DEGREE GUIDE

Radiography

What do Radiography degrees involve?

Radiography degrees teach you how to use medical imaging technology to diagnose and monitor diseases, injuries, and health conditions. You will explore key areas such as anatomy and physiology, radiation physics, medical imaging techniques, and patient care. These courses help you develop strong technical, analytical, and communication skills while learning how to operate X-ray, CT, MRI, and ultrasound equipment safely and effectively. You can choose to specialise in Diagnostic Radiography, which focuses on capturing medical images, or Therapeutic Radiography, which involves using radiation to treat conditions like cancer. With extensive clinical placements in hospitals and healthcare settings, you’ll gain hands-on experience that prepares you for a career as a radiographer in the NHS or private healthcare.

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Anatomy and Physiology for Imaging: Study the human body in detail as seen in medical images. Learn how bones, organs, and systems appear on X-rays, CTs, and MRIs, and how to identify normal and abnormal anatomy.

Radiation Science and Equipment: Understand the physics of imaging, including how X-rays are produced, how machines like CT and MRI work, and how radiation safety is managed for patients and staff.

Common Degree Names

💼 Clinical placements are a core part of all Radiography degrees and begin early in the course.
🌍 Study abroad is rare due to regulatory and clinical placement requirements, but short electives may be offered.

BSc (Hons) Diagnostic Radiography
BSc (Hons) Therapeutic Radiography
BSc (Hons) Radiography (Diagnostic Imaging)

Radiography is a vocational BSc degree approved by the HCPC. Diagnostic radiography focuses on imaging (e.g. X-rays, MRI); therapeutic radiography focuses on cancer treatment.

Level 3 (A-level / IB Diploma (HL) / Scottish Highers)

Radiography combines understanding of the human body with imaging technology. Most universities ask for at least one science subject, though there's flexibility in which one.

You'll typically need:

At least one science subject – such as Biology, Physics, Chemistry, or Applied Science

Subjects that can strengthen your application:

Biology or Human Biology – useful for understanding anatomy and physiology
Physics – helpful for understanding imaging technology and radiation
Chemistry – relevant for understanding contrast agents and biological processes
Psychology or Sociology – accepted by some universities as a science subject
Applied Science – accepted by many universities

✨ At least one science is required by most courses, but you have flexibility in which one. This is a competitive clinical course with interviews, DBS checks, occupational health clearance, and work experience expectations – see Other Requirements.

Universities may also accept:

BTEC Extended Diplomas in Applied Science (being phased out) or Health and Social Care (being phased out), often with science-focused units. Some universities require an A-level science alongside
BTEC National Extended Certificates or National Diplomas alongside A-levels that meet the subject requirements above
T-Levels in Health or possibly Science (limited acceptance)
IB Career-related Programme (IBCP) with a science subject at Higher Level among your IB subjects (minimum two, ideally three), alongside your Career-Related Study; an Applied Science pathway would be directly relevant

Radiography degrees are approved by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and lead to professional registration. Many courses are also accredited by the College of Radiographers. Always check specific course requirements.

Level 2 Qualifications (GCSE or equivalent)

Most courses ask for:

GCSE English Language and Maths (or equivalent) – such as Scottish National 5s, BTEC Level 2, or IB MYP certificates
GCSE Science (or equivalent) – some universities require double science or separate sciences

📋 Some universities have higher requirements than others. Check each university's specific requirements, as these can vary significantly.

💬 Interviews

Interviews are a standard part of the selection process. Universities assess your communication skills, motivation, and understanding of the profession. These may be traditional panel interviews or Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs), and some universities hold selection days with group activities.

🔒 DBS Check

An enhanced Disclosure and Barrying Service (DBS) check is required before you start clinical placements, as you'll be working directly with patients. Any serious criminal convictions may affect your ability to register with the Health and Care Professions Council.

⚕️ Health Check

An occupational health check is required to make sure you can meet the physical demands of the course and placements.

🔍 Work Experience

Universities expect you to understand what radiographers do, and you'll be asked about this at interview. The most direct way to find out is to visit a hospital imaging department — contact your local hospital's radiology department and ask about observation visits. If you're interested in therapeutic radiography (using radiation to treat cancer), ask about radiotherapy departments specifically. Shadowing can be difficult to arrange, so if you can't get into a hospital setting, volunteering in any healthcare or caring role, like a care home, charity, or patient-facing environment, helps you develop the communication and empathy that radiography demands. Virtual healthcare work experience programmes are also widely available and recognised. What matters is that you've thought about what the role involves and can talk about it at interview, not how many hours you spent observing.

✨ Personal Statement Tips

Radiography offers two distinct pathways — diagnostic (using imaging to help diagnose conditions) and therapeutic (using radiation to treat cancer). Which interests you, and why? If you've had an X-ray or scan yourself, or know someone who's been through cancer treatment involving radiotherapy, think about what was happening behind the scenes — the technology, the precision, the person operating it. If you've had the chance to visit imaging departments or talk to radiographers about their work, reflect on what you found compelling. Reading about advances in medical imaging, how radiation therapy is evolving, or the radiographer's expanding role in patient care can show genuine curiosity. This is a profession that combines technical precision with real human interaction, so admissions tutors want to see you're drawn to both aspects, not just the technology.

