Chemistry with a Year in Industry MChem, BSc

Chemistry is a central science that’s at the core of everything we can see, smell, taste and touch around us. From energy to the environment, groundbreaking medicine to cleaning products, chemistry is integral to all aspects of our life, which puts chemical scientists at the forefront of delivering invaluable solutions to global challenges such as climate change, sustainability and health.

The diverse nature of this field — and the widely transferable skills like teamwork and data analysis you’ll develop along the way — means chemistry graduates will always be highly sought after across a wide range of industries worldwide.

Studying this chemistry degree at Leeds will teach you the fundamental concepts of the field alongside a variety of optional modules available so you can tailor your degree to what really interests you the most. You’ll also be taught by expert academics, with the unique opportunity to get involved in real-world research happening in the University.

As part of this programme, you’ll spend your third year working in a paid industrial placement within a chemistry-based setting. Here, you’ll gain a unique insight into working in this sector whilst building industry contacts and developing the experience you’ll need to stand out to employers when you graduate.

Practical work features heavily in this course. As such, you’ll have access to a range of facilities right here on campus including specialist teaching laboratories and research facilities with the latest equipment for synthetic, physical and analytical chemistry to ensure you have the best grounding to head out into your professional career.

Why study at Leeds:

• This course is accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC).
• Our School’s globally-renowned research feeds directly into your course, shaping what you learn with the latest thinking in areas like sustainable and digital chemistry, materials chemistry and atmospheric chemistry to drug design.
• Experience expert teaching delivered by a programme team made up of academics and researchers who specialise in a variety of chemistry disciplines.
• Access specialist facilities throughout your degree, including computer clusters and teaching laboratories that give you an industry-standard environment to perform experiments and conduct project work.
• Enhance your career prospects and give your CV that competitive edge before you graduate with a paid industrial work placement in third year. Our close industry links have given previous students the chance to work at — and build professional relationships with — organisations such as GlaxoSmithKline, Unilever and AkzoNobel.
• Contribute to the community by undertaking community projects or a teaching placement in a local school.
• Our highly flexible chemistry programmes enable you to transfer to other chemistry courses at the end of your first year.
• Make the most of your time at Leeds by joining our student society ChemSoc where you can meet more of your peers, enjoy social events, join the football or netball team and attend careers events.

Join our online taster courses

Our collection of five short online courses will help you discover the extraordinary world of everyday chemistry. Join today on Futurelearn.

Accreditation

Accreditation is the assurance that a university course meets the quality standards established by the profession for which it prepares its students.

This course is accredited by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and provides access to qualified membership of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

This integrated Masters degree (MChem, BSc) is accredited as fully meeting the academic requirement for the award of Chartered Chemist (CChem).

We are currently reviewing our curriculum as part of a university-wide process. As a result, we are unable to publish module information for this course at this time. The information below provides an overview of what you’ll study and our approach to teaching and assessment. We will update this page as soon as the changes are confirmed. Read more in our terms and conditions.

On this course, you’ll discover how chemistry shapes the world around us, with a wide range of topics to explore. From quantum mechanics to planetary atmospheres, making organic chemicals to developing medicinal drugs — the scope is huge, giving you the chance to really hone in your interests.

As well as your studies, this programme offers you the chance to head out into the working world and gain an invaluable year of experience, skills and knowledge working in industry.

Each academic year, you'll take a total of 120 credits.

Year 1

During your first year, you’ll explore the fundamental principles that underpin chemistry, including:

• The shapes of molecules and their electronic structure
• The nature of chemical bonding and models used to describe it
• The inter-relationship between molecular structure, electronic structure and physical properties
• The principles underpinning states of matter and their interconversion
• The kinetics and thermodynamics of chemical reactions
• The origin of molecular energy levels and principles of molecular spectroscopy
• The structure and properties of simple crystalline solids
• The chemistry of main-group elements and of transition metals
• The chemistry of simple organic molecules including redox, substitution, addition and elimination reactions of alkenes, alkynes, aromatic and carbonyl compounds.

You’ll also begin to develop skills as an experimental chemist in our teaching labs, learning to

• safely handle reagents/solvents and manipulate laboratory apparatus
• synthesize inorganic and organic molecules of straightforward structural complexity
• determine structure using spectroscopic data such as infrared (IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)
• record data and physical measurements and comment on their precision and accuracy
• use PC-based spreadsheets, graphics and word-processing packages to manipulate and plot data and to prepare reports.

Discovery modules are also available in your first year, providing you with the chance to follow your interests, as long as you’re taking enough credits on the course. You may also take modules to develop your skills in maths or physics relevant to chemistry.

