If you did maths, chemistry and physics A levels what degree and job do you do?

[bluefineliner]

My DD is close to GCSEs and is predicted v good grades in all subjects. She is favouring maths, chemistry and physics A levels (which would have been my worst nightmare when I was at school!) but not sure what to do after that. As well as being academic, she does love to plan, organise and lead so sitting on her own in a lab or churning out statistics may not suit.

Obviously loads of time, but I am an AHP and DH in computers, so no direct experience to draw from. What jobs did you end up doing after studying similar A levels please, DD veers from teaching to dentistry! I want to inspire her when the world is her oyster at the moment.

I did those a levels and am now a project manager in renewable energy. I find it extremely rewarding.

Chemical Engineering for both DH and I - he then did a masters in Engineering Management and now does long term strategy/market forecasting for the aromatics market globally.

I worked in the brewing industry - procurement based and also did some research projects for the university which were great for flexibility with DC.

I’ve having a career break at the moment and deciding what I want to do next…….

Quantity surveying.

Thanks for the replies, as I suspected a wide range of jobs. This is great though as it sounds like a good base for her to keep her options open. I have done a few online searches with her and the UCAS career quiz but is is good to get some real life examples. Her school instill a belief they can follow any path they want, so helping her become aware of the amount of careers or jobs she could go in to is my intention now.

One last question, were you aware of the career options at A level in your chosen subjects or did they appear as you progressed your studies?

I did those subjects then a physics degree, and a masters in medical physics. I now work for the NHS as a medical physicist in Radiotherapy.

Maths degree, chartered accountant and chartered co sec.

I did those, plus psychology. Studied psychology at uni and now work in corporate communications.

My DH did those A Levels and did very well (all A grades). . He did an Engineering degree at a Russell Griup university, but got more interested in marketing in the first organisation he worked for (engineering) so did a marketing postgrad and ended up working in the media in PR and communications for the rest of his career!

Not helpful, I know! But I guess it shows that careers can take all sorts of twists and turns.

This. A lot of engineering is about planning, creating, designing, teamwork and leading, she might find she really enjoys it. I did those subjects, studied an engineering degree, joined a graduate scheme, am now a chartered engineer and do all of those things as part of my job.

Did biology, chemistry physics and maths at A level plus geography AS. Original plan was medicine, but fell in love with engineering.
Did a MEng in biomedical engineering and computational biology.
Got fed up with the misogyny in engineering and went into teaching instead.

Those are my ds's planned a'levels as well.

He's looked at aquaculture, environmental science, land management, estates management or environmental engineering. We live rurally and he doesn't want to change that.

Hospital Pharmacist. Band 6 but can reach Band 7 within 2 years and can go right up to Band 8b

Interesting, active job, mostly spent on hospital wards.

Flexible, if she wants children one day. Very suited to women in that way, and women feature highly in hospital pharmacy.

Studied biology, did a PhD in biology and i'm now a team leader for a team of 10 biologists working in industry. Its been 17 years since is graduated from undergrad

I did not quite those… but by the time I’d finished a levels I was sick of science! I did my degree in business and management and am now a project manager. Having a scientific mind definitely helps me you’re tracking budgets so need to be relatively good at numbers.
my school mate did similar, did Physics for a degree went into academia. Was run ragged for rubbish pay… became a technical patent solicitor so now run ragged for good pay!

Did accountancy degree then management consultancy / business planning

I think people respect those a levels and are useful when applying for any job.

Did those did degree and PhD in chemistry, worked in industry as research scientist, then done lots of science related jobs - engineering also an opition with those subjects and maths - my younger son may well do similar- I think he would be brilliant as an actuary!

You will get a list as long as your arm! I did chem/phys/bio with maths AS. I have a degree in chemistry, a PhD in physical chemistry/biosciences, and now many years later I work in government policy and commercial deals for innovation projects in that space. I’m part way through an MBA. My career has been pretty public sector and I’m not as well paid as some of my friends who did eg engineering, but not that far behind them.

I did those A levels, followed by a degree Combined Sciences - majoring in Physics and Geology. Then and MSc in Geotechnical Engineering and some postgrad professional courses to become recognised by the Institution of Civil Engineers.

There are far less circuitous routes to becoming a civil engineer with those A levels.

I did those three, a degree in chemistry and a career as a research scientist in various healthcare or related industries.

Teaching, engineer, civil service fast stream, GCHQ, police detective, recruitment (things friends did with that kind of profile).

I did those + further maths, followed by a computer science degree. Didn’t fancy a software engineering job so I ended up in an analytical post in the Civil Service.

I earn less than my software engineer friends but I have a much better work life balance and was easily able to arrange part time working to fit around childcare.

I'm the same as @Haus1234 - an actuary in insurance. I love it - interesting work using my logical brain, collaborating with other people all day, and happens to be paid well.

Though I'd say she doesn't need to decide her career before her degree choice. We employ people who have done any numeric degree (eg maths/science/engineering) and I suspect the same for most of these careers. She needs to want to study it for 3+ years before then, so I'd say she should study what she enjoys the most.

I'd also disagree with the advice @Whycanineverever your DD was given - she should study what she thinks she will enjoy most and do best at. I went to Oxford and would say they are most keen on top grades across the board! If you have an aptitude for logical a levels rather than essay based then don't spread yourself across subjects you wouldn't do well at (or wouldn't enjoy).

Friends studying maths/science degrees now work as actuaries/engineers/teachers/civil servants/investment bankers/climate change consultants/academic researchers/computer programmers/accountants/...

I did those plus further maths, studied chemistry at uni and I'm now a senior science technician in a secondary school.
All the fun of playing with experiments (and the challenge of making them actually work when the method sheet is a load of rubbish 😂), and interacting with the nice kids who come to science club or study a level; without all the paperwork and discipline that teachers have to do !
The pay isn't amazing (the top of my pay band, which I'll hit in three years, is ~27k FTE, - pro rata as I'm on a 0.85 contract, but some schools do have full time roles available) but the message is gradually getting through that support staff are crucial to schools running well and students getting good grades, and some schools are starting to pay more 🤞

I did English, maths, physics and chemistry. I did radiography as my degree. Now work in leadership education for NHS. That was after working up through the ranks and doing technical development in radiography