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Which physics degree is right for you?

Physics can be a broad-ranging or highly focused degree. Explore our course options to find out which is best suited to your interests.

Join our webinar to find out about starting your physics career

Join our webinar 12.30 - 1.30pm on Tuesday 24 October 2023 to hear from staff and students about where a Physics degree can take you.

We offer four undergraduate BSc and MPhys physics courses:

Register for the webinar

What are you most interested in?

To help you start thinking about which course might be most suitable, you might want to ask yourself:

Do you already know what areas you enjoy? If not, then our standard Physics degree might be for you as you'll get to work out where your interests lie before specialising.

Are you undecided between Maths and Physics? Then Mathematics and Physics could be for you. While all of our courses contain maths for physics, on this course you'll spend half your time studying pure maths in the Department of Mathematical Sciences.

Do you like the idea of modelling complex systems? If so, take a look at our Physics with Theoretical Physics which has less emphasis on lab work and more on computational modelling.

Students looking at Physics equipment

Flexibility

Keeping your options open if you change your mind.

Even after applying you may still be unsure about your course, so you can be reassured that we offer plenty of flexibility if you change your mind when you're here.

  • Physics, Physics with Theoretical Physics and Physics with Astrophysics share a common first year enabling you to switch between any of them until halfway through your second year.

  • On our Mathematics and Physics degree, you may be able to switch onto a single honours degree in Mathematics or Physics if you decide you would like to specialise at the end of your first year.

  • All four courses are also available as a BSc or MPhys (MSci for Mathematics and Physics), and with a placement or study abroad, all of which you can switch between once you are here.

  • You'll also be able to choose optional units to further tailor your degree to your interests (from which year optional units are available varies by course). For details of optional units see the specific course pages.

Gain valuable experience

All courses are designed to equip you with meaningful research or industry-based experience, depending on your interests.

On the BSc courses you'll carry out one of:

  • Final Year Project where you'll work with an academic supervisor on a research project.

  • Industry Team project where you'll work in small teams on a real problem set by an industry partner.

  • Communicating Physics project where you'll develop activities to communicate physics to schools and the general public.

On the MPhys and MSci courses you'll carry out:

  • A semester-long MPhys/MSci Research Project with an academic supervisor, investigating in depth an aspect of physics in the Department's research laboratories.

On the MPhys courses, instead of the Research Project, you can choose to go on:

  • A 6-month MPhys Research Placement, carrying out a physics research project in an external research institution in the UK or abroad.
Physics students carrying out an experiment on a computer

Try out a possible career path on a placement

All of our Physics courses give you the option to go on a work placement in industry or research between your second and final year.

As well as boosting your employability, it's a great opportunity to test out a career path before you graduate. We have links with leading companies including BAE Systems, CERN, Dyson, Morgan Stanley, Rolls-Royce and Samsung.

Find out more about our placements.

Find the course for you

Explore our Physics courses