Overview
If you’re passionate about a healthy lifestyle, our Dietetics and Human Nutrition BSc can qualify you to offer nutrition advice to others.
Dietitians are the only qualified health professionals that assess, diagnose and treat diet and nutrition problems. They translate the latest nutrition science into understandable, practical information about food. They provide education and support to enable people to manage their health and treat nutrition-related disease.
All applicants will be required to attend an interview. In line with the National Health Service Constitution, we use a values based recruitment approach in seeking candidates with the appropriate values to support effective team working in delivering excellent patient care. All offers are subject to satisfactory occupational health clearance, a criminal record check via Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) or equivalent for non-UK residents and a successful interview. For international students, if you are offered a place, the International Office will send you instructions about how to complete your DBS check, including a link to the UK Home office DBS website.
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Why Coventry University?
An award-winning university, we are committed to providing our students with the best possible experience. We continue to invest in both our facilities and our innovative approach to education. Our students benefit from industry-relevant teaching, and resources and support designed to help them succeed. These range from our modern library and computing facilities to dedicated careers advice and our impressive Students’ Union activities.
Global ready
An international outlook, with global opportunitiesEmployability
Career-ready graduates, with the skills to succeedTeaching Excellence
Taught by lecturers who are experts in their fieldCourse essentials
A degree which offers you more, at no extra costAccreditation and Professional Recognition
This course is accredited and recognised by the following bodies:
Health and Care Professions Council
British Dietitians Association (BDA)
Our Facilities
Ambulance
Our facilities include a mock ambulance, which students can use as part of their studies, to help simulate the patient journey. This gives students the opportunity to learn in situations that mirror real life scenarios.
Strength and Conditioning Suite
Our multi-purpose suite is equipped with multiple Olympic lifting platforms, a 20m gait analysis track, an anti-gravity treadmill and even a 3D motion capture system!
SuperLab
The Alison Gingell building contains a state-of-the-art SuperLab, capable of holding up to 270 people at once. The lab's facilities include equipment for microscopy, DNA analysis and forensic testing.
What our students say...
The course is well structured. The knowledgeable and approachable staff are always prepared to support you.
Course information
Our course aims to prepare the next generation of health professionals and scientists, who truly understand food science and the impact of and influences upon food and diet in society.
With the recent trend in largely under-qualified influencers offering nutritional advice, it’s perhaps more important than ever that those with a genuine interest in healthy eating become properly trained, which is the intention of this course. Through practical and theoretical teaching, we aim to develop your skills and turn you into future practitioners, capable of translating complex information into manageable nutrition advice.
Course Specification
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Modules
We regularly review our course content, to make it relevant and current for the benefit of our students. For these reasons, course modules may be updated.
Our Food Science courses are ranked 7th by Complete University Guide 2020
In more detail...
The demand for registered dietitians continues as lifestyles, healthy eating and nutrition become key issues within society. This course is designed to meet the needs of future practitioners and has a particular emphasis on public health and evidence based practice.
- Supervision whilst you are on your placements by a member of the dietetics teaching team and support from dedicated placement staff.
- Links with local employers and professional bodies to ensure that the course content and delivery meets current and future employer needs.
- A diverse teaching team including a range of clinical and academic experts committed to providing a range of excellent learning experiences.
- Placements are normally organised within the West Midlands where students, under supervision, apply the skills that are taught in the Faculty’s clinical laboratories.
- Eligibility to apply for registration with the Health & Care Professions Council (HCPC), upon successful completion of this course. For more information please see the HCPC website.
- Access to the broad research interests of the teaching team, which include: the food poverty, obesogenic environments, whole-person care including spirituality, behaviour change, and ethical decision making by dieticians.
Case-study based practical kitchen sessions in a purpose-built teaching kitchen, integrating theory with practice at all levels of the course.
Throughout your course you will study the fundamentals of dietetics:
- Human nutrition, public health nutrition and food science
- Sources and functions of nutrients in health and disease
- Nutritional requirements at all stages of the life-cycle and all population groups
- Biochemistry, human physiology and clinical medicine, being the scientific basis for your therapeutic interventions
- Diet therapy for the treatment and prevention of disease
- Communication skills and the underpinning behavioural science to help individuals and groups make diet and lifestyle change
- Research methods to enable you to undertake your own research and use research.
The course also includes three clinical placements normally within the West Midlands.
Your course will be based on a series of lectures, with associated tutorials, seminars, laboratory practical classes and online discussions. You will also have a personal tutor who will guide you through your course.
This course will be assessed using a variety of methods which will could vary depending upon the module. Assessment methods include coursework, tests, essays, presentations and posters, formal examinations and practical projects.
This course is predominantly assessed by coursework.
The Coventry University Group assessment strategy ensures that our courses are fairly assessed and allows us to monitor student progression towards the achieving the intended learning outcomes. Assessments may include exams, individual assignments or group work elements.
In a typical week in first year, you will have up to 25 contact hours of teaching and this will break down as:
- Small-group teaching: small group work of 4-6 students takes place within larger seminars.
- Medium-group teaching: 13 hours per week typically in groups of 20 or 21 – for laboratory work or seminars each week.
- Large-group teaching: 6 hours of lectures each week.
In addition, you will be expected to spend 21 hours each week studying and revising in your own time.
Throughout the course students will explore international, national and local food and nutrition practices and policies.
Coventry University is committed to developing global graduates. The Faculty provides opportunities for students can to apply to travel and gain international experience to broaden their professional development.
