Skip to main content

University of Reading Cookie Policy

We use cookies on reading.ac.uk to improve your experience. Find out more about our cookie policy. By continuing to use our site you accept these terms, and are happy for us to use cookies to improve your browsing experience.

Continue using the University of Reading website

  • Schools and departments
  • University of Reading Malaysia
  • Henley Business School
  • Applicants
  • Students
  • Staff
  • Alumni
Show/Hide navigation
University of Reading
Mobile search categories
  • Study and life
  • Research
  • About us
  • View courses
  • Home
  • Study and life
    • Study
    • Student life
    • Accommodation
    • Open Days and visiting
    • International and EU students
  • Research
    • Themes
    • Impact
    • Innovation and partnerships
    • Research environment
    • Get involved
  • About us
    • Business
    • Working with the community
    • Visit us
    • Strategy
    • Governance
    • Contact us
  • Applicants
  • Students
  • Staff
  • Alumni
  • Schools and departments
  • University of Reading Malaysia
  • Henley Business School
  • View courses
mask
Close
CHOOSE A SUBJECT
Undergraduates
Postgraduates

Subjects A-B

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Science
  • Archaeology
  • Architectural Engineering
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Building and Surveying
  • Business and Management, Accounting and Finance

Subjects C-E

  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Classical Studies
  • Computer Science
  • Construction Management
  • Consumer Behaviour and Marketing
  • Creative Writing
  • Economics
  • Education
  • Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Environment

Subjects F-G

  • Film, Theatre and Television
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Foundation programmes
  • French
  • Geography
  • German
  • Graphic Communication

Subjects H-M

  • Healthcare
  • History
  • International Development
  • International Foundation Programme (IFP)
  • Italian
  • Languages and Cultures
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Marketing
  • Mathematics
  • Medical Science
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Museum Studies

Subjects N-T

  • Nutrition
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physics
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Psychology
  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Science foundation programmes
  • Spanish
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Surveying and Construction
  • Teaching
  • Theatre

Subjects U-Z

  • Zoology

Subjects A-C

  • Agriculture
  • Ancient History
  • Animal Sciences
  • Archaeology
  • Architecture
  • Art
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biomedical Sciences
  • Business (Post-Experience)
  • Business and Management (Pre-Experience)
  • Chemistry
  • Classics and Ancient History
  • Climate Science
  • Computer Science
  • Conservation of Buildings
  • Construction Management and Engineering
  • Consumer Behaviour
  • Creative Enterprise

Subjects D-G

  • Economics
  • Education
  • Energy and Environmental Engineering
  • English Language and Applied Linguistics
  • English Literature
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environmental Science
  • Film, Theatre and Television
  • Finance
  • Food and Nutritional Sciences
  • Geography and Environmental Science
  • Graphic Design

Subjects H-P

  • Healthcare
  • History
  • Information Management and Digital Business
  • Information Technology
  • International Business Studies
  • International Development and Applied Economics
  • Law
  • Linguistics
  • Management
  • Medieval Studies
  • Meteorology and Climate
  • Microbiology
  • Nutrition
  • Pharmacy
  • Philosophy
  • Physician Associate
  • Planning
  • Plant Sciences
  • Politics and International Relations
  • Project Management
  • Psychology
  • Public Policy

Subjects Q-Z

  • Real Estate and Planning
  • Social Policy
  • Speech and Language Therapy
  • Strategic Studies
  • Teacher Training
  • Theatre
  • Typography and Graphic Communication
  • War and Peace Studies
  • Zoology

BSc ECOLOGY AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION WITH FOUNDATION CD95

View all

Full Time: 4 Years

With BSc Ecology and Wildlife Conservation with Foundation you will learn about the ways in which living things interact with their environment and apply this knowledge to tackling the biggest challenges facing the world today.

Are you keen to take our BSc Ecology and Wildlife Conservation course but haven’t taken the necessary A level subjects? BSc Ecology and Wildlife Conservation with Foundation is a four-year programme that includes a year of foundational study and leads directly into the three-year course.