At the end of year 1, our flexible degree structure offers you the opportunity to transfer onto our degree courses in medicinal chemistry, the international variant or non-placement chemistry.

Year 2

In your second year you'll build upon these foundations and cover a wide range of different aspects of chemistry.

All of the lecture-based modules are backed up by extensive practical sessions in the laboratory, allowing you to perform experiments that complement the material taught to you in the lectures and develop experimental skills. In addition, workshops and tutorial groups or seminar groups are used to support the teaching, so you get regular feedback from the academic staff helping you solve any problems that you might have with a particular topic.

Year 3

You'll spend the third year of your degree undertaking a paid 12-month industrial placement. To progress onto this third-year placement, you’ll need to maintain a 2:1 level of performance in years 1 and 2. If you do not meet this threshold, you may transfer to one of our other chemistry courses.

Year 4

In your final year, you’ll have a range of research-led topics to study at a more advanced level, as well as undertaking a research project, which gives you the opportunity to follow your interests and investigate an area at the cutting edge of chemistry.

You'll undertake a research project, which gives you the opportunity to follow your interests and investigate a topic at the cutting-edge of chemistry. You’ll work collaboratively with your supervisors throughout the project, who’ll be experts in your particular research area.

Recent projects include:

• Applications of New Machine Learning Algorithms for Synthetic chemistry
• Green Peptide Synthesis for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
• Designing metal oxide based chemical gardens for waste water treatment
• Chemistry at the Extremes: Reaction kinetics at interstellar temperatures
• Tackling air pollution via probing the atmosphere with lasers
• Re-engineering bacterial toxins for drug delivery
• Biosensors for point-of-care detection of bowel diseases
• The development of interactive web based visualisation tools for chemical education
• Developing an online drug discovery project for use in the undergraduate laboratory course
• Controlling crystallization in organic semiconductor films for light emitting diodes
• Graphene-Enhanced Nano-Clay Materials for Fuel Purification Applications

Learning and teaching

As a chemistry student at Leeds, we ensure that you benefit from a wide range of teaching methods, including lectures, workshops, group tutorials and practical lab work.

Laboratory classes and project work allow you to gain first-hand experience investigating and applying material from your lectures and tutorials to real-life work situations. There’s a strong emphasis on developing chemistry-specific practical and investigative skills in both teaching laboratories 1-1 ½ days per week on average. Together, they will equip you with in-depth knowledge, key practical skills and transferable skills that will help you secure a graduate job. Our close links with industry also mean that you have direct contact with industry and potential employers from an early stage in your course.

You’ll be assigned a personal tutor to guide you through your studies, and you'll receive support from fellow students through our peer mentoring scheme. Peer mentors are students who are on your course, but are in Years two, three or four. They’ll help you when you arrive at University and throughout your first year. You’ll meet your peer mentors during your first week for a social activity.

Our Virtual Learning Environment will help to support your studies: it’s a central place where you can find all the information and resources for the School, your programme and modules.

You can also benefit from support to develop your academic skills, within the curriculum and through online resources, workshops, one-to-one appointments and drop-in sessions.

Specialist facilities

To support your practical work, you’ll have an extensive range of specialist facilities accessible throughout your degree. The Joseph Priestley teaching laboratory, with space for 110 students, gives you the opportunity to perform synthetic and analytical chemistry experiments in an industry standard environment, and reflects the research-based approach to learning and teaching within the School of Chemistry. You’ll use techniques such as IR (infra-red), NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance), and UV-vis (ultraviolet-visible) spectroscopy.

The George Porter teaching laboratory is equipped with modern research-grade equipment for physical and instrumental analytical experiments, along with a computer cluster where you can process your data under expert supervision.

Our research facilities, which you may benefit from during your project work, include the latest equipment for synthetic, physical and analytical chemistry, 500 and 600 MHz NMR machines, cutting-edge Mass Spectrometry (MS) facilities, a CCD-based X-ray diffractometer, scanning electron microscope and a purification laboratory.

You can also make extensive use of digital technology throughout the course; you’ll be taught in person how to use the latest software for modelling and understanding chemistry, solving chemical problems and analysing experimental data – acquiring digital skills applicable in many potential areas of employment.

Taster lectures

Watch our taster lectures to get a flavour of what it’s like to study at Leeds:

• Transition metal chemistry: controlling nanosized metallo-cages
• How do Reactions Behave in Very Cold Environments? A Journey from Earth to Deep Space

On this course you’ll be taught by our expert academics, from lecturers through to professors. You may also be taught by industry professionals with years of experience, as well as trained postgraduate researchers, connecting you to some of the brightest minds on campus.

