Our BSc Marine Biology (including Foundation Year) could be suitable for you if your academic qualifications do not yet meet our entry requirements for a three-year version of our life sciences courses and you want a programme that improves your skills to support your academic performance.

Open to UK and EU applicants, this four-year course includes a Foundation Year (known as Year Zero) which is delivered by our Essex Pathways Department, followed by a further three years of study in our School of Life Sciences.

During Year Zero you will study on our Life Sciences Pathway which will cover topics such as an Introduction to Biology, Chemistry for Biology, and Mathematics and Statistics for Life Sciences. At the end of Year Zero all students who pass the Life Sciences Pathway will have a choice of which course to progress with. As well as BSc Marine Biology, students on the Life Sciences Pathway could also study BSc Biomedical Science or BSc Biological Sciences.

The majority of life on earth is found under the sea, but most of it remains to be explored. Tropical reefs, deep-sea trenches, seagrass meadows and frozen polar seas are all individually unique and complex environments, but connected within Earth's single, vast ocean. By joining our BSc Marine Biology course you will be immersed in this fascinating ocean world.

From Year One of BSc Marine Biology you will be introduced to ocean systems and marine ecology through research on topics as varied as coral reef conservation, fisheries management, animal behaviour, marine biotechnology and microbiology. These are taught alongside key scientific skills including data analysis and interpretation, literature research and presentation skills to give you a concrete foundation for your scientific career.

You will develop the concepts introduced in lectures through extensive, practical, hands-on experience in the laboratories of our STEM Centre, as well as in the field. Our local estuaries and coastal ecosystems are a natural laboratory on our doorstep. You will investigate the diversity of beautiful Essex salt marshes and interact with key people working to improve our coastline, including Essex Wildlife Trust, the Environment Agency and Colchester Oyster Fisheries. Later in your degree there will be opportunities to travel to field locations in Scotland, Greece and Indonesia (subject to additional costs) to apply what you have learned. During a trip to Indonesia, in the heart of the Coral Triangle, you will learn to dive and participate in unique underwater research surveys and lectures.

After completing core modules, you will move on to more advanced and specialised modules that are driven by our departmental research expertise.

In the final year you will have the opportunity to select an independent research project through which you can further develop your own interests. Previous topics have included studies on oyster fisheries and water quality with local industry, fieldwork on sea turtle ecology in Greece and identifying coral reef conservation strategies in the Caribbean and Indonesia.

Were ranked 54th (14th in UK) for promoting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal for climate action (Times Higher Education Impact Rankings 2024).