This course will equip you with the skills you need for a career in ecology or wildlife conservation through a combination of classroom learning and hands-on experience in the field. You will learn to apply knowledge of ecosystems to environmental issues such as habitat conservation, the biological control of diseases, and the protection of the world's rarest plants and creatures. 

Most of our staff are actively engaged in research, and our work on wildlife ecology and conservation feeds into undergraduate teaching. You will also have the opportunity to take part in original research with a potentially global impact.

The University of Reading’s award-winning campus is home to more than a thousand different animal species and is extremely useful for learning fieldwork skills. It offers multiple habitats for study, including lakes, hay meadows and woodlands, and allows you to step straight from the laboratory to the field. Additionally, the University owns a number of large farms, which can be used as sites for final-year projects.

Our new £60m Health and Life Sciences building will open in 2020. As the new home of the School of Biological Sciences, it will offer state-of-the-art research and teaching laboratories, seminar rooms, and plenty of study and social space, including a café. The building will also house the Cole Museum of Zoology. The collection, featuring over 3,500 natural history specimens, provides a fantastic teaching resource for biological scientists and the wider community. We achieved an overall student satisfaction score of 94% in the National Student Survey, 2019, in BSc Ecology and Wildlife Conservation.

You will also be able to practise species identification and ecology skills through field trips to Spain and the tropics. These will also enable you to study biodiversity in other habitats such as arid landscapes, forests and oceans.

Furthermore, you can carry out a year-long industrial placement between the third and final years, in order to gain valuable industrial experience. You can also choose to do a short summer placement module. We have strong links with a number of ecological organisations including the RSPB, Environment Agency, and a range of wildlife trusts.

Placement

Students in previous years have worked at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, RSPB and Environment Agency. You can also choose to spend a year abroad, typically carrying out research for an academic institute.

Our department has a dedicated academic in charge of placements, who can provide you with advice and support.

Typical offer A Level BBB-CCD | IB 30-24 points overall

Typical offer

BBB-CCD depending on A level subjects taken 

International Baccalaureate 

30-24 points overall depending on higher level subjects taken 

If you would like to receive personalised advice on your eligibility for our Foundation courses, please ask us a question.

BTEC

DMM

Extended Project Qualification

In recognition of the excellent preparation that the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) provides to students for University study, we can now include achievement in the EPQ as part of a formal offer.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with no component below 5.5

For information on other English language qualifications, please visit our international student pages.

Further requirements

If you are an international student planning to apply for one of our degree programmes, you may need to take a foundation course or pre-sessional course if you do not have qualifications that are equivalent to British A levels or if you need to improve your English language level.

  • Look at entry requirements by country.
  • Find out the English language requirements for our courses and our pre-sessional English programme.
  • Learn more about our international foundation programme.

What will you study?

  • Year 1
  • Year 2
  • Year 3
  • Year 4

Year 1

Modules are dependent on which subject you choose, but may include:

  • Key Skills for Science Research
  • Foundation: biology
  • Foundation: chemistry
  • Foundation: environment, ecology and sustainability
  • Foundation: mathematics
Please note that all modules are subject to change. 

Year 2

Core modules include:

  • Key Skills in Ecology and Zoology
  • Ecology
  • Animal Behaviour
  • Introduction to Evolutionary Processes 
  • Ecology and Environmental Management

Optional modules include:

  • Introduction to Environmental Sciences 
  • Biogeography and Soils 
  • Animal Diversity 
  • Soils in the Environment 
  • Mammal Diversity, Behaviour and Conservation 
  • Humans and the Environment 
  • Plant Diversity
  • Summer Placement
Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Year 3

Core modules include:

  • Key Skills in Ecology and Zoology 2 
  • Invertebrate Zoology
  • Methods in Ecology and Environmental Management
  • Introduction to Entomology

Optional modules include:

  • Vertebrate Zoology
  • Exploiters and Exploited 
  • Practical Wildlife Reserve Management 
  • Nature Conservation 
  • Birds: Diversity, Behaviour and Conservation 
  • Landscape and Ecosystem Management Field Course 
  • Grassland Management and Ecology 
  • Venoms and Poisons 
  • Forestry and Woodlands
  • Biodiversity Field Course or Tropical Biology Field Course (subject to place availability)
  • Reptiles and Dinosaurs
  • Vertebrate Pest Management
Please note that all modules are subject to change.

