Best universities for life sciences degrees in the UK 2024

Explore the top universities in the UK for life sciences degrees using data from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings

Best universities in

October 30 2023

what are the best universities for life sciences in the UK?

Top 10 universities in the UK for life science degrees 2024

Scroll down for the full list of best universities in the UK for life science degrees

UK life sciences rank 2024	Life sciences rank 2024	University	City/town
1	2	University of Cambridge	Cambridge
2	3	University of Oxford	Oxford
3	10	Imperial College London	London
4	20	UCL	London
5	28	University of Edinburgh	Edinburgh
6	35	King’s College London	London
7	=54	University of Manchester	Manchester
8	81	University of Glasgow	Glasgow
9	=86	University of Bristol	Bristol
10	97	University of Sheffield	Sheffield

The life sciences include agriculture and forestry, biological sciences, veterinary science and sport science.

Step into your future: attend our events

Degrees in these subjects are a great preparation to becoming a scientist in a specialist field, for example as a vet, biotechnology researcher or conservation expert.

However, the skills you’ll pick up through these courses, such as problem solving, data analysis and research, are also transferable to jobs that don’t require a lab coat. Non-science career paths include consultancy, teaching, political policy and law.

UK universities have supported many scientific breakthroughs, from the theory of evolution and natural selection, developed by University of Edinburgh and University of Cambridge alumnus Charles Darwin, to the more recent University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccine, developed by Professor Sarah Gilbert and her colleagues at the University of Oxford.

Course options for the life sciences in the UK depend on the university. In general, undergraduate courses at UK universities are three years long and require you to pick one subject of study, such as biology or sports science. However, there are exceptions to this rule. At the postgraduate level, courses are specialised further, and you can choose between a taught course or a research dissertation.

Best universities in the world for life sciences degrees
Best universities for life science degrees in the US
Best universities for life sciences degrees in Australia
Best universities for life sciences degrees in Canada

5. University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh is comprised of three colleges: arts, humanities and social sciences; science and engineering; and medicine and veterinary medicine.

Scotland’s university system differs from England’s; it’s similar to the American major/minor system.

Undergraduate courses at the University of Edinburgh are usually four years long. You have the option to take two extra subjects alongside your chosen subject in the first two years of study, before specialising entirely on one discipline in the final two years.

At the University of Edinburgh, you can choose between applied sport science and sport and recreation management.

Within the university’s biology courses, you can choose to focus on biotechnology, biochemistry, cell biology, ecology, genetics and many other fields. Students are encouraged to either work or study abroad as part of their course.

4. UCL

Located in the heart of London, UCL is a constituent college of the University of London and a member of the Russell Group.

International students make up around a third of UCL’s student body each year.

Courses on offer include biology and biochemistry, and the university has partnerships with the Natural History Museum, the Crick Institute and the ZSL London Zoo, and students can attend lectures from experts working at these institutions.

Within the UCL medical school is a three-year course in sport and exercise medical sciences, an innovative programme that applies sport science knowledge to help patients and populations tackle various diseases.

UCL also offers an undergraduate and postgraduate course in human sciences, which brings together the disciplines of genetics, anatomy, psychology, ecology, sociology and more to create an interdisciplinary programme exploring the human body from all angles. You may also take a foreign language alongside this course.

UCL has been the birthplace of numerous significant scientific discoveries, with 29 Nobel Prizes awarded to UCL students or staff, including John O’Keefe, a current professor in the university’s research department of cell and developmental biology.

What can you do with an agriculture degree?
What can you do with a biology degree?
What can you do with a sports science degree?
What can you do with a veterinary science degree?

3. Imperial College London

Imperial College London is the only UK university to focus entirely on science, engineering, business and medicine.

The university is known for its strong global outlook, with around 58 per cent of its student body being international.

Courses offered in the life sciences at Imperial include biology, bioengineering, biochemistry, biotechnology, microbiology, ecology and environmental biology.

You can take these courses as a three-year or four-year programme, which includes a year abroad or a year in industry, as well as courses on management or a foreign language – such as Spanish, French or German – alongside your scientific studies. A three-year course means you will graduate with a Bachelor of Science, but many of the four-year options count as a master’s.

Notable alumni of the institution include Sir Alexander Fleming and Sir Ernst Boris Chain FRS, who together discovered penicillin, and recognition for the university’s ground-breaking work comes in the form of 14 Nobel Prizes.

2. University of Oxford

Life science courses at the University of Oxford include undergraduate degrees in biochemistry (molecular and cellular), biology and biomedical sciences.

