What can you do with a biomedical science degree?
Our Biomedical Science course gives you the best of both worlds: a springboard to diverse career pathways and a direct route to becoming a biomedical scientist. And we have over 20 years’ experience preparing our students for their future. Find out what you can do with a degree in biomedical science from Surrey.
92% of our biosciences undergraduate students are in employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2025, HESA).
Biomedical science and what IBMS accreditation means
At Surrey, we offer a Biomedical Science BSc or MSci degree, which is accredited by the Institute of Biomedical Science (IBMS). The title ‘biomedical scientist’ is protected, which means that any biomedical science course must be accredited by the IBMS. The accreditation ensures that all clinical topics relevant to a career as a biomedical scientist are covered. A non-accredited degree may not have the same clinical focus.
Career pathways
The skills you’ll develop on this course lend themselves to a range of careers (some of which require further study), including:
- Biomedical scientist
- Clinical researcher
- Clinical scientist
- Clinical trial coordinator
- Data scientist
- Dentist
- Doctor
- Drug safety specialist
- Laboratory analyst
- Quality assurance scientist
- Science journalist or writer
- Teacher.
Recent graduates have taken positions at:
- AstraZeneca
- Abbott Diabetes Care
- Cancer Research UK
- Custom Pharma Services
- Eurofins Clinical Diagnostics
- Great Ormond Street Hospital
- The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust
- University of Oxford.
A placement is a great opportunity to explore a potential career path or setting. You could complete a placement in the UK or abroad, at a university (including Surrey), or a company, with the option to complete your IBMS Registration Training Portfolio after you graduate if you want to.
Research
Many of our graduates pursue a research career in industry, academia, and other scientific organisations. Advancing a research career often involves completing a masters degree and a PhD in a chosen specialism.
Our BSc course is excellent preparation for a research career, and if you complete our Biomedical Science MSci, you’ll complete an extra clinical- and research-focused year of study that includes an advanced research project and training in scientific management and analytical skills. This is ideal additional preparation for entry to a research career at a more advanced level.
Medicine or dentistry
Some of our graduates have pursued further training to be a doctor or a dentist through graduate-entry programmes.
At Surrey, our School of Medicine offers a four-year Medicine (Graduate Entry) BMBS degree, which will prepare you to begin practising as a foundation doctor.
How to become a biomedical scientist
To become a biomedical scientist once you’ve graduated, you will need to complete the IBMS Registration Training Portfolio in an IBMS-approved training laboratory and register with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).
You can apply to do a placement at an IBMS-approved lab while you study with us at Surrey. If accepted, you can complete your portfolio, which means that if you successfully complete your course, you’ll be fully qualified when you graduate and can register with the HCPC as a biomedical scientist.
More information can be found on the IBMS website.
NHS careers
Biomedical scientist
If you join the NHS as a biomedical scientist you will begin at band 5, with a typical entry level salary of £28,407*. From there, you can proceed to higher bands as a specialist biomedical scientist or trainee pathology section manager (band 6, entry level salary £35,392*), pathology section manager (band 7, entry level salary £43,742*) and pathology department manager (band 8+, entry level salary £50,952 to over £114,000*).
*Salary examples are from 2023-2024, found here.
Clinical scientist
You may choose to apply to the Scientist Training Programme (STP), which comprises three years of work-based learning in the NHS, with an integrated masters degree. The aim of the programme is to produce graduates with the knowledge, skills, experience, and attributes required of a newly qualified clinical scientist.
Trainees on the STP will be employed by an NHS trust for the duration of the programme. In the first year you’ll spend time in a range of settings and then specialise in the last two years.
Clinical scientists research and develop techniques to diagnose, treat and prevent illness and support clinical staff in their work with patients. To practise as a clinical scientist, you must be registered with the HCPC.
