Forensic Chemistry with Foundation Year

Keele University

Our Foundation Year provides an excellent alternative route to Keele, providing a unique opportunity to better prepare for your chosen degree, and with guaranteed entry onto your undergraduate course once you successfully complete your Foundation Year. This extra year of study can improve your academic skills, expand your subject knowledge, give you a better understanding of higher education and, perhaps most importantly of all, build your confidence. On the Keele Foundation Year, you'll study on campus, joining our undergraduate community from the outset, with access to all the facilities and support that you'd get as an undergraduate student at Keele.

For International Students, Foundation Years are delivered through our dedicated on-campus provider, Keele University International College. Applications for International Foundation Years are also handled by KUIC please do not apply via UCAS as the University will not be able to process your application and you may still be charged the UCAS application fee. To find out more and to apply for an International Foundation Year, visit https://kuic.keele.ac.uk/

- Top 10 in the UK for Forensic Science (Complete University Guide, 2025)- Chemistry ranked No.1 in the UK with 96% of students expressing satisfaction with their course (NSS 2025, broad-based universities)- Develop your practical and professional skills in our indoor and outdoor crime scene simulation facilities.- Use a wide variety of industry-standard instrumentation in Keele's state-of-the-art Central Science Laboratories.- Gain a certification in expert witness trainingForensic Chemistry covers a breadth of topics and enables you to build practical, analytical, problem-solving and research skills, preparing you for exciting career opportunities. Advancements in chemistry are driving modern forensic evidence analysis. In this programme you’ll develop skills vital for today’s chemists and deepen your understanding of chemistry’s core principles, from atomic bonding to techniques for measuring and observing chemical reactions.You’ll explore the techniques used for the recovery and analysis in crime scene investigation (CSI) and discover how chemical analysis of evidence forms the backbone of forensic science. There's a focus on how modern analytical techniques can detect the compounds in forensic materials and how concepts from physical and inorganic chemistry can explain what we observe in chemical reactions.You’ll enhance your CSI skills and knowledge in areas such as drug-related crime, pharmacology, forensic imaging, and blood spatter analysis, and you’ll gain confidence in communicating forensic findings to diverse audiences.We have compared the positivity ratings of all participating UK institutions using the NSS 2025 sector data to determine Keele's position relative to other broad-based universities (i.e. excluding specialist institutions and further education colleges).