Food Science Degrees 2013
On our Food Science degree you will learn about the protection of health, food and the environment. Up to 60 per cent of the research in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences rated internationally excellent or world leading in the latest Research Assessment Exercise. You will therefore benefit from being taught by renowned staff at the forefront of their fields.
Degree programmes
Entry requirements
Minimum entry requirements
- A level grades ABB
We do not include General Studies or Critical Thinking in our offers.
Conditional offers from Surrey will be made in grades or marks, and not listed in points from the UCAS tariff.
Required subjects
GCSE English Language and Mathematics at grade C or above (or equivalent).
Two science A-levels.
English language requirements
Non-native speakers of English will normally be required to have IELTS 6.5 or above, with a minimum of 6.0 in each
component (or equivalent).
Please note that the University of Surrey offers English language programmes and is also an IELTS Test Centre.
Other suitable qualifications
Cambridge Pre-U: M1, M1, M2
European Baccalaureate - 74 %
International Baccalaureate - 34 points
BTEC (QCF Level 3) Extended Diploma: DDM
In addition, we accept a wide range of qualifications, including other Level 3 QCF Level 3 qualifications, Scottish qualifications, the Irish Leaving Certificate, Access Diplomas and foundation courses. Other qualifications will be considered on an individual basis.
It is important to check whether the qualifications you are taking are suitable for your chosen degree. If you are uncertain whether your qualification meets our entry requirements, please contact us.
If you are an international student and you don’t meet the entry requirements to this degree, we offer the International Foundation Year.
Selection process
Offers are made in terms of grades. We may invite candidates for interview. We invite suitable candidates to visit the University to find out more about the programme and meet staff and students.
Tuition fees
UK/EU students
Tuition fees are currently set at £9,000 per year for UK/EU undergraduates starting in 2012.
The tuition charge will be accompanied by a generous financial support package, underlining our continued commitment to widening access for those students who come from low income households.
Overseas students
The fee for students classed as overseas for fees purposes is £15,160.
The University will assess your fee status. If you are unsure whether you are likely to be considered a home, EU or overseas student for fees purposes, the UKCISA website offers more information.
Professional Training Year Fees
Programmes marked with an asterisk (*) in the table above include a professional training year.
Currently fees of £1,050 (based on an inflation assumption of 2.5%) are charged for the Professional Training Year. Fees will not have to be paid up front for those students who decide to take up the Government’s loan for higher education fees. The Professional Training year is a key factor in the high employability rates achieved by students with Surrey degrees.
Our degrees
With over 80 members of academic staff, we also offer a broad range of expertise that allows you to choose options that reflect your interests as you progress through your degree programme.
Food science is the hidden science behind many of the foods you buy from supermarkets every day. It is a multidisciplinary subject involving the application of sciences such as chemistry and biology to the study of food. Studying a broad-based curriculum, you will gain an understanding of the raw materials that will become food, how these interact, and how food science can have dramatic implications for human health.
Our degrees are designed to give you comprehensive training in all aspects of food science but with a unique focus on its modern role in influencing human health and disease. Whilst providing a solid core of knowledge in food science, we also offer unique specialisations in nutrition and microbiology.
With this combination of skills you will be able to appreciate how food can be produced safely and with maximum nutritional and beneficial value to human health. These are key attributes for graduates hoping to enter the food sector where the leading companies are seeking to exploit the food science and nutrition revolution that has led to the concept of novel and functional foods.
Our graduates can make an important contribution to UK and global food security through improved food preservation and provision of safe and nutritious foods.
With this foundation of knowledge and skills, combined with the practical experience gained during our Professional Training year, you will be eminently employable in the food industry and related areas.
Programme content
Programme overview
The recommendation ‘Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food’ was made by Hippocrates in 400 BCE. Today, we know that this holds true, as food science has revealed that many foods contain natural components that can prevent or delay many of the illnesses that lead to premature death.
