Has anyone done A Level Biology & Chemistry as an adult? - via self funded self study?

Maybe look at some of the threads on Mumsnet about mature student doctors or studying Medicine as a postgrad. To warn you, it’s much more competitive than as an undergraduate. Newly qualified Doctors prospects in the Uk are not good at the moment (loads of threads on this from some very knowledgeable posters). Make sure you have a plan B for alternative higher education courses and careers. Good luck.

Excellent news OP. I wish you every success during your studies. If the thought helps a little, I remember someone advising a friend about the lengthy path to becoming a conservation architect. At first she said "9 years! That's far too long." The advisor replied that that time, those 9 years, would pass anyway, and she might as well be using it to study for the thing she wanted in life.

Good luck!

DS is halfway through doing A level Chem and Bio at college (as a standard 16+ student). His college also requires A level biologists and chemists to do at least AS/Level 3 core maths, and there really is a lot of maths in A level Chemistry, so this is something the bear in mind.

Without GCSE biology and chemistry knowledge it would be extremely challenging to tackle those A levels. I certainly think you can learn the content without sitting in a class room being taught it. But maybe take the GCSEs first. There's got to be a way for you to be able to do the practical work somehow. It's a very important part of the course and fun too, you'd be cheating yourself of the experience without doing them. And if you wanted to go on to study a biology/chemistry based subject at uni you'd need the practical skills because labs are not something you can opt out of.

If you are going to look at the IAL, be aware not all exam centres who accept private candidates offer IALs.

Do have a look at what the Open University offers. A-levels are very much geared up to be a follow-on from GCSEs, and cover a really odd selection of topics. The OU is much more interdisciplinary in its approach, and is purpose-built for adult self-study with excellent materials and scheduling, plus tutors who really understand the situation. You could eventually build it up to a full degree if you persist! (I'm not on commission, honest.)

That explains it. Their International A level is different to the A level.

Good for you. The maths in any science degree is hard so I’d say an A level in maths would be useful (may not be required at all universities but would probably be preferred at the good ones).

Yes, it looks like you have to do the practicals for the A level award. When a university lists A level Biology or Chemistry as a requirement it usually stipulates that there needs to be a pass in the practicals. Quite a few of the exam questions allude to the practicals too. Is it Medicine that you want to study?

I think it would be good to just make a list of why you want to do these courses, is it for a career change, if so what do you want to do as a career? If you want to use it then I suspect you’ll have to do practical work as it’s pretty difficult to work in a field of biology / chemistry without practical skills. My degree in biochemistry and microbiology was around 50% practical plus reports on the experiments we did which was much of the coursework element of the degree.
what was your first degree in?

I should have been more clear. We are in the Netherlands and DS is doing the international version which doesn't have the same mark against the practical element.

I home edded my kids through all three GCSE sciences - which meant I pretty much learnt the courses myself. There’s no way I could tackle A level sciences without having done more foundational stuff first. Maybe worth getting some GCSE books and working your way through before starting A level courses?

Edexcel A level still has a practical endorsement. It isn’t compulsory for private candidates to take it, but if you don’t, you receive not classified for the CPAC element and that is recorded alongside the overall grade. If DS wants to go to university to study a science subject, this can be a problem at some universities so you/DS should check the universities he may be interested in.

Many A-level specifications have replaced practical exams with a coursework portfolio requiring students to complete a large number of fairly detailed practicals. Obviously home-educated people find ways to do these, but it's worth checking the details!

That’s a bit of an ignorant statement re: access courses - a large proportion of people who complete them are in your exact position and already have degrees, they just want/need a change in direction. They’re designed for adult, independent learners in a way that A levels (especially the likes of bio/chem!) are not.

DD completed a biomedical science access course this year and now has secured a place to study physiotherapy. Others in her course are doing degree level biomed, nursing, midwifery, podiatry, microbiology, nutrition and radiography to name a few.

Chemistry has quite a lot of maths and Biology is very dense / there’s a lot of material to learn. I think you have to pass the practical elements of both courses to progress (but check this out). I think degree courses insist on this but it depends what you want to go on to do I guess.

You can't do laboratory work online!

Just throwing this out there... if it is for personal interest, have you considered the Open University? It is more expensive than it used to be, but offers self-study courses supported by a tutor. The 'level 1' tier don't require any previous knowledge. The courses are uniformly excellent; I have both studied with, and taught for, the OU!

If that's your preferred style of learning then I would strongly encourage you to self-study.

There are vast amounts of resources available online (although less for Pearson Edexcel than for Cambridge, so if you want to sign up for that helper course that gives you lab access then definitely go the Cambridge route).

Also make use of sites like past papers.co to get a feel for previous exams as a great revision tool.

Lastly, I confess that I pirate the textbooks to read them before choosing the ones that are useful before buying the hard copy. They may be endorsed by Cambridge (or Pearson) but that doesn't make them good.

Have fun!