this is a good way to meet home students and to become more integrated into the University. Home students can prepare themselves for study abroad by finding out about their partners’ home universities and cultures. The Face to Face contact board is online. To join the scheme, contact angela.farrand@manchester.ac.uk.

A full guide to the University Centre for Academic English courses, services and its language learning resources is available here.

7.1.6 Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS)

Peer Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) are operated by second, third and final year students to assist first year students in the transition to University life. Groups of first year students will be assigned 2 PASS leaders by PASS scheme student coordinators and the School Sabbatical Student Intern at the start of their programme and will be scheduled to meet with their PASS leaders at regular intervals during the year. Any queries about PASS should be addressed to the Student Intern responsible for the scheme (peersupport@manchester.ac.uk).

The aims of the scheme are to:

  • enable a clear view of course expectations
  • promote a non-threatening environment
  • provide an effective method to:
  • assist learning
  • develop interpersonal/transferable skills (communication, team working, problem solving)
  • develop self confidence
  • increase responsibility and motivation
  • increase peer interaction
  • obtain inside knowledge
  • allow students to give real-time feedback
  • generate real-time feedback for the teaching staff
  • challenge the barrier between year groups

7.1.7 Writing Fellows

The Writing Fellows provide students with free and confidential one-to-one advice on effective writing, including writing essays, lab reports, literature reviews or other coursework. Students can sign up for a one-to-one tutorial (up to 50 minutes) to help you:

  • plan your study time
  • focus your reading for essay, dissertation or thesis writing
  • express your ideas more clearly
  • answer grammar and punctuation questions
  • discover reading to improve your writing and editing skills
  • increase your writing skills with the aim of improving your grades
  • improve any academic writing – essays, reports, dissertations,

Students can make an appointment during term-time with one of the Fellows by emailing them directly. Their contact details are listed below:

Writing Fellow Contact Details
Sophie Duffy sophie.duffy@rlfed ucation.org.uk
Ian Pople lan.pople@rlfeducation.org.uk

7.2.1 Counselling and Mental Health Service

The University’s Counselling and Mental Health service is available for any student that needs specialized support with their mental health. The service is free for all students and consists of trained mental health practitioners and counsellors.  Any student struggling with their mental health can arrange a 1-1 appointment with a counsellor who will advise what support is needed. There are also some online sessions/workshops on specific issues, e.g. confidence and self-esteem, managing low mood, managing exam stress, coping with academic pressure, presentations and public speaking etc.

Please check the Counselling & Mental Health Service website for further details on what support the service can offer. You can also get in touch with the Student Support and Wellbeing team if you need advice on whether to access this service.

7.2.2 Students’ Union Advice Service

The Students Union has a free, independent and confidential Advice Service, which consists of trained Advisors that can support students with financial, housing, or academic concerns.

You can find more details about the SU Advice Service and how to make an appointment here.

7.2.3 Financial help

If you are a UK student for fees purposes, you can apply to Student Finance for a Student Loan for Maintenance and a Student Loan for Fees. Payments for the Student Loan for Maintenance are made directly into your bank account. If you choose to take one, the Student Loan for Fees is paid directly to the University. Some students may also be eligible for a non-repayable grant and your Student Finance will assess you for this. If you get into difficulties while you are a student, the Student Services Centre can help with money advice and budgeting. Further information is available here.

If you are experiencing unforeseen circumstances or financial hardship, students may be eligible for the Cost of Living Support Fund which can provide financial support to help overcome food insecurity, supporting with utility bills, and addressing any other issues arising from financial hardship. It is open to ALL students, regardless of level of study, nationality, or social background and is open all year round and can award grants to help you overcome financial hardship or unforeseen expenses. The fund cannot assist with the cost of tuition fees for any student. Further details are available here. The Students’ Union Advice Service can also provide guidance on financial support.

7.2.4 Support for students with disability and long-term health problems

The University of Manchester welcomes students with a disability or specific learning difficulties. The University has a dedicated Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) that supports any students with a long-term condition or disability. When a student registers with DASS, they will meet a Disability Advisor on a 1-1 basis where they will assess what support the student needs for their teaching, learning and assessments. DASS will create a student support plan and send this to the Student Support and Wellbeing team in the School, who will liaise with academic staff to ensure the student’s support is put in place.,  You can find out more information about DASS, the University’s commitment to supporting students with a disability and the policies and procedures around disability support here.

