Why study with us?

Our students choose to study with us for all kinds of reasons. Among them are the following:

We consistently get high ratings for our excellent teaching, with well qualified staff delivering good quality teaching, recognised as such by students and confirmed by visiting examiners.
Our teaching staff are active researchers, and their research feeds into teaching, notable through research projects, which also reflect problems encountered by students in their employment;
Our learning infrastructure offers you access to up-to-date instruments for project work.
We have excellent relationships between staff and students at an individual level which, with the ‘open door’ staff access policy, provides a means of response to student concerns and enable students to seek help and advice at times convenient to them.

Our certificate and diploma courses give you an excellent basis from which to pursue further study or to start your new career.
We offer both foundation degree and undergraduate courses, all offered via part-time evening study.
Our postgraduate courses, taught either face-to-face or by expert distance learning, offer professional training in all aspects of the biological sciences.
Every year, we are joined by dedicated MPhil/PhD students, determined to pursue their passion for their subject through research.

We have offered our courses via distance learning for more than 20 years, and many students around the world have used them to move on in their professional lives.

If you've always wanted to study biology, chemistry or related courses, but haven't been able to take the time, then we have the answer for you. Your daytime responsibilities don't have to get in the way of your ambitions, because almost all of our taught programmes begin and end in the evening.
Based in WC1, we are London's leading specialists in university education by part-time evening study. This means you can study for a part-time BSc degree over four years, or a part-time master's degree over two years, and gain a universally recognised University of London qualification.

If you are over 21, we will consider your application, even if you don't have 'A' or 'O' levels. All we ask is that you have a genuine interest in science and a desire to follow it at university level. Find out more about the entrance requirements for our courses, details of which are included in our course descriptions.
Some of our best students have come to us through unconventional study routes.

We incorporate a wide range of teaching methods and learning strategies in our programmes of study, with close monitoring of learning outcomes and good staff-student interaction.
The quality of our teaching was formally recognised by the Quality Assurance Agency's subject review (higher education's version of Ofsted), which reviewed three of our biology programmes and awarded us top marks. Birkbeck is only the second of the London higher education institutions to achieve full marks in biological sciences, and the Department is now ranked nationally alongside the Universities of Oxford, Sunderland, Kent and University College London for the quality of its teaching in organismal biosciences.

There are many opportunities for students to engage with researchers and other students. We organise frequent visits by top researchers and lecturers who come to present their work in seminars and symposia.

Researchers in the Department of Biological Sciences engage in world-class research. 85% of our research was recognised as having international impact in RAE 2008, with 15% receiving the highest possible rating of world-leading.
Find out more about our research.

At Birkbeck, we are experts in understanding our students' needs, and we offer a wide range of support for current students.
As a student here, you will get access to world-class labs and research facilities.

Our central location in Bloomsbury means you will find the major sights and experiences of London within easy reach:

Find out more