A BSc (Hons) Pharmacology and Health Science degree studies what drugs do to the body and what the body does to drugs, and sets that within the wider science of health. Where pharmaceutical chemistry is concerned with designing and making a compound, pharmacology is concerned with its action: receptors, dose response, mechanism, side effects and safety.
It is a laboratory science with a strong physiological component, and it underpins drug discovery, clinical trials and drug safety monitoring.
What you study
Three years, four with a placement in industry or a research setting.
- Year one: human anatomy and physiology, cell biology, biochemistry, principles of pharmacology, and laboratory skills.
- Year two: systems pharmacology covering cardiovascular, respiratory, neurological and endocrine systems, toxicology, molecular pharmacology and receptor theory, and research methods and statistics.
- Year three: clinical pharmacology and therapeutics, drug discovery and development, neuropharmacology and other specialist options, pharmacovigilance and drug safety, and an independent research project.
Entry requirements from Nepal
Requirements differ between universities and can move from one intake to the next, so read the following as the usual range rather than a guarantee. We check your documents against each university current criteria before anything is submitted.
- Academic: +2, A-Levels or IB at roughly 60 per cent and above, with a foundation year route for students below that. Biology and chemistry at +2 are normally both required.
- English: IELTS 6.0 overall with no band below 5.5 is the usual requirement. Many of our partner universities also accept PTE Academic, Duolingo, or a Medium of Instruction letter from Tribhuvan, Pokhara or Kathmandu University. See our IELTS score comparison and the routes that do not require IELTS.
- Study gap: most universities accept a gap, commonly up to five years and sometimes up to ten, as long as you can account for the time.
- Finance: the student visa requires evidence of your first year tuition plus living costs, currently 1,529 pounds a month for London and 1,171 pounds a month elsewhere, held for nine months. Our page on UK university fees for international students sets out the detail.
Where the degree leads
- Drug discovery and preclinical research
- Clinical trials, in monitoring and coordination roles
- Pharmacovigilance and drug safety, which is a growing and internationally portable specialism
- Regulatory affairs
- Medical science liaison and medical affairs
- Toxicology and safety assessment
- Academic research via a PhD, or progression into graduate entry medicine in some systems
Nepal pharmaceutical manufacturing sector and its regulatory bodies both need people with formal pharmacology and drug safety training, which makes this a degree that carries real weight if you return.
Choosing between the related science degrees
If you are most interested in synthesising and formulating compounds, take pharmaceutical and chemical sciences. If molecular mechanism and protein function are what draw you, biochemistry is the fit. If you want clinical laboratory diagnostics, look at biomedical science. Pharmacology is the right choice if the question you find most interesting is how a drug actually works in a living system.
Note that none of these degrees is a route to practising as a pharmacist or a doctor in the UK, both of which require separate accredited professional qualifications.
Get a straight answer on your chances
Since 2003 we have guided Nepalese students through UK admissions, and the useful conversation is always the specific one. Show us your marks and we will tell you which universities are likely to make you an offer for pharmacology and health science, where the deadlines fall, and what you need to have in the bank before the visa stage.
Counselling is free and there is no obligation. Our offices are in Kathmandu, Chitwan, Pokhara, Butwal and Bhairahawa, with a further office in London. Get in touch when you are ready, start an application, or look through the full course list.
