Biochemistry (with an industrial placement year) BSc (Hons)

What are the mechanisms of life?

Studying Biochemistry at Sussex, you’ll explore this question. Taught by leading biochemists and chemists, you’ll:

• study life at the molecular scale
• explore the chemical processes underpinning the activities of cells and organisms
• discover what happens when things go wrong, leading to diseases such as cancer
• find out how biochemistry can help us develop new therapeutics.

From Year 1, you’ll be in the lab gaining hands-on practical skills, recording, analysing and interpreting data from your experiments. You’ll learn about current theories in the field, communicating complex topics and working as part of a team.

The course is informed by the latest research. It’s flexible so you can tailor your degree to your interests and career aspirations. You’ll be inspired by modules in areas such as medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, cell signalling and neuroscience. You’ll be supported by a friendly community of scientists in the School of Life Sciences. Our student mentoring programme can also provide you with academic support should you need it.

When you graduate, you’ll have skills in:

• purifying and analysing key biomolecules such as nucleic acids and enzymes
• exploring genomics data
• carrying out your own research project.

With such skills, a variety of careers are open to you, in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries, or within forensics. Your data-handling and analytical skills mean you could develop a career both inside and outside of science.

And in addition, the optional year in industry is a great opportunity for you to gain real-world experience of working in the biochemical sector. If your application is successful, you’ll spend your year in industry after Year 2 and before you return to Sussex for your final year. As a graduate, the skills you’ve gained during your industrial placement will give you a distinct advantage in your chosen career.

32 points overall from the full IB Diploma.

Higher Levels must include both Biology and Chemistry, with a grade of at least 5.

IELTS (Academic)

6.0 overall, including at least 5.5 in each component

Check your IELTS qualification meets all of our language requirements

Find out more about IELTS

IELTS scores are valid for two years from the test date. You cannot combine scores from more than one sitting of the test. Your score must be valid when you begin your Sussex course.

We accept IELTS One Skills Retake.

We do not accept IELTS Online.

26250