Our programmes aim to provide you with a broad and integrated understanding of food science. Being delivered in a department that carries out world-class research, our degrees offer you the opportunity to appreciate the latest developments in this subject.
Food safety also forms a key component of both degree programmes. You have only to open a newspaper with their frequent food safety scares to appreciate how food can be a major source of disease-causing chemicals and micro-organisms.
Year 1 covers a wide range of subjects to give you the broad scientific background required for food scientists.
In year 2 your studies become more specialised and you will focus on many different aspects, including food science, food microbiology, nutrition and food analysis. A specific focus during your studies in year 2 is on preparing you for your Professional Training year. You will acquire key skills which will help you not just on placement, but in your future employment.
Year 3 will give you a high degree of specialisation, including an understanding of novel foods. You will have the opportunity to perform your own research project carried out under the supervision of a member of academic staff. This will give you the opportunity to explore a research area that you are especially interested in and develop specialised lab-based skills and experience.
Programme structure
Year 1 (FHEQ Level 4)
Modules include:
- Food Science and Nutrition
- Biochemistry (Metabolism)
- Molecular Biology and Genetics
- Cell Biology
- Microbiology
Year 2 (FHEQ Level 5)
Modules include:
- Food Science 2
- Human Nutrition
- Food Microbiology
- Food Analysis and Quality Control (including practicals)
- Physiology
- Molecular Biology and Genetics
Professional Training year
- Optional Professional Training placement year
Year 3 (FHEQ Level 6)
Modules include:
- Food Chemistry
- Food Technology and Safety
- Food Quality Assurance and Food Security
- Advances in Nutrition
- Microbiology
- Research Project
Professional training
In the third year, you will have the option of a salaried placement with an industrial leader in the UK or overseas. We place great emphasis on organising a successful placement for you that will involve a high level of personal responsibility. To help ensure that you have a successful experience, you will be visited by a tutor on average three times during the year.
The placements are research-based, allowing you to extend and enhance your practical abilities and sharpen your leadership, communication and teamwork skills. All this enables you to relate your knowledge to the solution of real problems. In the competitive world of graduate employment, companies are more likely to consider applicants who have previous professional experience.
Employers may sponsor the final year of your study and many offer our students employment on graduation.
Our placements can be international or UK-based and are with many of the leading food companies and agencies, including Waitrose, United Biscuits, Unilever, Nestle, Nutricia, Yakult, GlaxoSmithKline, the Food Standards Agency, Abbott Nutrition, Mars Confectionery, Sainsbury’s and Dairy Crest.
Career opportunities
Graduate prospects
Graduates over the last few years have entered employment in roles such as:
- Campden and Chorleywood Food Research Association – Senior Research Officer and PhD
- Geest Plc – Product Development
- Northern Foods (Solway Foods Factory) – Process Development Technologist
- Nutricia – Nutritionist
- Princes Foods – New Product Development
- Sugar Bureau – Nutrition Scientist
- Tesco – Technical Development Executive
- Unilever – Process Development Officer
- Mars Confectionery – New Product Development
Career opportunities
Over the last decade our employment figures have been amongst the best in the UK, with impressive salaries being paid. We place 85 per cent of our graduates into graduate-level jobs, compared with the national average of 66 per cent. Our graduates have found exciting careers in the major food companies and retailers worldwide.
An important aspect of food science is understanding the crucial link between diet and health so that foods can be developed which have maximum nutritional value. You could be involved in exciting research in the potential and most recent applications of food science, the development of novel foods.
These include foods with new synthetic ingredients which are used to replace fats or lower cholesterol uptake, foods with novel health-promoting extracts from plants, or foods that have been altered by genetic manipulation.
You will find our graduates in schools, hospitals and boardrooms. You will not, however, find them unemployed. You can see this by looking for Surrey amongst the top universities for employment in both general and subject-specific league tables.
