Nutrition and Food Policy BSc (Hons)

at City University of London

Nutrition plays important roles in keeping good physical and mental health. Most non-communicable diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers are highly preventable through good nutrition and healthy lifestyle.
 

Nutritionists working with individuals, groups and communities, the food industry, regulatory bodies, policy makers and wider stake holders work together to promote healthy eating and improve the health of the public.
 

This unique and multidisciplinary course is designed to give you a high-quality and challenging education in nutrition and food policy.

 

You will open a wide range of career options as nutritionists for both governmental and local councils as well as working in the food industry, and professionals in the public health and food policy sectors.
 

The programme will provide you with the skills and expertise to

 

• solve challenges in nutrition and public health at individual, community, national, and global levels.

• independently develop, implement and evaluate sustainable nutrition and public health-promotion interventions

• develop local food and health policies within a local or global context.
   

This unique course offers a broad approach to nutrition and its interrelationships with:

 

• human physiology

• public health

• sustainability

• agriculture

• culture

• economics

• social justice

• food science and safety

• food policy.
   

Placement Opportunities
 

Gain a career head-start by our unique core professionally relevant experience embedded in our programme. Opportunities to have a micro-placement, internship and a year in industry working experience will help you develop graduate level skills in a real-world context.
 

Course content
 

All Year 1 and Year 2 modules are core (compulsory). Year 3 consists of five core modules and one or two elective (optional) modules.
 

Year 1
 

The first year covers the foundations of human nutrition, physiology and metabolism, and food science. Students will have the opportunity to explore topics in public health aiming to develop a thorough understanding of health promotion in preventing disease. Students receive a thorough grounding in the academic skills needed for successful study at university level.

 

• Introduction to food and nutrition (30 credits)

• Introduction to food science and technology (15 credits)

• Nutrition across the life course (15 credits)

• Poverty, housing and welfare (15 credits)

• Health, illness and society (30 credits)

• Academic and professional skills for higher education (15 credits)
   

Year 2
 

Students will apply knowledge and understanding of the concepts and principles introduced in Year 1 to acquire knowledge of the main methods of enquiry in nutrition and food policy. You will develop the ability to evaluate critically the appropriateness of different approaches to solving nutrition problems within different contexts. Food, public health, economics and the environment.

 

• Food, public health, economics and the environment (15 credits)

• Food and nutrition security in the food system (15 Credits)

• Public health nutrition (15 credits)

• Developing complex interventions (15 credits)

• Introduction to public health and epidemiology (30 credits)

• Food, nutrition and global health (15 Credits)

• Communities and health (15 Credits)
   

Optional Year in Industry
 

This is a zero credit rated Placement Year in Industry for students within the School of Health and Psychological Sciences. You will have successfully secured a one-year placement in industry, internally, nationally or abroad. Completing this module will develop your ability to communicate and practice within a professional working environment, enhancing your interpersonal skills and increasing employability.
 

Year 3
 

Students develop a systematic understanding of key aspects of nutrition and food policy, including acquisition of coherent and detailed knowledge. This enables you to solve problems and address challenges at the local through to global level.

 

• Dissertation (30 credits)

• Nutrition and food policy (15 credits)

• Nutritional assessment (15 credits)

• Food, culture and society (15 credits)

• Using research knowledge (15 credits)

• Micro-placement (15 Credits)

• Internship (30 Credits)

• Personal and people development (15 Credits)

• Health policy and politics (15 Credits)

• Health informatics (15 Credits)

UK
 

A-level:

BCC, including one of Biology, Chemistry, Physics
 

Tariff:

104 UCAS tariff points
 

International Baccalaureate:

28 points
 

BTEC:

DMM (Health and Social Care or Science-related subject only)
 

GCSE:

Unless studying towards an Access to HE Diploma in a relevant subject, all applicants must have a minimum of five passes at grade 4 (C) GCSE, including English Language and Mathematics in addition to other requirements.
 

In addition to our other entry requirements, City also accepts T-levels with the following grades:
 

T-Level in any of the following. Must have a grade of Merit, or above:
 

Entry requirements are currently subject to change.
 

University preparation programmes
 

If you do not qualify for direct entry, you may wish to take a foundation programme first. These programmes are designed to prepare students for entry to City's undergraduate courses.
 

Access to HE Diploma
 

Pass in a QAA recognised Access to HE Diploma in a Nursing, Midwifery, Health, Science, or Social Care subject NOT Paramedic Studies with full award (60 credits) of which a minimum of 45 credits must be at Level 3 including 21 credits at Distinction.

 

Applicants that would normally be required to have a further three passes at grade 4 (C) at GCSE in any subject. Applications that do not meet these requirements are welcome and will be reviewed on an individual basis. Level 2 Functional skills in Maths and English will be considered.
 

Introduction to Health Sciences
 

If you do not meet the entry requirements for this course, you may be interested in our Introduction to Health Sciences course. This is completed over one year and provides an introduction to clinical and professional healthcare, enabling you to progress on to this course on successful completion (subject to meeting progression criteria, please visit the Introduction to Health Sciences course page for more details).
 

Mixed qualifications
 

We often use tariff points within our offers. Any conditional offer based on tariff is likely to only be based on the equivalent of an applicant's top three A-level grades.

 

We do not offer any flexible offers on this course.
 

Subject exclusions
 

We do not accept General Studies and Critical Thinking. These subjects will not be included in any conditional offer we make.
 

Extended Project Qualification (EPQ)
 

We welcome applications from students who are completing relevant EPQ Projects. Whilst we recognise the value of these projects in preparing students for independent learning at university, the EPQ is unlikely to form part of any conditional offer we make.

 

The EPQ will also not lower the specifics of any conditional offer we choose to make. We will consider the EPQ as part of the holistic assessment of the application and it could be used to form part of our final decision at Confirmation stage.
 

AS levels
 

We recognise that there will be differences of opportunity varying by school and college. As not all students will have the opportunity to sit AS Level exams, it is unlikely we will include AS Level grades in any offer we choose to make.

 

Where students have completed an AS Level subject, we will consider this as part of the holistic assessment of the application and it could be used to form part of our final decision at Confirmation stage.

 

• Health and Science: Healthcare Science

• Education and Childcare

• Health - supporting the adult nursing team

• Health and nursing

• Laboratory science

• Medical and healthcare science.
   

 

English language requirements
 

If your first language is not English, we will require evidence of English language proficiency. Minimum requirements are:
 

IELTS:
 

6.5 overall with a minimum of 6.0 in each component

Fees for year 2022/23
 

UK
 

£9,250
 

Overseas/EU
 

£9,250
 

The fees indicated are for undergraduate entry in the 2022/ 23 academic year only. Fees for future years may be subject to an inflationary increase, which is normally 2%.

Career
 

Enhance your professional, practical and academic skills, and graduate with the necessary grounding to go on to a career in nutrition, private consultation, self‐employment or other roles in the broader public or private sector including:

 

• major food companies

• NGOs

• charities

• local, national and international governmental organisations.
   

Potential roles include:

 

• Management positions with food, health and policy organisations

• Public health, food and community development‐related roles, such as health promotion, public information and health training

• Innovation and nutrition roles within major food companies in the private sector

• Personnel and resource management posts in the private sector, local authorities and voluntary organisations

• Policy‐oriented work (including lobbying and advocacy) in the local, national and international government, or voluntary or charity sector.

• Research and evaluation of nutrition, health and food policy programmes and interventions.