DASS is located on the 2nd Floor of University Place (see campus map).

Email: dass@manchester.ac.uk

Phone 0161 275 7512; Text 07899 658 790 (only for d/Deaf students);  Website: https://www.dass.manchester.ac.uk/

DASS are open from 10am to 4pm Monday to Friday

You can also email the School’s DASS Coordinator at sbs.dc@manchester.ac.uk for any advice relating to DASS requirements.

The Stopford Building has car parking spaces reserved for blue badge holders, wheelchair access and an adapted lift at the car park end of the building.

7.2.5 Support for international students

Tailored support for specific communities

We recognise that some student groups will need specific support during their time at university. The University offers tailored support to individual student groups, such as care experienced students, commuter students, and estranged students, for example.

You can find a list of tailored support here.

7.2.6 Health

The University of Manchester Occupational Health Service  is a confidential, specialised clinical service that looks after the health of staff and students at the University. The service can assess and advise on fitness for work, training and study, and help ensure that health issues of staff and students are effectively managed.

Students can access Occupational Health if they feel their health is having a direct impact on their fitness to study their programme. Students can either self-refer to the service, which would not be disclosed to the School, or a student can be referred to the Service by a member of the Student Support and Wellbeing team.

Where necessary the Service works closely with other services at the University; e.g. the Disability Advisory and Support Service (DASS) to support students with health problems or disabilities.

The Occupational Health Service does not deal with medical or first aid emergencies and cannot diagnose or provide treatment. If there is a serious medical emergency you should phone (9)999 for an ambulance, remembering to call University Security (69966) immediately afterwards so that they can assist the ambulance in getting to you.

You will need an appointment to see an Occupational Health Adviser or Physician as the Service does not have the capacity to see you as a ‘drop-in’.

You must register with a local General Practitioner (GP, this is what we call local or family doctors in the UK) as soon as you know your term-time address. GPs provide a range of non­emergency services by appointment – including examinations, medication prescriptions, vaccinations and referrals to other medical specialists.

According to guidance issued by the General Medical Council it would not be regarded as good practice for a family member to be the registered GP or to offer treatment, except in the case of an emergency.

You should always consult your GP (or for emergencies the Accident and Emergency Department of a hospital) if your illness is severe, if it persists, or if you have any concerns about your health.

  • You can register with The Robert Darbishire Practice, which is located in Crawford House (shown on the Campus map as Building 31), using their online portal. Find out more about the service on the Robert Darbishire Practice website.
  • Alternatively, you can use the NHS Find a GP website to find a list of practices near your address. This will direct you to the GPs’ websites to find out how to register as a patient.

Information and guidance to help you register with a Dentist when first moving to Manchester can be found here.

You should always consult your GP (or for emergencies the Accident and Emergency Department of a hospital) if your illness is severe, if it persists, or if you have any concerns about your health. Your Academic Advisor or one of the Senior Advisors will give you guidance on the effect of any absence from your studies and your options if you consider your illness has affected your studies. You can also contact the Student Support and Wellbeing team if you need to speak to someone about your health. If you have repeated episodes of ill health that are affecting your attendance and/or studies, the School may refer you to the Student Occupational Health Services.

7.2.7 Discrimination and Harassment (including University policies on discrimination)

Information and University policies on discrimination and harassment can be found here.

If you have been a victim of some form of harassment, please use the reporting system available here. Students can report anonymously or speak to an advisor from the Advice and Response team.

All members of the University community are required to treat all students, staff and local community in a friendly, courteous and dignified manner. Bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination and victimisation are contrary to the Equality Act 2010 and the values of the University as set out in the Equality and Diversity Policy.

Students have a right to complain in confidence if they are being harassed whilst studying. No student is expected to tolerate what they genuinely and reasonably believe to be bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination or victimisation, whether by a member of the University community or a third party such as a supplier or visitor to the University.

The University’s policy on bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination or victimisation is called the Dignity at Work and Study Policy and covers students, staff and the wider community.

Students can report an incident to the Advice and Response (A&R) team. Students can use the Report and Support tool to report an incident anonymously.

Further information on how to report an incident and to obtain support can be found here. You can also make an appointment with The Students’ Union Advice Service if you wish to access free, impartial and confidential advice. You can also make an appointment with the Student Support and Wellbeing team (sbs.wellbeing@manchester.ac.uk) if you are unsure which service to access.

