Course description

*Please note: this course is subject to approval*

Medicines have the power to transform lives — but behind every tablet, vaccine or treatment is a team of scientists who understand exactly how and why it works. By studying Pharmaceutical Science at the University of Leicester, you will gain this crucial knowledge, combining rigorous scientific training with the practical skills you need to help shape the future of healthcare.

You’ll explore the entire journey of a medicine, from initial discovery to large-scale manufacture. In synthetic chemistry, you’ll learn how to design and build new drug molecules, while spectroscopy will equip you with the analytical techniques to confirm their identity and purity. Drug discovery modules introduce the strategies and technologies used to find promising therapeutic compounds, and in pharmaceutics you’ll investigate how to turn those compounds into safe, effective dosage forms.

Understanding the human body is at the heart of good pharmaceutical design. Through anatomy and pharmacology, you’ll discover how medicines interact with biological systems, targeting disease at the molecular, cellular and organ levels. You’ll study drug dosage to understand how medicines are absorbed, distributed, metabolised and excreted, ensuring they deliver the right effect at the right time. In drug manufacture, you’ll see how cutting-edge technologies scale up production while meeting strict quality and safety regulations.

This course also covers major therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, infectious disease and neurological disorders, helping you link scientific concepts to real-world health challenges. In biotechnology, you’ll learn how advances like recombinant DNA technology and biologics are opening new frontiers in treatment.

Throughout your degree, you’ll gain extensive laboratory experience, working with modern instrumentation and collaborating in a supportive, research active environment. Problem‑solving, critical thinking and data analysis are built into every module, so you graduate with not only technical expertise but also the transferable skills valued across scientific and healthcare sectors.

By the time you complete your BSc, you’ll be ready for a wide range of careers in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, healthcare research, regulatory affairs or further postgraduate study. Whether you dream of developing the next blockbuster drug, improving manufacturing efficiency or advancing personalised medicine, this programme will give you the foundations — and the inspiration — to make a meaningful impact.

Why study this course?

If you’re fascinated by how new medicines are discovered, made and brought to patients, this degree is your gateway to that world. You’ll learn from expert scientists working at the cutting edge of research, in a friendly, supportive environment where your curiosity can flourish. Whether your ambition is to develop breakthrough treatments, improve manufacturing processes or move into postgraduate research, we’ll help you build the confidence and expertise to make it happen.

Entry requirements

Integrated AI

At Leicester, you will study with full access to Microsoft 365 Copilot through our collaboration with global tech leader, Microsoft. As one of the first Microsoft Frontier Universities in the UK, we are helping to shape how AI is used in higher education and the workplace. 

You will build practical, transferable skills that employers value. From analysing information and solving problems to communicating ideas and working collaboratively, you will learn to apply your knowledge in a digital world. 

When you graduate, you will leave with more than a degree. You will have the skills and confidence to work with the technologies shaping your future.

100 hours work-related learning

Your future career starts right here, whilst you study. On all of our undergraduate courses you are guaranteed 100 hours of real, employer‑informed work‑related learning, built directly into your course.

You will gain a range of skills and grow in confidence through a mixture of activities, aligned closely to your subject. This could range from placements, clinics, laboratory work, field work and “real-world” projects such as live briefs, consultancy challenges, simulations, and virtual internships (discipline aligned and interdisciplinary).

By the time you graduate you'll be able to articulate and demonstrate to future employers you have the skills they are looking for as well as the understanding of your subject.