Another offering is the human sciences course, which uses an array of arts and science subjects, from genetics and demography to sociology, to study humans from an interdisciplinary viewpoint.

An even wider range of life science courses is available at master’s level and beyond. The university does not offer courses in veterinary medicine, sports science or agriculture and forestry.

As well as lectures and labs, the Oxford has classes known as tutorials, where students discuss their work each week with a leading researcher in the field. This system of teaching is done in small groups, usually no more than three, so students can access highly personalised mentorship on their academic progress.

1. University of Cambridge

Founded in 1209, with alumni including Isaac Newton, Francis Crick, James Watson and Rosalind Franklin, the University of Cambridge’s long-standing reputation for scientific excellence speaks for itself.

At undergraduate level the university offers the natural sciences course, a three- or four-year programme and the framework within which most science subjects are taught at the university. This includes biology.

The first year is broad, allowing students to pick from modules covering behavioural sciences, cell biology, zoology and many more. You can increase your specialisation in second year, with the option for total specialisation from third year. Veterinary medicine is a separate six-year course.

The land economy course combines international development, economics, law and environmental science to prepare students to tackle 21st century questions about the future of the environment.

The University of Cambridge offers lectures and labs, but is renowned for its supervisions, where students discuss their work each week with a leading researcher in the field. This system of teaching is done in small groups, usually no more than three, so students can get highly personalised mentorship on their academic progress.

Top universities in the UK for life sciences degrees 2024

Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2024 results

UK life sciences rank 2024	Life sciences rank 2024	University	City/town
1	2	University of Cambridge	Cambridge
2	3	University of Oxford	Oxford
3	10	Imperial College London	London
4	20	UCL	London
5	28	University of Edinburgh	Edinburgh
6	35	King’s College London	London
7	=54	University of Manchester	Manchester
8	81	University of Glasgow	Glasgow
9	=86	University of Bristol	Bristol
10	97	University of Sheffield	Sheffield
=11	101–125	University of Aberdeen	Aberdeen
=11	101–125	University of Birmingham	Birmingham
=11	101–125	University of Dundee	Dundee
=11	101–125	University of Exeter	Exeter
=11	101–125	University of Leeds	Leeds
=11	101–125	Newcastle University	Newcastle
=11	101–125	Queen Mary University of London	London
=18	126–150	Cardiff University	Cardiff
=18	126–150	University of East Anglia	Norwich
=18	126–150	University of Nottingham	Nottingham
=18	126–150	Queen’s University Belfast	Belfast
=18	126–150	University of Southampton	Southampton
=18	126–150	University of St Andrews	St Andrews
=24	151–175	University of Liverpool	Liverpool
=24	151–175	University of Reading	Reading
=24	151–175	University of York	York
27	176–200	University of Leicester	Leicester
=28	201–250	Durham University	Durham
=28	201–250	Lancaster University	Lancaster
=28	201–250	University of Warwick	Warwick
=31	251–300	Bangor University	Bangor
=31	251–300	University of Bath	Bath
=31	251–300	University of Kent	Kent
=31	251–300	Loughborough University	Loughborough
=31	251–300	Royal Veterinary College	London
=31	251–300	University of Stirling	Stirling
=31	251–300	University of Sussex	Brighton
=38	301–400	Aberystwyth University	Aberystwyth
=38	301–400	University of Essex	Essex
=38	301–400	University of Greenwich	London
=38	301–400	Liverpool John Moores University	Liverpool
=38	301–400	University of Plymouth	Plymouth
=43	401–500	Anglia Ruskin University (ARU)	East Anglia
=43	401–500	Aston University	Birmingham
=43	401–500	Brunel University London	London
=43	401–500	Heriot-Watt University	Edinburgh
=43	401–500	University of Hull	Hull
=43	401–500	University of Lincoln	Lincoln
=43	401–500	Manchester Metropolitan University	Manchester
=43	401–500	Oxford Brookes University	Oxford
=43	401–500	University of Portsmouth	Portsmouth
=43	401–500	SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College)	Edinburgh
=43	401–500	University of Surrey	Guildford
=43	401–500	Ulster University	Ulster
=55	501–600	Bournemouth University	Bournemouth
=55	501–600	University of Brighton	Brighton
=55	501–600	Coventry University	Coventry
=55	501–600	Keele University	Keele
=55	501–600	Leeds Beckett University	Leeds
=55	501–600	Northumbria University	Northumbria
=55	501–600	Nottingham Trent University	Nottingham
=55	501–600	University of Salford	Salford
=63	601–800	University of Central Lancashire	Preston
=63	601–800	Sheffield Hallam University	Sheffield
=63	601–800	University of the West of England	Bristol