If your qualifications don't match the usual entry requirements, there are some other possibilities.

🌱 Foundation Year in Health Sciences or Science

Some universities offer a foundation year if you don't have the required science subjects or grades. This adds an extra year but leads directly into the full degree.

🎓 Access to HE Diploma (Health Professions or Science)

A well-established route into Radiography. Make sure your course includes biology and physics content, and aim for Distinctions in your graded units — Radiography courses are competitive.

💼 Level 3 Apprenticeships

A Healthcare Support Worker or Healthcare Science Assistant apprenticeship carries UCAS tariff points from 2026 and provides relevant clinical experience that can support a university application, particularly when combined with a foundation year.

Is this degree right for you?

Members can explore whether this degree fits who they are:

Skills you'd develop and whether they match your strengths
How this aligns with your interests, motivators and values
Career paths and where graduates end up

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Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Use the tabs to explore the kind of person that this would be a good fit for. Do you share the Interests, Motivations, Values, Work identity and skills that people who thrive in this course tend to have?

Not sure what these things are? Explore your Identity Tree with us first.

Interests that connect well with a Radiography degree

Students who enjoy this degree often share these interests. You don't need to feel strongly about all of them, and interests develop over time. If one or two catch your curiosity, or sound like something you'd like to know more about, that's a good sign.

The Human Body & How It Works: Anatomy is central to the degree. You'll study the human body in extraordinary detail, learning to identify normal and abnormal structures through medical images and developing pattern recognition skills across every body region.

Health, Illness & How People Are Cared For: Diagnostic imaging and therapeutic radiotherapy are both core to the degree. You'll learn how scans support diagnosis and treatment decisions, how radiotherapy is delivered over weeks of cancer treatment, and how radiographers support patients through serious illness.

Technology, Computing & Digital Systems: Radiation science and imaging technology are core to the degree. You'll study how X-ray, CT, MRI, and ultrasound equipment works at a fundamental level, and how digital systems capture, process, and store medical images.

Students who thrive in a Radiography degree are often motivated by

Movement and Physical Activity

You're energised by work where your body is part of what gets the job done. Training and competing, dancing or performing, coaching others through physical activity, the hands-on side of nursing, midwifery, dentistry or veterinary practice, or the operational work of being a paramedic, firefighter or outdoor instructor: the actual job happens through what you do with your body. You'd rather be the one doing the physical work than the one analysing or organising it from a desk.

Helping or Serving Others

You feel driven to support others directly, whether that's providing care, offering help, or doing work that improves the quality of life of people or animals. The satisfaction of knowing your effort made a tangible difference to another living being is what carries you, more than abstract achievement or recognition. You come most alive when the person or animal in front of you is better off because of what you've just done.

Building and Sustaining Relationships

You feel energised by work where the people you work with aren't passing strangers but become known to you across years: clients, patients, students, customers. Forming new connections matters, but the deeper energy comes from the slower work of staying present, remembering the small details, picking up where you left off. You come most alive when someone you've known for years is back in front of you, and you take up the conversation as if no time had passed.

Precision and Thoroughness

You feel satisfied when work is done accurately and completely. Whether it's getting calculations exactly right, spotting errors others miss, or making sure every detail is correct, the pursuit of precision gives you a sense of accomplishment. Sloppy or "good enough" work frustrates you, and you take pride in getting things right first time.

Practical Problem-Solving

You're energised by finding fixes to real-life issues, whether they're mechanical, technological, or social. You're motivated by problems you can see, touch, or experience directly, and you get satisfaction from solutions that work in practice, not just in theory. You'd rather build a prototype than write a report about one.

Analysing and Investigating

You're energised by making sense of information, looking for evidence, spotting patterns, and piecing together how things connect. Whether it's pulling apart data, questioning assumptions, or tracing a problem back to its source, you find energy in the process of understanding what's really going on. You'd rather dig into the details than accept things at face value.

What makes Radiography click for the students who love it?

Seeing inside a living body without opening it up is the idea that grips them. They are drawn to the image and to working out what it reveals, the science of how a scan is made. Getting the picture right is a skill they enjoy, because a poor one means another dose of radiation. The work is physical too, and they like positioning people and equipment for the exact view. On placement, they often turn out to be the calm one, steadying someone nervous about the machine. A clear image that answers the question makes their day.

These are the skills that students who love this degree tend to enjoy using. You don't need to be great at them already, but if they sound like you, that's a good sign.

Skill Name

Skills that suit this degree

You don't need to be great at these already — but if you enjoy using them or want to get better at them, that's a good sign.

Do you enjoy working with technology and equipment — learning how complex machines work and using them precisely?
Do you pay close attention to detail, especially when accuracy really matters, and small differences count?
Are you curious about the science behind how we see inside the human body, from X-rays to MRI scans? •
Do you find it satisfying to produce something accurate and high-quality — an image, a result, a piece of work that's technically right?

Careers a Radiography degree could lead you to

Radiography

What do Radiography degrees involve?

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Common Degree Names

Is this degree right for you?

Skills you would develop in X degree

Skill Name

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Is this a good fit for you?

Careers a Radiography degree could lead you to

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