Chemistry with an Industrial Placement Year MChem

Course description

This four-year accredited MChem Chemistry course will give you the industry-level experience and research skills you’ll need for a successful career.

In the first two years, you’ll focus on fundamental concepts. You’ll cover the organic, inorganic, physical and analytical chemistry needed for a wide range of optional modules later on.

Sustainability modules also form part of our core teaching in the first two years. You’ll gain hands-on experience from the start of your degree, learning laboratory skills and techniques in our specialist teaching labs.

You’ll have regular tutorials to delve deeper into the complex topics covered in lectures. These small group teaching sessions are led by your personal tutor in first year and subject experts in later years.

The whole of your third year will be spent working at a leading organisation in the science industry on an industrial placement. Our students have secured placements with a range of organisations including Unilever, AstraZeneca, Reckitt, GSK and EDF Energy.

During your industrial placement year you’ll gain experience of applying your knowledge of chemistry in a commercial environment. You’ll have distance learning material to work through, be assessed by your industry supervisor and produce a final report at the end of your placement.

You’ll develop new skills and build up your CV, and some students even come back with the offer of a job when they graduate.

When you return to Sheffield in your fourth year, you’ll have the opportunity to choose from a variety of more in-depth optional modules. Your final year is the perfect time to build on your placement experience to tailor your degree to your interests and career goals. You’ll explore the latest concepts and findings across topics such as medicinal chemistry, nanochemistry and chemistry of light.

Most of your final year will be spent working on your own research project, as part of a team of research scientists. Working on a real scientific problem, you’ll conduct experiments in our state-of-the-art research labs, learning from academic researchers who are experts in your chosen area of research.

With Access Sheffield, you could qualify for additional consideration or an alternative offer - find out if you're eligible.

• Standard offer
• Access Sheffield offer

English language requirements |

You must demonstrate that your English is good enough for you to successfully complete your course. For this course we require: GCSE English Language at grade 4/C; IELTS grade of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in each component; or an alternative acceptable English language qualification

If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the school/department.

Equivalent English language qualifications

Visa and immigration requirements

Other qualifications | UK and EU/international

Graduate careers

School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences

You won’t be short of career options with a degree in chemistry from Sheffield. Our courses are designed to give you the skills that will help you succeed in your chosen career.

Employers hire our graduates because of their ability to plan projects, work to deadlines, analyse data and solve complex problems, independently and as part of a team.

Our Skills for Success training programme gives you a project to work on outside the lab. You’ll develop key skills that employers value, such as the ability to research a topic and communicate your findings by giving a talk, presenting a poster, hosting a debate or producing a video.

At our annual careers day you can explore career options, meet with employers who hire chemistry graduates and get tips from former students to help you take your next steps after graduation.

Many of our graduates choose to stay in the lab after their degree, working on global challenges or helping to develop innovative technologies and processes. Our graduates go on to work for pharmaceutical, consumer goods and chemical companies such as GSK, AstraZeneca, Unilever, Reckitt and Croda.

A chemistry degree from Sheffield can take you far, whatever you want to do. We have graduates putting their transferable skills to use in finance, computer programming, communications, market research and business development roles at major companies, charities and the Civil Service.