Program Overview

---

Healthcare Science

BSc (Hons)

Attendance

Full-time

Campus

Preston Campus

Start

September 2025

Duration

3 years

Delivery

In-person

Study abroad option

To follow this route you must initially apply for our BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science course, successfully complete the first year and pass a selection interview. Once transferred to the second year of Healthcare Sciences, you will start your first clinical placement.

Overview

Healthcare Science involves an in-depth understanding of how the human body functions in both normal and diseased states so healthcare scientists must appreciate how events arising at a molecular, cellular or tissue level can contribute to and also affect health and wellbeing.

Combining practical and theoretical modules, you’ll gain the knowledge you need to make confident, informed decisions about patient care and treatment in a laboratory setting.

Everything you’ll learn is tailored to the NHS, and you’ll spend time each year preparing for an NHS career by learning and working in one of their pathology laboratories. Completion of subsequent modules and final year placement will lead to the award of the degree title BSc (Hons) Healthcare Science.

Why study with us

• 2nd in the North West for student satisfaction
• Bachelor of Science with Honours in Healthcare Science is ranked 2nd in the UK with 97% of students satisfied with the learning resources (National Student Survey 2020)
• All learning is tailored to prepare you for a career in the NHS: guaranteed work placements in NHS pathology laboratories, allowing you to complete a portfolio to achieve HCPC registration as part of the course.
• Bachelor of Science with Honours in Healthcare Science is ranked 3rd in England with 88% of students satisfied with the quality of feedback and assessment (National Student Survey 2020)

What you'll do

• You’ll have the opportunity to specialise in blood science, cellular science, infection science or genetic science.
• You’ll learn from staff on this course who have a long association with the NHS pathology service and have a deep understanding and extensive experience of pathology laboratory procedures.
• You’ll be based in our impressive JB Firth Building, which houses the latest practical and research laboratories.

Modules

Year 1

• Fundamentals of Biosciences
• Essential Skills in Biosciences
• Biosciences in Practice

Year 2

• Bioscience Practical Skills
• Biology of Disease
• Molecules to Cells
• Placement and Professional Practice

Year 3

• Research Project
• Clinical Microbiology for Healthcare Science
• Cellular Pathology for Healthcare Science
• Extended 40-Week Placement
• Blood Sciences for Heathcare Science
• Genetic Sciences for Healthcare Science

Accreditations

• Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS)
• Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC)

Careers in healthcare science

Our BSc (Hons) Healthcare Science degree provides a government prescribed route into NHS pathology. Healthcare scientists are employed in a range of areas including, hospitals, industry and the Civil Service.

Entry requirements

• Only available as a course transfer after year 1 BSc (Hons) Biomedical Science
• A satisfactory Criminal records declaration (DBS/Disclosure Scotland) and Occupational Health clearance are required for this course.

Fees and funding

• UK: £9,535 per year
• International: £17,325 per year

Scholarships and bursaries

• Care Leaver Bursary
• Estranged student support
• Dependants Bursary
• Financial support package

Learning and assessment

A three-year degree qualification typically comprises 360 credits and each 20 credit (a standard module) equates to 200 hours of study, which comprises of a mixture of lectures, seminars, tutorials, practical sessions and independent study.

Independent study is an important aspect of your degree course. The exact combination of study time will be detailed within your module descriptors, and will depend on your option choices.

Teaching on the course involves a diverse range of methods and styles including lectures, tutorials, seminars, computer-based learning, case studies and laboratory practicals. As well as the traditional methods of teaching, e-learning (based around a virtual learning environment) and problem-based learning techniques will be used. Years 2 and 3 of the course will involve a work-based learning element based in an NHS pathology laboratory.

Assessments are by a combination of examinations, essays, data handling and interpretation, lab books, portfolios, practical reports, project reports, poster and oral presentations, all allowing a full range of information handling and presentation skills to be developed.

Industry links

Our placement providers include hospitals from Barrow, Lancaster, Preston, Blackpool, Blackburn, Liverpool, Wirral, Manchester and Leeds.

Further information

The first year of the course provides a broad-based understanding of the key scientific concepts that will be developed and explored in greater depth in Years 2 and 3 of undergraduate study. You will cover cell biology, biochemistry, molecular biology, physiology and pharmacology. These areas will be supported by skills and professional practice modules that together form a sound starting point for a career in the NHS.

The material that is covered forms part of a common mode of study for all students on our biosciences routes and, in this way, provides the opportunity for you to transfer into and out of the course on a seamless basis. You will study a number of modules that explores how the human body functions on a variety of levels.

Allied to this will be periods of laboratory training and research skills as well as an introduction to the working of the NHS. Importantly there will be a 10-week placement period in the second year of the course where you will be located in a pathology laboratory, seeing processes and procedures at first hand.

This will allow you to begin to amass portfolio-type evidence that will form part of the professional registration process. The third year of the course involves a further level of specialisation in a single discipline consolidated by a 40-week placement that will give you a unique insight into how this area of pathology operation functions in a busy NHS setting. This will extend and build upon the Year 2 placement experience.

In addition to the placement period, you will also expand your academic studies to cover areas such as how disease processes originate, how a variety of techniques can be brought to bear on identifying and treating a range of disease states, and an in-depth appreciation of how the NHS functions to provide patient care. You will also refine your skills at data and information handling - an essential step in preparing you for the final year of your course which involves a research project in one area of healthcare specialism.