Neuroscience with Foundation Year

Foundation Year
Our Foundation Year provides an excellent alternative route to Keele, providing a unique opportunity to better prepare for your chosen degree, and with guaranteed entry onto your undergraduate course once you successfully complete your Foundation Year. This extra year of study can improve your academic skills, expand your subject knowledge, give you a better understanding of higher education and, perhaps most importantly of all, build your confidence. On the Keele Foundation Year, you'll study on campus, joining our undergraduate community from the outset, with access to all the facilities and support that you'd get as an undergraduate student at Keele.

International Students
For International Students, Foundation Years are delivered through our dedicated on-campus provider, Keele University International College. Applications for International Foundation Years are also handled by KUIC; please do not apply via UCAS as the University will not be able to process your application and you may still be charged the UCAS application fee. To find out more and to apply for an International Foundation Year, visit https://kuic.keele.ac.uk/

Neuroscience

Combine skills in science and research to explore the fascinating complexity of the human brain, from memory and learning to health and disease. Our programme is designed to equip you with the multidisciplinary skills, knowledge and understanding of genetics, human physiology and the nervous system, ready to embark on an advanced career in science, research and beyond. You will immerse into the theoretical foundation of neuroscience, whilst developing practical laboratory skills, enabling you to explore and apply your learning to the real-world.

Why choose this course?
• Accredited by the Royal Society of Biology



- 20th in England for Neuroscience, Guardian University Guide 2025


• Develop core practical skills in Keele's state-of-the-art Central Science Laboratories (CSL)



• Engage with an enriching placement year or international year to excel in your career



Accredited by the Royal Society of Biology*, our Neuroscience BSc at Keele introduces you to the anatomy and function of the nervous system, investigating complex interactions that enable motor control, sensory perception and stability. You will study cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, and human physiology to examine the brain, from how it senses and moves through the environment, to degeneration in health and in disease.

Explore physiological systems including the digestive, cardiovascular and endocrine systems and how they are controlled by the brain. With insights into key concepts in neuroscience, you'll examine how the brain develops, the mechanisms underlying learning and memory, how drugs affect the nervous system, and how electrical activity in the brain works to control human functions. You will investigate this further through the exploration of behaviour and how sensory systems work. We will help you to understand technological advances which may repair and regenerate the brain after damage.

*Subject to passing your final year project and laboratory modules in Year 1 and Year 2.

About Keele

Keele University was established in 1949 by the former Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. Founded to meet the needs of a changing world, Keele has always had a pioneering vision to be a different kind of university.

We excel in both teaching and research, with some of the most satisfied students in England, and research that is changing lives for the better at a regional, national and global level.

Our beautiful 600-acre campus is one of the biggest in Britain – but all the most important services and facilities are on your doorstep, with accommodation, teaching spaces, facilities including a medical centre, sports centre and pharmacy, and a range of shops, eateries and entertainment venues – including the Students’ Union – clustered around the centre.

Career focused courses, a vibrant student community and a beautiful 600-acre campus – this is Keele.

Whether you’re a passionate natural scientist, or eager to explore law, business, humanities or social sciences, our innovative courses are designed with your future in mind. Many of our courses offer a placement opportunity – just one of our initiatives that prepare you for real-world success.

Recognised for outstanding student experience and teaching quality, we were ranked a Top 10 UK university for student satisfaction across 15 subjects (National Student Survey 2025, broad-based English universities) and achieved Double Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (2017 and 2023).

Located in the Staffordshire countryside, but within easy reach of a bustling town, vibrant city and our noisy neighbours of Manchester and Birmingham, Keele truly offers the best of both worlds: a close-knit campus community and an exciting local area to explore.

We’d love to see you on campus soon.