A levels for a biology degree

[Desert76]

DD is in year 11, so just starting to think about applying for 6th form and A levels.

At the moment, she thinks she wants to do a biology degree.

She’s thinking of A levels in Biology, maths and English language, all of which she enjoys and is predicted good grades in.

We’ve looked at entry requirements at a few universities - most want two sciences, including biology or chemistry, so maths would count as the second science.

Some say they want biology AND chemistry, or that chemistry is highly recommended, or have a lower offer if you have chemistry.

The thing is, DD doesn’t really like chemistry. She’s predicted a 6 for GCSE when all her other predictions are 7 and 8s.

So the questions are:
Should she do A level chemistry? (I strongly feel she shouldn’t, best to do what you enjoy)

Given she doesn’t really like chemistry, should she actually rethink the biology degree, even if the entry requirements would allow her in? - is it going to be lots of chemistry? Or can she maybe avoid it with judicious choice of optional modules?

She prefers human biology to plants at the moment.

A lot of misinformative posts on here. My daughter did Art, Biology and French A-levels; initially thought she wanted to do Art at uni, but changed her mind to Biology mid year 12. Yes, her options were limited with no second Science, but she got offers from Warwick, Leeds and Glasgow. Warwick and Leeds both required an A in Biology if no other Science A-level (many unis include Geography and Psychology in this). Glasgow is a four year course, so plenty of catch up for Chemistry in first year. There are two Bio courses at Leeds - Biology and Biological Sciences. For the latter you do need a second science, as it covers Biochemistry, Molecular Biology etc.

As others have said, Chemistry A-level should never been done if not strong/not sure.

DS graduated in biological sciences from Durham last year. He did biology, physics and maths at A level. Lack of chemistry only ruled out a couple of optional modules. He did a broad variety of optional modules including ageing, crops and a project on apex predators. A strong course with a lot of lab time.
Friend's daughter also went to Durham with A levels in biology, geography and maths, and went on to do a biological sciences masters elsewhere.

@MeetMeOnTheCorner, yes it would be interesting to see what percentages of students go into a biology degree with three sciences, vs biology +chemistry, vs biology and another science.

I don’t know if those sorts of statistics are available anywhere.

Tbh, the concern is not getting an offer, it’s more finding out (when it’s too late) that degree level biology isn’t her thing after all.

It sounds like anecdotally, that doesn’t have to be the case - though on the other hand I think she does need to consider that the aspects of biology she is not really interested in (eg crops, fungi, marine biology) are perhaps the ones that rely less on chemistry.

If she is heading for a 6 at gcse she is u likely to get an a level grade that will allow her to access the higher grade universities, so no point in taking it. Stick to maths

@Desert76 if by "three sciences" in your last post you mean bio, chem and physics, not many will take those three, as maths is strongly recommended if taking physics. All but one student in DS2's year took maths if taking physics – and the one that didn't really struggled (tho of course that may not be why).

Some interesting stats for Oxford Biology admissions here:

https://www.pmb.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2026-01/Biology%20Admissions%20Report%202025.pdf

It doesn't say what proportion of successful applicants had Chemistry A-level unfortunately, but it does mention some of the 3rd A-level subjects taken by shortlisted applicants:

Art & Design, Computer Science, Drama & Theatre Studies, Economics, English Language and Literature, English Literature, Environmental Science, French, Further Mathematics, Geography, German, History, Music, Philosophy, Physical Education, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology and Spanish.

So clearly it's not essential to take all science & maths subjects, even for Oxford.

The horror @coldcalling! taking PE A level and getting in to Oxford!

(bc PE A level gets a lot of grief on MN as being easy, not a real A level, not going to be accepted by top unis. DS2 took it and found it rigorous and relevant (for his bio degree) so I am always leaping to its defence haha). Interesting list though.

Many good top ten uni will let her do it without chemistry however not doing it without a doubt does narrow the pool. But it van be done !

Does it narrow the pool though? Which unis will not accept her without chemistry? The OP has named three I think which are about all that want chem.

We have established that Oxford, Bristol, London unis, Lboro and more are fine without chemistry.

@clary i stand corrected I forgot she has maths and it's counted