7.2.8 The Student Services Centre

The majority of the University’s administrative services for students (except Accommodation Services) are available from our centralised Student Services Centre.

Please see the Student Services webpage for details on how to access their service including contacting the Service Delivery Team via email.

7.2.9 Accommodation

The Accommodation Office provides information and guidance on a range of issues including ways to deal with any problems that students might encounter over accommodation choices, special needs, existing accommodation difficulties, accommodation for students with families and on temporary accommodation, including provision available outside semester time. Please refer to the Accommodation Office website for further details here.

For private sector accommodation see the Manchester Student Homes website. Manchester Student Homes (MSH) is owned, managed and funded by the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University and their respective Students’ Unions.

The Students’ Union Advice Service is also an excellent source of help and advice on problems with private accommodation.

7.2.10 Security on campus

The University Security Service should be contacted if you have concerns about personal security or theft (0161 306 9966 – the number is on the back of your student ID card) or wish to speak to a member of the security staff.

SafeZone is our mobile app designed to give you extra peace of mind on campuses across the city or living in accommodation.

The SafeZone app is free to download and easy to use. Visit Google Play or the App Store and search ‘SafeZone’ to download.

You can use it to:

  • ‘Check in’ any time of day- to keep you safe on campus, such as if you’re studying or working late or alone on campus
  • Quickly and discreetly call for assistance – whenever you feel unsafe on campus
  • Get medical assistance quickly – whether it’s for first aid, an accident or in an emergency
  • Keep up to date – notifications sent directly to your phone if there is an incident on campus
  • Wellbeing assistance – get access to support 24/7 to help you care for your own wellbeing
  • IT help – contact our IT team for help

You can use SafeZone to call for help whenever you’re located in:

  • Fallowfield
  • Victoria Park
  • The University of Manchester campus
  • Manchester Metropolitan University campus
  • University of Salford

As part of the Manchester SafeZone Alliance, any student can use the SafeZone app to get assistance on any of these campuses – no matter which university you attend. The app will directly connect you to the appropriate safety or security team for that area, who will provide the assistance you need. If you leave these areas you can still use the app, which will provide you with your local emergency services number – even if you’re outside the UK.

Further information is available here.

7.2.11 Day-to-day problem solving and other ways of making your views known

You are welcome to make comments about any aspect of your Degree Programme at any time. If you have difficulties or suggestions, please be aware that they should be raised promptly, and that the resolution of problems is likely to be most effective via face-to-face interaction. You should feel free to comment on unit content, delivery or assessment direct to the lecturer or practical coordinator in the first instance. If you feel this is not appropriate, you are encouraged to discuss matters with the Unit Coordinator. If you are still not satisfied, you should seek advice from your Programme Director or Academic Advisor.

8. WHAT TO DO IF THINGS GO WRONG

8.1 Absence

If you are absent from a practical class or tutorial, including online teaching sessions, for reasons other than ill health, you MUST supply strong documentary evidence to the Student Support Hub strongly supporting your case. If you are granted leave of absence, your attendance will be recorded as a permitted absence. For practicals, the Unit Coordinator MAY be able to register you for a replacement session.

8.2 Mitigating Circumstances

If unforeseen circumstances affect your exams or assessments, or your attendance at teaching activities, you can make a request for mitigating circumstances. This includes extension requests on assessment deadlines. A panel will assess each request, and where necessary take action to mitigate for any impact on your performance.

Mitigating circumstances might include a significant short-term illness or injury, a long-term or recurring medical or mental health condition, the death or illness of a close family member, acute stress from personal or financial issues, absence for public service (e.g. jury service), or technical issues during an online exam or assessment. This is not an exhaustive list and there may be other reasons that would be classed as mitigating circumstances. Remember that there is support available and always somebody to talk to. As well as applying for mitigating circumstances, be sure to seek additional support if you need it.

The University’s mitigating circumstances policy gives further examples of what are and are not considered mitigating circumstances.

Further information about how to apply for mitigating circumstances can be found here (School of Biological Sciences Student Information – Home (sharepoint.com)).

2024/25 DEADLINES for submitting your mitigating circumstances application and supporting evidence

Coursework and Other Assessments completed during the Semester:

Applications must be submitted within 5 working days of the assessment deadline. For example, an application for an assessment with a deadline of 2pm on Thursday must be submitted by no later than 2pm on Thursday of the following week.

