4 A levels ?

I did Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Geography a million years ago. We didn't do General Studies as an A Level but did it as a subject and we also managed to fit in an afternoon a week of sport and I took extra German for at least the first year of sixth form.

If she likes Maths, then it's definitely achievable to do four. Maths, Further Maths and one other is quite narrow.

All the UK medical school requirements in one place here:
www.medschools.ac.uk/studying-medicine/applications/entry-requirements

Here's the link to Cardiff where it states FM not acceptable :

www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/2019/medicine-mbbch

There are varying offer requirements at Med schools - its just a case of finding the UNi's where you best fit and have the best chance of an offer.

Actually, Sheffield is interesting:
"For applicants who take four A Levels in a two year period (typically years 12 and 13 at school) including Mathematics and Further Mathematics, we will accept the Mathematics A Level, even if it is taken in Year 12, and irrespective of whether the A Level is certificated in Year 12 or 13". So A-level-math in yr12 + the other 2 in yr13 would be the application.

Barts (itals mine) "If A level Maths and Further Maths are offered in the same sitting, Further Maths is acceptable at AS level only."

I can't navigate Cardiff's entry reqs website, but UCAS says for Cardiff "To include A in A-Level Biology and Chemistry, excluding General Studies and Critical Thinking." (no mention of FM).

Jumping thru some hoops, sure, but FM still not making impossible medic applications to those places (which is something DD's school tried to claim and is why I got stroppy in reply).

With medicine I really do think you have to look at the Uni requirements because like pp stated Biology is now a requirement on a lot of entry requirements and SOME UNi's will NOT accept FM....or will only accept FM to AS standard if take with Maths :

Barts and The London Chemistry/Biology + Science or Maths (Chemistry, Biology, Physics, or Maths) + any other subject (General studies/critical thinking not acceptable). General Studies or Critical Thinking. Further Maths only acceptable to AS if taken with Maths

Cardiff Chemistry and Biology. Not acceptable General Studies, Critical Thinking and Further Maths

Sheffield Chemistry or Biology and one other science (Maths, Physics, Biology/Human Biology or Psychology). The combination of Chemistry and Biology is acceptable. Critical Thinking and General Studies are not accepted. Further Mathematics for candidates who hold Mathematics A Level are not considered

So its not strictly a case of taking either Maths or Further Maths best grade some Med Schools will NOT accept Further Maths at A level if Maths is studied.

@expat no biology isn’t necessarily needed for medicine-DH didn’t do biology, he said that he just had some catching up to do at the beginning as those who had done it knew for example the structure of the heart and how it worked. However, I echo the above PP who said that it would be difficult to apply for medicine or engineering-they are too different so your DC needs to be sure of what they want to do-otherwise they might not be considered as keen enough for either.

Just a final thing on this (as it bugs me when wrong info is given out). Biology is required by about half the Uni courses for medicine. Maths is needed for none of them. My DD is a first year so just gone through the process.

Thanks everyone for your response.

DS will have to decide in Jan/Feb of Year 11. I am hoping that he'll make up his mind about what he wants to do. He isn't extra bright to try both Engg/Medicine and other courses.

expat1407

I'm pretty sure that only chemistry is required for all medicine courses, but biology only for some universities. Maths is incredibly useful too, but not a requirement. So your DS's subjects wouid fit the requirements for either subject at many/most universities, but it might be hard to write a personal statement covering both. Medics in particular need to have plenty of relevant experience (volunteering, care sector work, St Johns Ambulance etc) which might not leave much space over for demonstrating a keen interest in engineering.

"medicine [would] discount FM and state that they would like to see 3 other A levels as well as FM if taken."

That is mis-stated.
Medicine courses won't count math & FM as separate subjects; they'll probably take the better grade of the two, though, if taken in same year.

DD will do chem+bio+FM in yr13 which is perfectly acceptable to every med school I contacted, as applicant A-levels. What would be problem in a medicine application would be only 3 a-levels in yr13= math+FM+another.

Very few kids apply for medicine, so apols to all those bored of such talk.

If he wants to do medicine, it’s not something he can really sit back and wait to choose when the offers roll in. Medicine is highly competitive so if he wants to do medicine, he needs to go all-out for medicine not go ‘hmm well I’ll apply for both medicine and engineering and see what happens’.

Obviously if he’s in Y10 he has got a bit of time to do some research - can he talk to some Y13s in his school who are applying for medicine?

He did get 100% in his A level and 97% in FM and a 1st in History.
My GP’s daughter went on to study Chemistry and my daughter’s friend studied Bio - chemistry and is a research scientist for a medical condition dear to her heart.

Biology is compulsory for about half the medicine courses currently. Each Uni has own rules and they change yearly.

I went to an open day at Cambridge and was told Biology isn’t essential for medicine but chemistry most definitely is.

My friends son did both and gained a place at Durham. It is worthwhile if following a Science degree too. It depends on the student I think and the course they hope to achieve a place on.

I am Year 10 mom, I have a silly question -

If anyone takes Maths, Chemistry and Physics, would he be able to apply for both Engineering and Medicine courses? Looks like Biology isn't compulsory for Medicine courses.

Further Maths being good on its own or not and whether ASs are the right thing to do seem to be a bit like one of those urban myths. I’d say ask your school and if you trust them follow advice.
Kings Maths School only offer 3 including FM, plus an AS in economics or CS. And their results and university offers are outstanding. But possibly what makes the difference is that all students intend to study maths or related at uni, and their curriculum is much broader in a maths sense through not just EPQ but broader research work even in Y12. Things a mainstream school without university links wouldn’t be able to offer.

At our school those who take Further Maths can take 5 Alevels as the two Maths are taught in one block over the two years so essentially counts as one A level.

My ds is taking 4 Alevels without Further Maths.

Don't they do general studies anymore? In the nineties I did maths, physics, chemistry , biology and general studies! But I stupidly dropped biology after first year. People who did further maths instead ended up with five but it wasn't considered a 'full' a level for university purposes.

In general it's Medicine courses who don't count FM as a separate subject.

LSE also used to not count FM separately (except for mathsy courses) but seems to have changed their policy this year, whereby it's only certain degrees that discourage Math, FM + 1

The full list for LSE is here www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Undergraduate/Prospective-Students/How-to-Apply/Admissions-Information

Bugger - wrong thread!

DC1 is doing the final edit of their PS and decided on the unis & courses. I'd be interested to hear folks' views on their application preferences...
Uni A - subject 1
Uni B - subject 1
Uni C - subject 1 & 2
Uni B - subject 1 & 3

Uni B likely to offer 33-34 IB points based on their published entry requirements. Unis A and C likely to both offer 34-36 points. All are RG.

When my DS was looking at uni's for a Maths degree he was told FM was not essential as many schools don't offer it at A level. However he found it helped during the first few months of uni, as they were covering subjects that he had already done in his FM A level (although not in the same depth).

I think those wanting to study FM should be starting with an 8 or 9 at GCSE
Definitely. My Dd got a 9 at GCSE and is finding FM very hard going. 2 of her classmates have dropped out already and they've only been there since September.

It's an advantage in the lower sixth to pick 4 in case one doesn't work out - at my daughters school they all study 4 subjects until at least February in lower sixth then those struggling with a subject or finding 4 hard drop a subject, more drop at the end of the lower sixth. My daughter is sticking with 4 but all her offers are for "any 3"