Natural sciences vs biological sciences

[Watermelon444]

Hi does anyone have any experience of the above courses and any pros or cons to consider?

DC year 12 is considering these courses and is strong in chemistry and biology, with a preference for biology.

Looking at Birmingham and Bath.

Any thoughts or experiences very welcome to help her decide.

Natural sciences can mean almost anything depending on where you study it. It tends to be broader - more similar to a joint honours degree, whereas biological sciences is "straight" biology - would include some biochemistry but less opportunity to do other sciences. But you need to look in detail at the modules and degree pathways available within the natural science course at the specific unis.

Agree she needs to look closely at course content. DS is studying biology. Some biology departments are very focussed on biomedical for example. He chose Durham because he liked the place but also they have a standardised first year and then you choose which bits you might like to hone in on. As they put it, you don't really know in year12 if genetics or zoology is going to be your thing. He did look at a couple of natural sciences courses but they seemed to lean more towards physics (which he did do at A level).

I have 2 Natural Science studying DDs. DD1 did Physics, Chemistry, Maths & FM and went to Cambridge. She thought she would specialise in Chemistry but ended up doing Materials Science and is still there well into a PhD. DD2 did Biology, Chemistry and Maths. She is at a uni in the Midlands (not Birmingham) and has just finished her undergraduate Finals, although expects to progress to the Masters in September. She is most interested in Molecular Biology but the nature of her course means that she has had a wide variety of modules to choose from, including some requiring Physics knowledge, so potentially broader than Biological Sciences. I am happy to share details by PM.

I studied Biological Sciences as my undergrad. Although universities may vary, this is my experience: the first year typically covers all bases on quite a broad spectrum to bring everyone up to speed and then in the following years allow you to choose specific modules and start to gently 'specialise' into whichever branch of biology you are interested in/require for future endeavours.
Modules offered covered all major aspects of biology and molecular science and in many cases were tailored to relevant and current scientific research.
There was also an option to swap onto a medical bioscience course at the end of first year, amongst other degree stems.
Personally, I chose this degree due to my love of biology but lack of true direction in terms of end goal. It was a great opportunity for me to essentially follow what interested me the most and I honestly think that helped me to avoid burn out and keep the passion alive.
This leads into probably the biggest downside imo, which is that it's very easy to end up with a mismatch of modules that won't really assist you in landing jobs in certain biological fields as they tend to expect a degree heavy in microbiology for any microbiology job for example, and rightfully so! As well as that, job competition can be tough because it isn't a degree focused on a specific area of biology (such as pure genetics) and is instead more rounded. But that's avoided with a little bit of planning ahead, and there are always MScs or PhDs that follow that can help you specialise a bit further into any specific field.

@Farmerking neither of my DDs are that interested in medicine. DD1's school careers advisor spent the entire session telling her to apply for medicine/vet/nursing despite DD saying she hates the sight of blood, doesn't want to work with animals etc. She was much more interested in the physics side of chemistry. DD2 has flirted with the idea but the prospect of the exams all the way through put her off. She is also as tactless as me, so I can't see it working well.

She is also as tactless as me, so I can't see it working well.

😁my DD2 did the same A levels as @Malbecfan's DD2, then did biomed for her first degree (which is quite often used as a back route into medicine, and despite its title often requires chemistry more than biology) but never had any intention of being a doctor because she said she doesn't like working with people… Ironically her Masters was full of fully qualified doctors looking to gain a specialist skillset. Having spent a year working with and chatting to them, she still isn't tempted!

Back in my day, Natural Sciences was considered pretty much the hardest undergraduate degree of them all. Not sure if that's still the case but suspect it might be (not a stealth boast, no one I know directly has taken it), simply for the sheer range of areas it covers.