Human Nutrition and Health

BSc (Honours)

UndergraduateFood and nutrition

Study how diet impacts on health at individual and societal levels on an accredited degree that’s ideal for aspiring Registered Nutritionists.

Everything you need to know…
  • What is the fee?

    International/EU: £16,655 per year

  • How long will I study?

    3 / 4 Years

  • What are the admission requirements?

    112 UCAS Points

  • When do I start?

    2024.September

  • Placement year available?

    Placement Available

Course summary
Study how diet impacts on health at individual and societal levels on an accredited degree that’s ideal for aspiring Registered Nutritionists.
Study food, ingredients and diets in nutritional terms.
Discovering their impact on cells, tissues and organs.
Explore the impact of food, diet and lifestyle on health and wellbeing.
Learn how to design nutrition and public health initiatives.
Understand how food impacts society, people and the planet.

This Association for Nutrition accredited course provides the knowledge, skills and experience you’ll need to improve individuals’ health, wellbeing and performance – and more broadly, to benefit society and the planet. You’ll develop and reflect on the professional skills you’ll need to work in the nutrition sector.
How you learn

Work placements
You’ll have the opportunity to undertake a year-long work placement in between your second and third years. This gives you relevant sector experience to prepare you for your future career – and allows you to graduate with an Applied Professional Diploma to add to your CV. 

Live projects
Live projects are embedded within every level of your course – culminating in a final-year consultancy project with an external partner. Here you’ll get to use all the skills, knowledge and experience you’ve gained throughout the course. 

For example, previous students have worked on the development and nutritional analysis of a seasonal menu for a local dementia friendly café, and healthy eating classroom education sessions in local primary schools. Others have created cook and eat sessions for a local scouts group and developed a cooking resource pack for young adults with learning difficulties.

Networking opportunities
Graduates are invited regularly to come and meet our current students. Here you can get a critical insight of different career options while starting to build your own professional network. You’ll also benefit from our professional body memberships – which give you access to professionals in the sector as well as opportunities to interact with students from other institutions.

Competitions
We’ll encourage you to submit your work to conferences and for relevant awards. Previous students have been recognised externally for the high standard of their work, including one of our graduates who achieved the prestigious Food and Drink Federation Registered Nutritionist / Dietitian of the Year.

All our courses are designed around a set of key principles based on engaging you with the world, collaborating with others, challenging you to think in new ways, and providing you with a supportive environment in which you can thrive.

Our award-winning teachers have experience working in public health, sports and exercise nutrition, and food consumption behaviours. They’re actively involved in applied and impactful research – you’ll get to understand the latest trends in human nutrition and health and apply your knowledge to live projects in collaboration with external partners.

In each year of study you’ll have the opportunity to engage with live projects and professional work opportunities. You can apply to access placements, volunteering opportunities and work experience through our relationships with external partners – such as schools, councils, sport clubs and food manufacturers.

You learn through

  • lectures, seminars and workshops
  • practical sessions in our food science and nutrition labs, development kitchens and sensory suite
  • webinars and competitions
  • live projects with schools, voluntary sector organisations and food businesses
  • independent study and group work

You’ll develop an in-depth knowledge of food composition and ingredients. This includes how our bodies use nutrients to grow and perform throughout the lifecycle – and how to enhance wellbeing and communicate effectively about nutrition and health. Throughout the course you’ll develop as a reflective practitioner – learning how to evaluate information and make sound, ethical, evidence-based decisions and recommendations. With these skills you’ll develop into a career-ready and well-rounded nutrition professional.

You’ll be supported in your learning journey towards highly skilled, graduate level employment through

  • access to our unique student support triangle to help with your personal, academic and career development
  • access to our Skills Centre with one to ones, webinars, online resources, and assignment preparation support
  • industry-specific employability activities such as live projects and networking opportunities
Future career

This course prepares you for a career in

  • nutrition 
  • weight and diabetes management
  • behaviour change
  • public health
  • food industry (nutrition)
  • sports nutrition
  • scientific affairs
  • research (including postgraduate research degrees)

Previous graduates from have gone on to work for

  • Boots
  • ABL Health
  • Beezee Bodies  
  • Thrive Tribe
  • Bupa
  • Why Weight Sheffield
  • Chartwells / Compass
  • Mellors Catering Services
  • Active Suffolk
  • Keighley Healthy Living Network
  • Derbyshire County Council
Equipment and facilities

You’ll work in state-of-the-art specialist facilities

  • a nutrition and physiology lab
  • a food science lab
  • extensive kitchens
  • a sensory and feeding facility

You’ll use specialist equipment to

  • perform nutrient and energy quantification
  • assess health and physical activity measurement
  • estimate body composition (e.g. bio-electrical impedance analyser) 
  • measure strength and power output (e.g. dynamometers)
  • characterise the composition of foods (e.g. Soxhlet apparatus)

You’ll also gain digital skills for your future career using specialist software, for example

  • a specialist software for diet assessment
  • a digital portfolio software to record, organise and evaluate all the evidence from your course and relevant extra-curricular activities which support your professional development and reflective practice

 

Entry requirements

UCAS points

  • 112

This must include at least 64 points from 2 A Levels or equivalent BTEC qualifications including a relevant Science subject such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Applied Science, Mathematics, Geology, Psychology or Sport Science. For example:

  • BBC at A Level
  • DMM in BTEC Extended Diploma.
  • A combination of qualifications, which may include AS levels, EPQ and general studies

GCSE

  • English Language at grade C or 4
  • Maths at grade C or 4
  • Two sciences at grade C or 4 (Chemistry, Biology, Physics or double science equivalents)

You can find information on making sense of UCAS tariff points here and use the UCAS tariff calculator to work out your points.

• Access to HE Diploma in a relevant Science, Social Science or Health Science based subject with at least 45 credits at level 3 and 15 credits at level 2. At least 15 level 3 credits must be at merit grade or above, from a QAA-recognised Access to HE course, or an equivalent Access to HE certificate.

If English is not your first language, you will need an IELTS score of 6.5 with a minimum of 6.0 in all skills, or equivalent.

Please note the University will only admit students who are aged 18 or over at the point of enrolment.

Modules

Important notice:

The structure of this course is periodically reviewed and enhanced to provide the best possible learning experience for our students and ensure ongoing compliance with any professional, statutory and regulatory body standards. Module structure, content, delivery and assessment may change, but we expect the focus of the course and the learning outcomes to remain as described above. Following any changes, updated module information will be published on this page.

You will be able to complete a placement year as part of this course. See the modules table below for further information.

 

Year 1
Compulsory modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Applied Academic Skills

20

Coursework

Food Choice: People And Planet

40

Coursework

Fundamentals Of Food And Nutrition: Composition, Safety And Nutrient Function

40

Coursework

Practical

Physiology And Biochemistry For Nutrition

20

Coursework

 

 

 

Year 2
Compulsory modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Applied Nutrition: Populations, Policy And Practice

20

Coursework

Nutrition And Health In The Digital Age

20

Coursework

Nutrition In Health And Disease: Meeting Specific Needs

40

Coursework

Personal And Professional Development

40

Coursework

 

Year 3
Optional modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Placement Year

 

 

 

Final Year
Compulsory modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Food And Nutrition Consultancy Challenge

40

Coursework

Practical

Food And Nutrition Research

40

Practical

Wellbeing Service Provision

20

Practical

 

Elective modules

Module

Credits

Assessment

Global Issues In Nutrition And Health

20

Practical

Issues In Sports Nutrition

20

Practical