Year 4

Core modules include:

  • Research Project
  • Conservation Biology
  • Wildlife and Farming

Optional modules include:

  • Practical wildlife Reserve Management 
  • Rural Policy and Countryside Planning 
  • Principles and Practice in Biological Control 
  • Behavioural Ecology and Life History Theory
  • Environmental Modelling 
  • Water Resources 
  • Forensic Zoology 
  • Insect Ecology and its Applications 
  • Urban Ecology 
  • Wildlife and Diseases
Please note that all modules are subject to change.

How much will it cost?

New UK/EU students: £9,250* per year

New international students: £20,315 per year

* UK and EU fee changes

UK undergraduate fees are regulated by the government. These fees are subject to parliamentary approval and any decision on raising the tuition fees cap for new UK and EU** students would require the formal approval of both Houses of Parliament before it becomes law.

From 2020, the UK government may link tuition fees to the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF).

**EU students

For more information on fees, loans and grants for EU students, see fees and funding for home/EU students.

Additional costs

These course fees cover the cost of your tuition. Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK and other EU countries may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

* UK and EU Fee Changes

Subject to the Government passing legislation to raise the minimum fee cap, we will raise undergraduate tuition fees from £9,000 to £9,250 for new UK/EU students applying to start courses in the 2017/18 academic year. You will not be affected by this rise if you have deferred entry to the 2017/18 academic year. The Government will confirm future arrangements for EU students in due course.

The tuition fee will remain £9,000 per year for the full duration of this course if you start in the 2016/17 academic year or have accepted an offer but deferred your entry until the 2017/18 academic year. This is unlike other institutions who are planning to raise fees midway through courses.

For further information, please see our webpage on the Teaching Excellence Framework and future tuition fees.

Additional costs

These course fees cover the cost of your tuition. Some courses will require additional payments for field trips and extra resources. You will also need to budget for your accommodation and living costs. See our information on living costs for more details.

Financial support for your studies

You may be eligible for a scholarship or bursary to help pay for your study. Students from the UK and other EU countries may also be eligible for a student loan to help cover these costs. See our fees and funding information for more information on what's available.

What career can you have?

Your practical and scientific knowledge, combined with teamwork, communication skills, numeracy, problem-solving ability, and the ability to adapt to changing circumstances, will make you highly desirable to a wide range of employers. Career options related to your degree include environmental protection, renewable energy, sustainable transport, water, environmental consultancy, conservation biology, geological consultancy, or even applying your specialist expertise within the media. Our graduates have gone on to work for a range of major organisations including the Environment Agency, Sustrans, Thames Water and the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

You will also have opportunities to take part in original research with a potentially global impact. There are also plenty of opportunities to get involved with local wildlife and conservation groups including Conserve Reading on Wednesdays (CROW) and the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust (BBOWT). You can become a member of the Society of Biology and can apply for Chartered Biologist status following graduation.

Finally, you will be well-placed to move into research or academia, or pursue further studies.

About the Department


Visit the School of Biological Sciences website

Contextual offers


We make contextual offers for all our courses.

Take the next step


How to apply

Come to an Open Day

Get a prospectus

Ask us a question

Chat to our students

Related Courses

  • BSc Biological Sciences C100
    Full Time: 3 Years
  • BSc Biological Sciences with Professional Experience C101
    Full Time: 4 Years
  • BSc Environmental Science F851
    Full Time: 3 Years
  • BSc Environmental Science with Professional Experience F852
    Full Time: 4 Years
  • BSc Environmental Management F750
    Full Time: 3 Years
  • BSc Environmental Management with Placement Year D447
    Full Time: 4 Years
More
View all Environment degree courses courses

Ready for more?

How to apply
Visit an Open Day
Get a prospectus
View courses
  • Charitable status 
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies
  • Terms of use
  • Sitemap

© University of Reading