Assessment

The types of assessment used for each module aim to measure the learning outcomes we want you to achieve. Although formal end-of-semester examinations are predominant, often accounting for 80% or more of the formal assessment of lecture-based modules, many modules include a significant coursework element. You are also continuously assessed through practical work.

There’s a significant laboratory component to our chemistry degrees which equates to 1-1 ½ days per week. You'll complete either a short proforma summary or a longer ‘lab report’ for each experiment. These proformas and reports are the basis of a continuous assessment method with regular deadlines throughout each semester. The laboratory assessment accounts for about 20% of the overall assessment in years 1 and 2.

Your research project normally accounts for 50% of the assessment in your final year.

Entry requirements

A-level: AAB including Chemistry

Where an A-Level science subject is taken, we require a pass in the practical science element, alongside the achievement of the A-Level at the stated grade.

Excludes A-Level General Studies or Critical Thinking.

Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) and International Project Qualification (IPQ): We recognise the value of these qualifications and the effort and enthusiasm that applicants put into them, and where an applicant offers an A in the EPQ or IPQ we may make an offer of ABB at A-Level.

GCSE: English Language grade C (4), or an equivalent English language qualification, and Mathematics grade B (6). We will accept Level 2 Functional Skills English in lieu of GCSE English.

• Access to HE Diploma

  Pass 60 credits overall with 45 credits at Level 3, 30 credits with Distinction and the remaining 15 credits with Merit or above. Must contain a significant number of Chemistry and Mathematics modules.

• BTEC

  DDD with a significant number of Chemical and Scientific Modules

• Cambridge Pre-U

  D2 M2 M2 in 3 principal subjects including Chemistry

• International Baccalaureate

  16 at Higher Level including 6 in Higher Level Chemistry and Mathematics

• Irish Leaving Certificate (higher Level)

  H2 H2 H2 H2 H3 H3 including Higher Level Chemistry

• Scottish Highers / Advanced Highers

  Suitable combinations of Scottish Higher and Advanced Highers are acceptable, though Chemistry must be presented at Advanced Higher level.Typically A at Advanced Higher Level and AABBB at Higher Level

Read more about UK and Republic of Ireland accepted qualifications or contact the School’s Undergraduate Admissions Team.

Alternative entry

We’re committed to identifying the best possible applicants, regardless of personal circumstances or background.

Access to Leeds is an alternative admissions scheme which accepts applications from individuals who might be from low income households, in the first generation of their immediate family to apply to higher education, or have had their studies disrupted.

Find out more about Access to Leeds and alternative admissions.

Typical Access to Leeds A Level offer: BBB including Chemistry and pass Access to Leeds. For alternative qualification offers please contact the admissions team.

If you do not have the formal qualifications for immediate entry to one of our degrees, you may be able to progress through a foundation year. We offer a Studies in Science with Foundation Year BSc for students without a science background at A-level and an Interdisciplinary Science with Foundation Year BSc for applicants who meet specific widening participation criteria.

International Foundation Year

International students who do not meet the academic requirements for undergraduate study may be able to study the University of Leeds International Foundation Year. This gives you the opportunity to study on campus, be taught by University of Leeds academics and progress onto a wide range of Leeds undergraduate courses. Find out more about International Foundation Year programmes.

English language requirements

IELTS 6.0 overall, with no less than 5.5 in any one component. For other English qualifications, read English language equivalent qualifications.

Improve your English
If you're an international student and you don't meet the English language requirements for this programme, you may be able to study our undergraduate pre-sessional English course, to help improve your English language level.

How to apply

Apply to this course through UCAS. Check the deadline for applications on the UCAS website.

We may consider applications submitted after the deadline. Availability of courses in UCAS Extra will be detailed on UCAS at the appropriate stage in the cycle.

Read our guidance about applying and writing your personal statement.

International students apply through UCAS in the same way as UK students. Our network of international representatives can help you with your application. If you’re unsure about the application process, contact the admissions team for help.

Read about visas, immigration and other information in International students. We recommend that international students apply as early as possible to ensure that they have time to apply for their visa.

Admissions policy

University of Leeds Taught Admissions Policy 2024

Fees

UK: £9,250 (per year)

International: £30,250 (per year)

Tuition fees for UK undergraduate students starting in 2023/24 and 2024/25
Tuition fees for UK full-time undergraduate students are set by the UK Government and will remain capped at £9,250 for 2023/24 and 2024/25. The fee may increase in future years of your course in line with inflation only as a consequence of future changes in Government legislation and as permitted by law.

