Pharmacology

Pharmacology with Foundation Year is designed for students who want to study the science of drugs and medicines but need additional academic preparation before entering degree-level study. The foundation year develops the mathematical and scientific skills needed to succeed in the main pharmacology degree, ensuring students from non-traditional or less scientific backgrounds can make the transition successfully. Pharmacology itself examines how drugs are discovered, developed, and used in the treatment of disease, covering the biochemical and physiological mechanisms of drug action, the factors that determine how drugs move through the body, and the causes and consequences of drug toxicity and unwanted effects.

The Pharmacology with Foundation Year programme at Teesside University provides this additional preparatory year before you enter the pharmacology degree proper. The foundation year gives you the tools to engage confidently with the scientific content that follows, including the mathematical, chemical, and biological foundations of pharmacology. From there, the pharmacology degree develops your understanding of how drugs work at the molecular, cellular, and whole-organism level, how they are used in clinical practice, and how the pharmaceutical industry discovers and develops new medicines.

The programme has a typical entry tariff of 120 points, and the inclusion of the foundation year means it is open to students who may not meet the requirements for direct entry to the pharmacology degree. Graduates from pharmacology programmes pursue careers in pharmaceutical research and development, drug regulatory affairs, clinical trials, healthcare science, medical communications, and postgraduate study in pharmacology, toxicology, drug discovery, or medicine. The foundation year pathway provides an important route into this field for students who have the ability but need more time to develop their scientific preparation.