Course summary

Learn how and why animals behave the way they do and gain the skills you’ll need to contribute to important discoveries. Our four-year course includes a foundation year when you'll build up your scientific skills, before moving onto our BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour We understand more than ever before about the behaviour of animals – but with so much more to learn, could you be the one to discover one of the major scientific breakthroughs of the 21st century? You’ll spend your foundation year covering a broad range of subjects including biology, chemistry and maths, helping you to prepare for higher-level study. You’ll then move on to the first year of our BSc (Hons) in Animal Behaviour. Our degree is the longest-established animal behaviour course in the UK, and it’s recognised by the Society of Biology. Learn how and why animals behave the way they do, and how this can impact on the management and conservation of wild and domesticated creatures. You’ll develop the skills you’ll need to investigate animals and contribute to important discoveries in the future. By studying animal behaviour, you’ll learn how we can manage and protect species. The development, physiology and evolution of species will form the basis of this course, but it’s not all theory. It’s a practical subject and we give you plenty of opportunities to learn and practice both in the lab and the field. In your second year you’ll take a series of half day trips to learn about and practise advanced behavioural data collection, the costs of which are included in your course fees. On our optional field trips you might experience rutting red deer on the island of Rum; marine biology in Scotland; world-class zoos in the Netherlands; wildlife and ecology in Africa; and diving and marine biology in the Red Sea. You’ll need to pay for these trips. Our staff are involved in field and captive studies internationally and in the UK, and have research links with organisations studying British wildlife and at Britain's most respected zoos. Studying animal behaviour could make the difference between future generations seeing live examples of a species, or reading about them in a history book. It could help you to manage and enhance the habitats of zoo animals, or to educate the public on the importance of animal welfare. What you’ll learn on this course could take you into a career relating to domestic and captive animal management, animal training and behavioural rehabilitation, or zoo education to name but a few. The transferable scientific skills you’ll develop could also open up a career in the field or the laboratory – perhaps for a government agency or an environmental consultancy.