Global ready
Did you know we help more students travel internationally than any other UK university according to data from the experts in higher education data and analysis, HESA?
In 2016/17, we were able to provide a total of 3,482 experiences abroad that lasted at least five days.
Much of this travel is made possible through our Global Leaders Programme, which enables students to prepare for the challenges of the global employment market, as well as strengthening and developing their broader personal and professional skills.
1st for
international experiences
Sending more students overseas than any other UK uni (HESA 2016/17)
3,482
Student experiences
The number of student trips abroad for at least 5 days in 2016/17
21,000
and counting
The number of students we’ve helped travel internationally so far
12
global programmes
As well as trips, we offer other opportunities like language courses
What our students say...
The course is well structured. The knowledgeable and approachable staff are always prepared to support you.
Entry Requirements
Unconditional offers
We want to recruit the best students to Coventry and having assessed applicants' past, current and predicted performance and commitment to the course we feel that it is appropriate to reward consistently high-achieving students with an unconditional offer from Coventry University. It is a commitment from us with regard to an applicants’ potential as an excellent undergraduate and we hope that this will encourage such applicants to join the Coventry community. Personal statements and references will also be taken into account and, for some degree courses, an interview will form part of the assessment. The criteria for unconditional offers will vary across the University as entry requirements for specific courses differ and not all degree courses will be taking part in the Scheme.
We will consider other qualifications for a pre-result unconditional offer providing that you have an appropriate proven performance at GCSE (or equivalent) level and predicted grades in line with grades that we expect to see at A-level. Other qualifications that we may consider for a pre-result unconditional offer include: The International Baccalaureate Diploma, BTEC Level 3 qualifications, Cambridge Pre-U and combinations of qualifications (e.g. BTECS plus A-levels).
An unconditional offer is what it says it is. So, if you don’t meet your predictions then your place at Coventry is still guaranteed. However, we would hope and expect that you continue to work hard to make the most of your potential and be best prepared to study at university level.
We can’t but our experience over the years has shown us that students with a track record of high grades and excellent predictions are very likely to achieve those grades. Our assessment takes into account all elements of your application to allow us to take a holistic view of your potential. There is also the opportunity to apply to one of the Coventry University Scholarships if you achieve the required grades so there is a financial incentive to aim high. Unconditional offers are only made to individuals who have demonstrated their commitment so we believe their focus and determination is unlikely to waver in the final stages of their qualifications.
No, the unconditional offer is only available to those who will take up their place in 2019.
What our students say...
The course is well structured. The knowledgeable and approachable staff are always prepared to support you.
Tuition Fees
We pride ourselves on offering competitive tuition fees which we review on an annual basis and offer a wide range of scholarships to support students with their studies. Course fees are calculated on the basis of what it costs to teach each course and we aim for total financial transparency.
For more information, please visit our Finance pages.
EU student fees
EU nationals and their family members starting in the 2019/20 academic year remain eligible for the same fees as home students and the same financial support. Financial support comes from Student Finance England, and covers undergraduate and postgraduate study for the duration of their course, providing they meet the residency requirement.
For tuition fee loans
EU nationals must have resided in the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland for the three years prior to the start of their course. The purpose of that three year residency should not have been mainly for the purpose of receiving full time education.
For maintenance loans
EU nationals must have resided in the UK and Islands for the five years prior to the start of their course. The purpose of that five year residency should not have been mainly for the purpose of receiving full time education.
UK field trips
Any mandatory site visits and trips within the United Kingdom.Key material
This can include core textbooks, software and equipment.Laser prints
1,000 A4 sides of black and white laser printing credits per year.Optional year
Pay no tuition fees for optional work placements or study abroad trips.What our students say...
The course is well structured. The knowledgeable and approachable staff are always prepared to support you.
Career prospects
Becoming a registered dietitian can provide you with a gateway to a range of diverse and exciting career opportunities including: the media, food and pharmaceutical industry, public health, freelance dietetics, private health care and consultancy, sport and leisure industry, research and academia, working for government and non-governmental organisations.
Successful completion of this course provides eligibility to apply for registration with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). It is a legal requirement that anyone who wishes to practice using a title protected by the Health Professions Order 2001 is on the HCPC Register. For more information please see the HCPC website.
Coventry University is committed to preparing you for your future career and giving you a competitive edge in the graduate job market. The University's Careers and Employability team provide a wide range of support services to help you plan and prepare for your career.
The Faculty of Health and Life Sciences’ own Employability and Placements Unit can help you to find suitable work placements and give you advice on how to get the most out of them.
Where our graduates work
The majority of Coventry graduates get their first job as a dietitian working within the public sector, usually in the National Health Service (NHS).
What our students say...
The course is well structured. The knowledgeable and approachable staff are always prepared to support you.
Disclaimer
By accepting your offer of a place and enrolling with us, a Student Contract will be formed between you and the University. A copy of the 19/20 Contract can be found here. The Contract details your rights and the obligations you will be bound by during your time as a student and contains the obligations that the University will owe to you. You should read the Contract before you accept an offer of a place and before you enrol at the University.
The University will charge the tuition fees that are stated on the course webpage and in the prospectus for the first year of study. The University will review tuition fees each year. For UK and EU students, if Parliament permit an increase in tuition fees, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study in line with any such changes. Note that any increase for UK and EU Students is expected to be in line with inflation. For international students, the University may increase fees for each subsequent year of study but such increases will be no more than 5% above inflation.
Admission to this course is subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks and a successful interview. Find out about the application process.
