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Original poster

Year 12 - Further Maths or EPQ for Medicine?

28 replies

StableCable · 12/09/2026 07:31

DD has just started Year 12 at a new 6th form. She got 9 Grade 9 and 1 Grade 8 at GCSE. She did Statistics and Further Maths as well as Maths and got 9s in all of them.

She is considering applying for Medicine (although not definite) and so has started A Levels in Biology, Chemistry and Maths. She has also started Further Maths due to her Maths enjoyment. College also offer an EPQ and she attended the introductory talk for it this week.

She is not getting any guidance from her new 6th form as to what she should keep doing and what she should drop, especially if aiming for Medicine. Most uni details seem to focus on a 3 Grade offer and nothing else, so is it better to drop FM and EPQ to maximise 3 grades?

She may not go for Medicine and do a Maths Uni degree and the presumably FM would be handy.

Why do people do an EPQ?!

OP posts:
Original poster
StableCable · 12/09/2026 08:05

clary · 12/09/2026 07:46

Yeh if she wants to go for medicine then that should be her focus. No need for FM nor an EPQ, there are lots of other things she does need to do.

OTOH if she wants a maths degree somewhere great (presumably, with those GCSE grades) then FM is probably needed. As in, even if not asked for at COWI, pretty much everyone will have it and you risk being on the back foot without it.

I suggest now is the time to decide if she really wants to do medicine; it's not really a choice to be i doubt at this stage as yes, she needs to do well in the UCAT.

Thank you.

Coming from a non medical family I do think it is a big ask to be sure of something at age 16. Especially when she has been head down studying for those gcses until now. We have booked open days at several unis in October so that she can seriously consider what it entails but that may be too late to decide what to drop or continue with.

Why do people do EPQ?

Maybe for now she should continue FM and review that after uni open days, so by half term?

OP posts:
clary · 12/09/2026 07:46

Yeh if she wants to go for medicine then that should be her focus. No need for FM nor an EPQ, there are lots of other things she does need to do.

OTOH if she wants a maths degree somewhere great (presumably, with those GCSE grades) then FM is probably needed. As in, even if not asked for at COWI, pretty much everyone will have it and you risk being on the back foot without it.

I suggest now is the time to decide if she really wants to do medicine; it's not really a choice to be i doubt at this stage as yes, she needs to do well in the UCAT.

Octavia64 · 12/09/2026 07:36

Neither

She should focus on getting relevant work experience and prepping for the UCAT which is the medicine entrance exam.