Exams affected during the Semester 1 exam period: 12 noon on Monday 27th January 2025

Exams affected during the Semester 2 exam period: no later than 12 noon on Monday 9th June 2025

Exams affected during the re-sit exam period: no later than 12 noon on Monday 1st September 2025

8.3 Interruption of Studies

It is the University’s expectation that students complete their programme in one continuous period of uninterrupted study. It is understood, however, that students may encounter personal difficulties or situations which may seriously disrupt their studies. In such instances, students may be granted a temporary interruption to their studies.

If students have been, or are being, affected by mitigating circumstances that have lasted or are expected to last for a significant period, or that may impact upon a significant number of units, it may be better for students to apply for an interruption to their studies.

If an application to interrupt a programme of study is approved, it would normally be to help students recover from medical problems, or problems of a personal or financial nature which are having, or may have, a negative impact on performance. However, the School has the flexibility to consider and make decisions on whether to approve requests for interruption in relation to other circumstances too, e.g. work placements.

In the first instance students should speak to members of staff within the School, e.g. Academic Advisor, Student Support Hub, Senior Advisors; about if a period of interruption would be the most appropriate course of action. If students decide to apply, they must make an appointment (via the Student Support Hub) to meet with one of the Senior Advisors who will provide the application form and go through it with students. Students will need to include evidence to support their application, e.g. medical evidence, confirmation of work placement.

8.4 Complaints procedure

As part of its commitment to ensuring the standard and quality of its programmes of study, services, and facilities, the University has established a Complaints Procedure to deal with complaints from students. Complaints provide useful feedback information and, where appropriate, will be used to improve services and facilities.

The University’s Student Complaints Procedure (Regulation XVIII) and associated documents, including a complaints form, can be found here.

The University has separate procedures (Report + Support) to address complaints of bullying, harassment, discrimination and/or victimisation. Further information is available here.

Students thinking of submitting a formal complaint should, in most instances, attempt informal resolution first with the Head of Teaching, Learning & Student Experience, kerry.mycock@manchester.ac.uk. Formal complaints should be submitted on the relevant form to FBMHappealsandcomplaints@manchester.ac.uk.

9. Student Voice

9.1 Student-focused evaluation of teaching

9.1.1 Unit Surveys

As part of the University’s commitment to listen to students and to enhance their learning experience, towards the end of each semester students will be invited to complete an anonymous Unit Survey for each unit that they have studied. These surveys aim to identify units that achieve high levels of satisfaction, so that we can share best practice, and any units with lower satisfaction levels, so that possible causes can be addressed. Unit coordinators will review the survey results and any resulting action will be reported to students via SharePoint, Blackboard and/or the Student Voice meeting.

9.1.2 Programme evaluations

Towards the end of the academic year, you will have the opportunity to comment on all aspects of your year of study as a whole.

9.2 Representation on Committees

The School encourages everyone to express their views and so help shape School and University policy. Very specific problems are usually best dealt with by Unit Coordinators, your Programme Director or your Academic Advisor, but broader matters will often benefit from wider discussion. The School and University value your views on many academic and organisational matters, and students have the right to participate in the work of a number of School and University committees. If you feel you could serve as a student representative (Rep) on such a committee, you are warmly encouraged to stand for election, and you can discuss this very important and rewarding role with your Programme Director. Please look out for emails from the SBS Hub in Welcome Week about applying to be Student Rep for your programme, or a Rep for one of the additional positions (see below).  Please note that the position of International Student Rep is recruited during the ‘International Student Meeting’ on the Monday of Welcome Week.  Training for student Reps is provided by the Students’ Union early in the academic year.

The Student Voice Meeting is the main student-focused forum for discussion of general questions and concerns related to teaching and student welfare. These meetings usually take place twice per semester and are attended by the Programme Directors, student Reps from each year of every Degree Programme, and additional Reps of other groups of students (international students, placement students, returned placement students, ‘with entrepreneurship’ students, ‘with a modern language’ students, eLearning, Health & Safety). The names of your student Reps can be found on Sharepoint and via the Students Union website.

The SBS Teaching Board meets about four times a year. It considers operational matters to do with teaching and assessment, including changes to taught units. All staff who teach on Bioscience programmes and all undergraduate student Reps are invited to attend.

