Undergraduate student life

The School of Biosciences offers undergraduate students the opportunity to join a friendly, close-knit School. In the School we pride ourselves on providing not only an exciting, challenging academic experience, but also an enjoyable social experience too, so that our graduates leave us as highly employable people with great memories of their time in the School. Many choose to stay on to postgraduate study with us and continue their work with staff and fellow students they know well.

Both our campus locations provide a community feel for our students, and the team spirit is evident in something as simple as gathering together for tea breaks or at social events, or as memorable as shared fieldtrip experiences or group research projects. Our academics and students have a good amount of contact time and develop strong working relationships over the course of a degree programme, a factor we feel is important to students' success. We aim to make sure our students leave us with memories of their time at university that they will treasure, and benefit from, for a long time after they graduate.

Read more in this section about what it is like living in Exeter or Cornwall, and read profiles from some of our students as they talk about their experiences.

Student societies

Biosciences students run their own societies, BioSoc in Exeter and EcoSoc in Cornwall, which organise social events, guest lectures and outings. Previous events have included a Halloween party, a visit to the Eden Project in Cornwall, a black tie 'Spring Fling' and also opportunities to volunteer with Devon Wildlife Trust. Joining BioSoc or EcoSoc is a chance to become involved and to get to know students on other programmes and in different year groups within the School. Members of the committee often act as a point of contact for the Students' Guild, Biosciences staff and other students.

You can read more about student societies in Exeter and in Cornwall, including the benefits they offer to life as a student, and beyond.

Your voice as a student

Student-Staff Liaison Committees

We are committed to enabling all students to communicate their views and to receiving suggestions to influence changes to our policies and procedures. Biosciences has an undergraduate Student-Staff Liaison Committee (SSLC), which gives you the opportunity to voice your opinions about studying with us and to comment on a wide range of issues and possible developments.

The SSLC is presided over by Subject Chairs (a student elected by the Students’ Guild) and composed of elected student representatives from each year and programme and appropriate staff representatives. The Associate Dean (Education) and Assistant College Manager (Education) for the College of Life and Environmental Sciences meet with Subject Chairs on a regular basis, and Subject Chairs are represented on College’s Education Strategy Group.

Module and course evaluation

Feedback from students is requested for every module. Module leaders receive this feedback and are required to respond to the scores and comments received via the Annual Module Review process. The responses are subsequently shared with students.