Royal Society of Biology Accreditation
News
BSU’s bioscience degrees achieve prestigious accreditation
Monday, 7 October, 2024The leading professional body for biological sciences in the UK, Royal Society of Biology, has awarded its accreditation to BSU’s bioscience degrees - BSc Biology, Biomedical Science, Environmental Science and Wildlife Conservation. This accreditation recognises our ongoing high standards of academic quality.
With this latest wave of accreditations, all our eligible bioscience degrees are now accredited by the Royal Society of Biology.
The Royal Society of Biology represents over 18,000 biologists from all areas of the life sciences and is a single unified voice for the biological sciences. The Society's roles include advising Government and influencing policy, advancing education, and encouraging public interest in the life sciences.
Reflecting on the achievement, Dr Hartwig Visser, Programme Leader for Biomedical Science, said:
“We are particularly pleased that our newer courses – BSc Wildlife Conservation and Biomedical Science – have achieved accreditation, and hope this will help to consolidate the development and support for the Life Sciences portfolio at Bath Spa.”
What does this mean?
Accreditation from Royal Society of Biology confirms that our degree programmes offer a high standard of teaching, curriculum provision and champion the development of practical and employability skills.
Over and above the honour of achieving this prestigious accreditation, our students and graduates can carry the recognition forward with them as they take their next step into the professional world. They also will have access to free Society membership throughout their studies and, upon passing the course, for a year after graduation. As a member, our students can access a significant network of bioscience professionals, providing a way to stay up-to date with biology-related developments.
Celebrating the recognition, Dr Matt Baker, Programme Leader for BSc Biology, said:
“We have always been very confident that our long standing Biology and Environmental Programmes are of a high quality and enable students to develop the skills needed to excel in the workplace, but to have the leading professional body for biological sciences confirm the academic quality of these courses, through an extremely rigorous, independent process feels like real validation of all the hard work that staff put into course delivery.”
The rigorous process required to achieve accreditation
To achieve accreditation, our Biology Subject Team completed a thorough and rigorous process to prove that our courses meet criteria set by the Society. This included an independent assessment of the degree programmes, an evidence matrix and site visits by the accreditation panel to assess the specialist facilities we have at Newton Park and meet with students from all levels of the courses.
Six months in the making, the accreditation lasts for five years, with an annual report to the Society highlighting any changes.
Reflecting on the process, Dr Samantha Lane, Academic Leader; Marketing and Student Recruitment, said: “The accreditation process was quite time consuming due to being so thorough; but it was a useful process to reflect on our curriculum and practices. A number of areas of good practice were highlighted by the panel, including our approach to Welcome Week, Research Skills and project work, and the feedback from all the students involved was really positive.”
Are you interested in taking your first step into a career in biosciences? Check out the courses in our School of Sciences.