What you need to know about studying food science, nutrition and dietetics at Surrey

Discover how you'll develop your knowledge in the fascinating field of food science, nutrition and dietetics at Surrey. We are ranked 3rd in the UK by the Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2025 and the Guardian University Guide 2025 and 4th in the UK by the Complete University Guide 2025.

We offer hands-on learning

You’ll benefit from hands-on learning in our £12.5 million Innovation for Health Learning Laboratory and our new Food and Nutrition Kitchen Lab. Laboratory-based practical work will form an integral part of your course and you’ll get to conduct your first experiment during your second week. You’ll familiarise yourself with food science, nutrition and dietetics methodology and develop the practical laboratory experience that’s essential in a research career and valued by a wide range of employers.

One of the things I truly appreciate about the course here at Surrey is how it continuously evolves to incorporate the latest advancements in the subject and teaches contemporary professional skills, such as how to communicate expert nutritional knowledge on social media platforms. Rutian, Nutrition and Dietetics BSc

We're a team of experts

We have a clinical and research-led focus to our teaching, ensuring everything you learn is up-to-date and relevant to employers, including the NHS. You’ll be taught by lecturers who are active researchers or clinicians within their respective fields. These may include:

Dr Jonathan Brown - an expert on polyphenols in health and disease
Dr Adam Collins - an expert in exercise intensity and energy balance
Dr Barbara Engel - an expert in renal disease.

You'll gain clinical and industry experience

On our Nutrition and Dietetics BSc, you’ll complete three NHS clinical placements, in either an acute hospital or community setting. Initially, you’ll develop an awareness of working in the NHS and the role of a dietitian, before building up your knowledge, skills and professional abilities. Your final placement will consolidate your learning and you’ll complete the clinical training required to be a dietitian.

On our other courses, we offer Professional Training placements, giving you the opportunity to gain real industry experience, in an area of personal interest. Our students have previously completed placements with organisations including J Sainsbury plc., Unilever and Yakult.

My main responsibilities on placement included planning experiments and making the recipes for meat alternative prototypes and carrying out the formulation in the food lab. A general highlight was getting the opportunity to taste loads of different ingredients, as well as products still in process and new products on the market. Katarin, Food Science and Nutrition BSc

We're focused on your future

Our Nutrition BSc course is accredited by the Association for Nutrition, giving you the academic requirements needed to apply for direct entry into the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists, once you graduate. Alternatively, you’ll be eligible to register with the Health and Care Professions Council as a dietitian, after completing our Nutrition and Dietetics BSc course.

We prepare you for a wide range of careers, with 93% of our biosciences and medicine graduates in full-time employment or further study (Graduate Outcomes 2024, HESA). Our recent graduates can be found working for Adelie Foods Ltd, Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust, Nestlé and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Discover more about our undergraduate food science, nutrition and dietetics courses