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

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

You could start as a laboratory technician and train as a biologist by working and studying for a relevant qualification at the same time.

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

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

We've identified this as a potential green job

For a biologist to be a green job, you could:

• find new ways to clean up soil, air and water pollution
• research sustainable food production methods
• develop biofuels from non-food crops and waste biomass materials

Find out more about green careers

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.