The UGT Programme Committee meets four times per year, to approve actions resulting from the Teaching Board and consider matters related to all aspects of teaching and learning. It is attended by the Programme Directors, the Senior Advisor team, Teaching, Learning and Student Experience Executive Committee members and four student volunteers.

The School of Biological Sciences School Board meets four times per year. All staff in the School are able to attend. Undergraduate student Reps are encouraged to attend and have the opportunity to present students’ views at some meetings.

9.3 Student Voice and the Student’s Union

In the wider University, your representation is coordinated by the University of Manchester Students’ Union (SU), which exists with one mission: to be the voice of students at Manchester, effecting change and enriching student life together. The SU offers many opportunities for you to get involved from change-making and campaigning to sports clubs and societies, to volunteering and fundraising and more. We offer advice on housing, finance and academic issues, and as well as all that, the SU lobby the University and advocate for you at local and national government level to make sure that your student experience is the best it can be.

The SU is a representative democracy – you regularly get the opportunity to elect (choose) people from the student body to work on your behalf: your Executive Officers (Exec Officers). Your Exec Team is made up of 8 representative Exec Officers, who work in full-time roles – they are your representatives, your advocates, and they’re accountable to you. The Exec Team run the SU on a day-to-day basis and sit on various committees within the University: from university-wide committees such as Senate (the highest academic body in the University), through to committees specific to Biological Sciences. To find out who your Exec Team are and get in touch, visit manchesterstudentsunion.com/execteam.

 As well as voting in SU elections, there are lots of opportunities for you to have your say or get involved:

10. STUDY SUPPORT AND FACILITIES

10.1  LIBRARY FACILITIES

10.1.1  The University of Manchester Library

The University of Manchester Library provides you with the resources and support you need throughout your Biological Sciences programme. The Main Library and Stopford Library house all the essential textbooks. The Library has an e-first purchasing policy and will purchase all core and essential textbooks as eBooks where possible. In addition the Library also has an extensive collection of additional eBooks, databases and journals available online. Your subject guide will give a good overview of recommended resources to support your studies.

10.1.2 Textbooks and other requirements

Included in most Blackboard sites is a link to the Reading List for each unit. You are advised not to purchase textbooks until the Unit Coordinator has had a chance to discuss these with you, and perhaps show you samples – sometimes there is a choice of recommended texts, depending on the other units that you are taking. Copies of all texts included in the reading list are available in The University of Manchester Library either as an eBook or hard copy, if your unit coordinator has selected a core text each student on the unit will receive their own personal copy of a downloadable, interactive textbook.

10.1.3 Getting Started

All the information you need to get started at the Library is found on the Get Started pages of the library website. You will need your student card to access all library sites around campus. Many of our services and resources also require you to confirm that you are a registered student, this is usually your central username and password.

Your course unit in Blackboard may include an online reading list, so you can quickly check availability and directly access e-books, digitised chapters and e-journals or articles.

10.1.4 The Main Library

The Main Library holds the principal collection of Biological Sciences books and journals available. Biological Sciences textbooks are available on Floor 2 of the Blue Area. Books and periodicals in other related subjects such as Biology are located in other areas of the Main Library. The Library Search facility (available on the front page of the Library website) will let you know what items are available and where to find them including eBooks and online journals. All the main biological science databases are available including Web of Science, Biosis Previews, Biological Sciences, Medline, Embase, Scopus and Zoological Record. These can be used to discover what has been published on a particular subject. The electronic resources can be accessed both on-campus and remotely using your usual login and password.

The Main Library offers group study rooms, individual study space options and computer clusters. WiFi is available throughout the building and a cafe lounge can be found on the ground floor.  There is also a Library Lounge and Living Room available where students have access to microwaves and hot water to reheat food and make hot drinks, there is also a selection of board games and comfortable seating to use whilst taking a break from your studies. The Library has long opening hours and extends these during exam periods. Please check Locations and Opening Hours for full details.

10.1.5 The Stopford Library

The Stopford Library is a smaller site library for Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy and Biological Sciences and holds multiple copies of all new editions of core and useful texts. Full details of what is available can be found using Library Search or asking a member of customer service staff. In addition to books, Stopford Library also has half skeletons, anatomical models and iPads available for loan.

The Stopford Library also has a computer suite, wifi and 6 group study rooms. Bookings can be made via My Manchester or at the customer service desk in the Stopford Library.

Please check Locations and Opening Hours for full details.