The majority of our graduates go immediately into the job market, and positions often follow naturally from a successful professional placement, but further study comes a close second. This includes taught MSc programmes and PhD studentships.
Additional information
Teaching
Our degrees are modular and based on a structured programme, allowing you to pursue the subjects essential to your degree whilst offering flexibility. On average, you will have approximately 24 hours of contact time each week (lectures, practicals and tutorials), and you will also be expected to undertake private study for a similar amount of time (laboratory write-ups, essays and other coursework).Assessment
All modules are assessed as you progress through the degree programmes. Each module is assessed individually and 15 credits are awarded for the successful completion of each one. You can accumulate marks gradually towards your final degree classification rather than everything resting on one final examination performance. Assessment takes place through a combination of examination and/or coursework, practical examinations and practical reports.
Why Surrey?
Food Science degrees 2013 at Surrey
- The Times Good University Guide 2012 ranks Surrey second in the UK for food science
- Rated as one of the top research faculties in the country by the latest Research Assessment Exercise
- A degree programme recognised by the Institute of Food Science and Technology
- State-of-the-art teaching laboratories
- Cutting-edge expertise from staff at the forefront of their fields
- Unique Food Science degrees with an emphasis on food safety and nutrition
- A flexible modular structure which caters for your aspirations
- Salaried placements with leading food retailers, manufacturers and research organisations in the UK and overseas
- Excellent employment and salary prospects
The staff were always sound in their interests, teaching us about the latest research findings in their fields, and were supportive to all.
Eugenia Choi
BSc Nutrition and Food Science
At the age of 18, I wasn’t totally sure what profession I wanted to pursue. I had a keen interest in food and health, having studied food technology at school. Surrey was the obvious choice to study Nutrition and Food Science, as it was one of the places which offered a well-established course in this area.
The course was modular which was perfect. In the first two years, teaching was with a vast range of students across the Department, with both practical lab-based modules as well as taught lectures, enabling a broad range of knowledge and skills to be developed.
The staff were always sound in their interests, teaching us about the latest research findings in their fields, and were supportive to all. The lab-based facilities were excellent and modern.
An important factor in deciding to study at Surrey was the opportunity to work for a year as part of the Professional Training placement scheme. I spent my year within the nutrition team at Unilever UK Foods head office where I worked on a number of projects, including preparing data for consultations from the Food Standards Agency and working with the marketing teams.
This has led me to pursue my interests following graduation in this area. Currently I am working at GSK as part of GSK Nutrition. I support the UK business, providing advice to marketing colleagues on consumer-facing and trade materials and artwork, and compliance support to our NPD colleagues. I also represent GSK at UK trade association meetings. I really enjoy my role and hope to continue pursuing my interests.
Surrey has a great reputation for Food Science, and I loved the breadth of the programme.
Mike Zietek
BSc Nutrition and Food Science
Surrey has a great reputation for Food Science, and I loved the breadth of the programme. Although there was a wide range of subjects, they were all anchored to food science which meant I could appreciate the whole subject. I discovered subjects I had never thought I’d enjoy, such as microbiology and physiology/pathology. I was able to build up a big picture about food: the influences on food and how food impacts the population.
This has been a real help in my work as I’m now a product designer at Mars Chocolate UK Ltd.
At the time, this approach also gave me lots of options for job hunting as I wasn’t just tied to one subject. There was a good mix of practical and theoretical work, and of course the Professional Training placement year which led to me being employed immediately after I graduated.
The value that a Professional Training placement year adds to the programme is huge. Coming back to the final year and being able to see the impact of many of the topics you’re studying really helps. It also gives you a bit of money, and the break before the final year really gears you up for the final push.
I came to Surrey a little older than a normal student, starting at 24, so I had already been working in a previous career; however, Surrey gave me the opportunity to decide what I really wanted to do and which angle of food science I wanted to pursue.
Professional recognition
Our programmes are recognised by the Institute of Food Science and Technology.