Zoology Level 3 is ideal for those students with a keen interest in working with animals and exploring the possibility of forging a career within the sector. It provides an insight into what it takes to become a zoologist.

Students will learn amongst others:

• Theories regarding the origins of life
• Nature and function of cells
• Principles of genetic inheritance and how our understanding of natural selection has developed through the centuries
• Explore the taxonomic classification system to identify and group species
• Identify key taxonomic kingdoms and orders
• Basic anatomy and physiology of fish, birds, reptiles and mammals
• How animals control their internal environments; including osmo and thermo regulation

Support is provided for up to 12 months but it is entirely up to you how quickly you work through the course. The estimated study time is 100 hours so if you average around 5 hours a week study you would complete in 5-6 months.

Students can choose to take the online version of the course where you access through a portal or request a paper copy where the course is delivered hard copy in folders. This is yours to keep so you can write on it, make notes etc.

Support is provided throughout the course via a tutor who can be emailed at any time should you come across anything you are unsure of. There is also a support team by telephone.

Zoology Level 3 is split into six units. At the end of each unit you will complete an assignment which you will email to your tutor. An assignment is a set of questions based upon the unit you have just studied. Your tutor will mark your work and give you feedback. If there are any areas for improvements or anything that you have misunderstood you will always have the opportunity to re-submit.

The good news is there are no exams! Once you have completed all the assignments you complete the course.

Unit 1: Organisms (An Introduction to the Living World)

• Life's origins both chemically and biologically
• Historical development of cellular understanding
• Function of cells
• Metabolic process of the cell

Unit 2: Evolution, Reproduction and Maintenance of Species

• Inheritance diagrams
• Genetic inheritance
• Mendel's theories of inheritance
• Historical evolutionary theories
• Darwinian evolutionary theory
• Reproductive strategies

Unit 3: Taxonomy and Simple Organisms

• Hierarchy of animal complexity and body shape
• Classifying organisms
• Simple unicellular organisms
• Advantages and disadvantages of unicellular and simple multicellular organisms

Unit 4: Complex Invertebrates

• Mollusca group
• Members of the annelid
• Hexapod groups
• Species of crustacea
• Echinoderm group

Unit 5: Complex Vertebrates

• Biology of fishes
• Reptiles and amphibians
• Requirements for a species to be classified as a bird
• Mammal group

Unit 6: Maintaining Life in the Animal Kingdom

• Skeletal systems in the natural world
• Animals internal environment
• Methods of digestion and nutrition in organisms
• Nervous system and its role

At the end of this course successful learners will receive a Certificate of Achievement from ABC Awards and Certa Awards and a Learner Unit Summary (which lists the components the learner has completed as part of the course).

The course has been endorsed under the ABC Awards and Certa Awards Quality Licence Scheme. This means that Open Study College has undergone an external quality check to ensure that the organisation and the courses it offers, meet defined quality criteria. The completion of this course alone does not lead to a regulated qualification* but may be used as evidence of knowledge and skills gained. The Learner Unit Summary may be used as evidence towards Recognition of Prior Learning if you wish to progress your studies in this subject. To this end the learning outcomes of the course have been benchmarked at Level 3 against level descriptors published by Ofqual, to indicate the depth of study and level of demand/complexity involved in successful completion by the learner.

The course itself has been designed by Open Study College to meet specific learners’ and/or employers’ requirements which cannot be satisfied through current regulated qualifications. ABC Awards & Certa Awards endorsement involves robust and rigorous quality audits by external auditors to ensure quality is continually met. A review of courses is carried out as part of the endorsement process.

ABC Awards and Certa Awards have long-established reputations for providing high quality vocational qualifications across a wide range of industries. ABC Awards and Certa Awards combine over 180 years of expertise combined with a responsive, flexible and innovative approach to the needs of our customers.

Renowned for excellent customer service, and quality standards, ABC Awards and Certa Awards also offer regulated qualifications for all ages and abilities post-14; all are developed with the support of relevant stakeholders to ensure that they meet the needs and standards of employers across the UK.