10.1.6 The Alan Gilbert Learning Commons

The Alan Gilbert Learning Commons is a state-of-the-art learning environment. The Learning Commons has flexible open learning spaces with multimedia facilities, computer clusters and bookable study rooms. During term time this space is available 24/7.

Please check Locations and Opening Hours for full details.

10.1.7 How to book library rooms

There are a number of bookable study spaces available in Main Library, Stopford and the Learning Commons. These include group study rooms, individual quiet spaces and a specific space to study whilst you have your children with you.  These are all available via Resource Booker. All other study spaces area available on a first come first served basis.

10.1.8 My Learning Essentials

My Learning Essentials is the Library’s comprehensive programme of online resources, workshops and drop-ins designed to support you in your personal and professional development.

Workshops and drop-ins are held throughout the year and include special sessions during exams and the summer. Our online resources are always available, providing flexible support for your development from undergraduate to postgraduate level and beyond.

Full details of workshops and online resources can be viewed on the My Learning Essentials website.

The My Learning Essentials programme is run by The University of Manchester Library in collaboration with other services across campus.

10.1  IT FACILITIES

10.2.1 Safeguarding your work

You must ensure that you back up your work on a regular basis to safeguard against loss, machine failure or theft. The University provides you access to a OneDrive account via Microsoft 365 where you can securely back up your work to the cloud. You will also find that you have access to a “P Drive” on university computers (called “My Documents”) to allow you to access work on any university machine. It is important that you do not save your work to a single device in case the device becomes unusable. When saving to a PC Cluster machine do not save your work on the hard disc of Stopford PC cluster or other networked computers (only the P Drive or cloud storage). Loss of data (i.e. your work) will not be accepted as a valid reason for extension requests or for late submission of work as this is deemed to be a preventable occurrence.

10.2.2 Do you need more space to save your files?

Between your Microsoft 365 One Drive account and your “My Documents” area, it is unlikely that you will need further additional space, however if you do, please contact IT Services.

NOTE: Access to “My Documents” will cease when you leave the University.

10.2.3 Lecture Capture/Podcasting

The university has an automatic lecture capture system, which allows you to re-visit your lectures later to supplement your learning and allow you to revise. For more detailed information on the service, you can see the podcasting home page here.

Important Points of Note

  • The Lecture Capture/podcast system allows any member of staff to “opt out”, hold back or remove recordings if they see fit. Additionally on rare occasions a podcast may fail to complete properly and therefore not become available at For these reasons, it is essential that you continue to attend all lectures and use the podcasts for revision or to assist you to catch up in the case of an unavoidable absence. Should a podcast not be available for any of the above reasons, there will be no way for you to re-visit a missed lecture.
  • For students who are DASS registered, please remember to take a look at the information available to you here on the podcasting service.

10.2.4 eLearning (Blackboard)

As a student at the University of Manchester, you will find that many of your units contain sections of work that you must complete online (known as electronic (e)Learning). The University uses a website-like environment for this called Blackboard.

Online elearning support for your course means that it is easy to fit your learning into your everyday life, as you can complete the work from almost any computer in the world with an internet connection. We are encouraging the use of students’ own mobile devices to support teaching and learning in lectures and tutorials. However, if the session requires a mobile device and you do not have one, one will be supplied.

Your elearning work will often have strict deadlines and marks will be awarded for successful completion of assessments. Every Blackboard course is different, so read the rules regarding the course before you start, to ensure that you don’t miss any work.

Technical support from the elearning team is available between 9:00 and 17:00 on all working days. This is accessible by selecting ‘Technical Support’ from the menu bar on the left of your online courses and following the on-screen instructions; the elearning team will reply to your University email address.

More information on elearning in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health can be found here.

10.2.5 Computing facilities in the Stopford Building

Computing facilities are available to students within the School of Biological Sciences in three computer clusters situated on the ground floor: Stopford PC Clusters 1-3. Although these clusters are used for scheduled classes, the School tries to ensure significant free time on these computers for student use. Standard word processing, spreadsheet and database software is pre-installed (Microsoft Office Suite), as well as any software related to your studies. Printing facilities are available in each cluster and technical help can be obtained via the IT Service Desk.

In addition, the University of Manchester provides several large public computer clusters based around the campus, which are available to all students. All the PC clusters run the same operating system and have the same software installed. Visit this site for the location of these clusters and availability.

Guidance notes for students wishing to access their University email accounts outside the University can be found here.

