Biologist
Biologists study living things, including people, animals and plants, along with the environments they live in.
- Starter salary£24,000 a year
- Experienced£40,000 a year
- Typical hours38 to 40 a week
- Green jobPotential
What you'll do
Your tasks will depend on your specialism but you could:
- plan trials and analyse data, for example in crop production or medicine research
- study and protect endangered land and marine plants and animals
- develop new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease
- make observations, write reports and publish scientific papers
- teach students at a university or in a teaching hospital
Working environment
You could work in a laboratory, at a research facility or at a university.
Your working environment may be outdoors some of the time.
You may need to wear protective clothing.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- knowledge of biology
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- maths knowledge
- excellent written communication skills
- analytical thinking skills
- excellent verbal communication skills
- persistence and determination
- the ability to use your initiative
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently
How to become a biologist
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
University
You'll usually need a relevant degree and often a postgraduate master's qualification in a life science subject like:
- biology
- biological science
- ecology
- marine biology
Employers may also want you to have experience in your area of interest and possibly a PhD.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English, maths and science
- 2 or 3 A levels, or equivalent, including biology for a degree
- a degree in a relevant subject for postgraduate study
Apprenticeship
You could begin by doing a degree apprenticeship.
For example:
- Laboratory Scientist Level 6
- Research Scientist Level 7
- Bioinformatics Scientist Level 7
The Level 6 apprenticeship takes around 5 years to complete.
The Level 7 apprenticeships are likely to have a higher entry criteria and typically take 2 to 3 years.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a degree apprenticeship
Work
You could start as a laboratory technician and train as a biologist by working and studying for a relevant qualification at the same time.
Career path and progression
With experience you could:
- become a commercial research project manager
- teach in schools, colleges or universities
- work in science licensing, patent and trademark rights
- advise organisations on policy as a freelance scientific consultant
- go into science communication, such as media and scientific journalism
If you work in academic research, you could also lead projects and become a senior research fellow or professor.
Career tips
You can learn more about the latest biological research projects from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
This can be useful to talk about when it comes to course and job interviews.
Professional and industry bodies
You could join the Royal Society of Biology for your professional development.
Guides for this industry
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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0