Tuition fees for international undergraduate students starting in 2023/24 and 2024/25
Tuition fees for international students for 2023/24 and 2024/25 are available on individual course pages.

Tuition fees for a study abroad or work placement year
If you take a study abroad or work placement year, you’ll pay a reduced tuition fee during this period. For more information, see Study abroad and work placement tuition fees and loans.

Read more about paying fees and charges.

The School of Chemistry will provide you with personal protective equipment and laboratory notebooks you’ll need to undertake laboratory work. You’ll also have access to a vast supply of books, academic journals and periodicals from the university libraries however you may wish to purchase some books that are recommended on the course.

This course requires work using a range of relevant software which is provided by the university. We also use a blended learning model where you’ll need to access course materials and video conferences using a computer or mobile device (e.g. laptop, tablet, smartphone).

You’ll have access to the extensive IT facilities on campus including 24/7 computer clusters with everything you need to complete your work however you may wish to purchase your own computer.

There may be additional costs related to your course or programme of study, or related to being a student at the University of Leeds. Read more about additional costs.

Financial support

If you have the talent and drive, we want you to be able to study with us, whatever your financial circumstances. There is help for students in the form of loans and non-repayable grants from the University and from the government. Find out more in our Undergraduate funding overview.

The employment opportunities available to you as a chemistry graduate are extensive across numerous industries, with the potential to take you all over the world.

Plus, University of Leeds students are among the top five most targeted by top employers according to The Graduate Market 2023, High Fliers Research, meaning our graduates are highly sought after by some of the most reputable companies in the field.

Qualifying with a degree in chemistry from Leeds will set you up with the core foundations you need to pursue an exciting career in a wide range of sectors, including:

• Energy
• Pharmaceuticals
• Finance
• Environment
• Food and drink
• Engineering and manufacturing
• Technology
• Education
• Healthcare
• Scientific research and development
• Legal
• Data analytics

The breadth of knowledge and experience, along with the teamwork, problem-solving, research, communication and IT skills taught on the course are widely transferable and desirable to a whole host of employers.

Here’s an insight into the job roles some of our chemistry graduates have obtained:

• European Marketing Program Manager, Agilent Technologies
• Ice Core Analytical Scientist, British Antarctic Survey
• Head of International Procurement, Britvic plc
• Teacher of Chemistry, Clitheroe Royal Grammar School
• Analytical Chemist, Covance
• Finance Director, GlaxoSmithKline
• Accountant, Grant Thornton UK LLP
• Principal Scientist, Johnson Matthey
• Senior Editor, Nature Publishing Group
• Technology Consultant, PwC
• Fuels Scientist, Shell Global Solutions
• Clinical Research Assistant, St James Hospital
• Project Leader, Tata Steel Europe
• Lecturer, University of Birmingham
• Reader in Inorganic Chemistry, University of Manchester

Read profiles of our alumni to find out more about where some of our graduates are working.

Careers support

Study abroad

The study abroad programme is not an available option for this course. However, our Chemistry MChem, BSc degree has this option.

Work placements

A placement year is a great way to help you decide on a career path when you graduate. You’ll develop your skills and gain a real insight into working life in a particular company or sector. It will also help you to stand out in a competitive graduate jobs market and improve your chances of securing the career you want.

Benefits of a work placement year:

• This placement is salaried
• Build industry contacts within your chosen field
• Our close industry links mean you’ll be in direct contact with potential employers
• Advance your experience and skills by putting the course teachings into practice
• Gain invaluable insight into working as a professional in this industry
• Improve your employability

As this year replaces your third year of study, you'll be required to complete 30 credits of distance learning coursework. You'll complete the final year of your MChem degree at Leeds.

You'll be able to choose from a range of pharmaceutical, energy, fine chemical, colour, polymer and other chemistry-related industries in which to work.

Finding a work placement is competitive, but with the help and support of our dedicated Employability team, you can find the right placement to suit you and your future career goals.

During your industrial placement, you'll have an industrial supervisor from within the company, plus an academic supervisor who will keep in touch throughout your placement.

Here are some examples of placements our students have recently completed:

• Analytical Chemistry Industrial Placement, GlaxoSmithKline
• 12-month Industrial Placement, AkzoNobel
• Emission Technology Placement, Johnson Matthey 
• Strepsils Analytical Assistant, Reckitt Benckiser
• Student Placement, Unilever
• Junior Analyst, Jarmany

Find out more about Industrial placements.