10.3  Employability skills

During your Degree Programme, you will develop a range of employability skills, including critical analysis, communication, problem solving, organisation, teamwork and leadership. The unit descriptions outline which employability skills are developed within each unit.

Your tutorial unit also aims to help you to develop your employability: you will take part in employability sessions and will produce a CV in your first year tutorials, which you should keep updated as your skills and experience develop. Further information on the development of employability through tutorials is available in your tutorial handbook and on the tutorial unit presence on Blackboard.

The School also organises numerous events to help you to enhance your employability and you are strongly encouraged to participate. These will be advertised to you via email and complement the wide range of events organised by the central Careers Service, which are detailed on their webpageshttps://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/ and which will also be promoted to you via email.

10.3.1 Student Societies

Student-run societies, covering a wide range of social, sporting and other interests, are affiliated with the Students’ Union. Several, notably the School of Biological Sciences Society (SoBSS), concern biological sciences. During Welcome Week you are likely to be invited to participate in society activities and canvassed for subscriptions. Joining societies provides great opportunities to socialise and make friends, and you can enhance your employability by helping to run them.

10.4 Careers and Careers Service

10.4.1 Your Future Starts Here

Becoming a Manchester Graduate starts with your degree, but the secret to future career success is using your time as a student to explore options, build connections and reflect. The University Careers Service can help you reach your potential – but it all starts with you. There are several things you can do to improve your chances of getting into work you’d love.

Make the most of your time at Manchester

Actively seek out opportunities to build your experience; this could be work experience, voluntary work, helping to run a society or developing new skills.  If you want to work in science, prioritise getting relevant work experience. If your degree programme doesn’t include a placement, there are other options, e.g. summer research studentships. If you are looking for work experience, start by checking out the science careers pages on the Careers Service website.

Build and broaden your connections

Learn from other people, including fellow students, PASS leaders, housemates, lab demonstrators and people you work or socialise with. Talk about careers options and aspirations; share ideas and connections. Research shows that people who do this are more likely to make a smooth transition to work or further study after their degree.

10.4.2 Careers Service Resources

The Careers Service is based in the Atrium in University Place for face-to-face careers information and guidance. It is open all year round, including vacations, and organises an extensive programme of careers events, including lunchtime talks, recruitment fairs, workshops and interactive training. You can find out about jobs from the people who do them and discover what past SBS students did after graduation. Their website contains information, advice and interactive services, with tailored sections for each year of study and for international students, plus general sections on job hunting, career options, job applications and engagement with online networks such as LinkedIn.

The Information Team can help you research your options, and you can book an appointment with a Careers Consultant for guidance, or for feedback on applications and interviews from an Applications Adviser (some services may delivered remotely).

We have a dedicated FBMH Careers Team, including your Careers Consultants Suzanne Creeber and Claudia Spencer. In partnership with the SBS Hub Team and Alumni Relations Teams, they offer activities specifically for SBS students, including the Biological Sciences Careers Fair, employability plenaries within your tutorial unit, sessions on looking for work experience, and interview training. Events are advertised via newsletters, email, on the Careers Service website and via Instagram (uomcareers).

Use Social Media? Do follow the Careers Service on Instagram (@uomcareers) for lots of careers information.

10.4.3 Your Careers Account “CareersConnect” 

Lists job vacancies and careers events, and you can choose to receive email alerts about jobs and events. Thousands of vacancies, from summer internships and part-time jobs to industrial placements and graduate jobs are advertised each year. You can also work through learning pathways, such as our CV, International or Skills pathways. Make sure to register your account as soon as possible: https://www.careers.manchester.ac.uk/services/aboutcareerconnect

10.5 The Manchester Museum

Manchester Museum is part of The University of Manchester. It has a distinctive role in engaging the public with the work of the University but also facilitates research in botany, zoology and earth sciences. Some taught courses in SBS include museum assignments with independent study of the collections. However, everyone is invited to explore one of the largest natural sciences collections in the UK, with 4.5 million specimens, from birds and plants collected by Charles Darwin to specimens of new species collected and classified by present curators.

To check out exhibitions, events, tours and talks, and student social events, visit http://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/whats-on/.

The museum also advertises volunteering opportunities regularly. Check out https://www.museum.manchester.ac.uk/making-the-museum/volunteering/

For any specific enquiries, contact museum@manchester.ac.uk