Help please - what courses available A-levels: Biology, Chemistry & Maths

[AnnieK5]

Hello! First poster here and looking for some advice on what courses DD can study with the following A-levels:

• Biology
• Chemistry
• Maths

She’s finding making a decision on what to study so daunting and DD says the school isn’t really giving any guidance except for saying she is advised to study medicine. She’s considering this but would like to explore as many options as possible before making a commitment of choice.

She asked for my help a few weeks back but I am finding it a confusing mind-field (I didn’t go through the UK system myself ).

Would anyone please be so kind to list some courses DD could take with her A-levels apart from medicine? She’s very open-minded so anything goes.

Thank you so much!

Pretty much any STEM subject I would have thought. The world is her oyster. What is she interested in doing as a career later or is she not sure yet?

She's really not sure. The only option the school is suggesting her is medicine. She likes the idea but would like to explore as many options as possible first because medicine is a huge commitment.

Natural sciences
Biomedical science
Biology
Maths
Chemistry
Economics possibly
Look up the A level explorer www.theuniguide.co.uk/a-level-explorer or get on career pilot if school signposted that.

My ds took these subjects at IB higher level. He is studying accounting and finance.
Dentistry?

My DD took this A level combination and is now studying Biochemistry. She loves the course.

Your post made me smile because her school also assumed she'd be applying for medicine - as a PP said, the world is her oyster with this combination, equally it can feel overwhelming for them if they're unsure of future career plans.

Natural Sciences is a fantastic option if she's still unclear on that front - broad first year giving plenty of options for specialising later. This was my DD's original intention & then part way through Year 12 (thanks to some quality guidance from teachers & attending a couple of taster sessions), she realised she's a molecules/ genetics girl, and so Biochemistry it was.

Good luck to your DD - definitely get her to check that Uni course checker recommended above and invest time in reading individual Uni departmental websites.

Hope that helps!

Assuming she's year 12 medicine probably isn't viable unless she's managed to get some experience somewhere. Although covid has made things a little more difficult I think most would be medics have been putting the groundwork in for a while.

So does she see herself working in healthcare? In a lab? In an office? Doing research? Teaching? Solving problems? Dealing with people?

Which of the three subjects does she look forward to the most? Or is she a bit meh about all of them?

If she's year 12 and wants to do medicine she needs to make sure she signs up for UCAT and BMAT. And gets some work experience sorted asap- quite a lot available on line at the moment

Chemistry, chemical engineering, biomedical sciences, natural sciences. What does she want to do?

If in year 12 she is only considering medicine on her school's say so - I don't think medicine is for her. It's a long, tough degree and at the end of 5 or 6 years you start back at the bottom. To practice as a doctor you need to do your foundation years. It was a lot tougher in my day as no working time directive eg. But if your heart is not in it, it's not something you want to go through

Pharmacy
Pharmacology
Chemical engineering
Zoology
Biochemistry
Microbiology
Genetics
Biomedical sciences
Natural Science
Law
Ecology

I'm not sure where to stop ! She needs to think about what she enjoys most.

I'm very worried if a school really isn't suggesting anything other than medicine. If they haven't got anyone with a wider knowledge of careers than the average primary school child, then they need to be getting in some decent careers advice from outside.

Don't let her decide to study medicine unless her life's ambition is to be a doctor. I get very cross when I hear of schools advising students to study medicine "because they can".

Thank you all so much for your replies (and so quickly)! I really appreciate the help. I had no idea so many would be still open to her.

She's not only considering medicine because of her school. She has undertaken some work experience and enjoyed it but she wants to be sure there is not something out there she has not considered yet if that makes sense?

You can enter her A levels into this and it suggests the range of degrees that she can take! www.theuniguide.co.uk/a-level-explorer

What was her plan when she picked those A-levels and has it changed.....if so why? That could give her a clue as to which direction to take at degree level.

Is she doing an EPQ? If so, what subject has she chosen.....if she is thinking of moving away from medicine/STEM then maybe she could do an EPQ in something she is interested in to demonstrate she has a wider knowledge and interests that support doing something completely different to her A-levels.

Most unis used to have career profiles as part of their prospectuses and course websites, do they still do that? So you go on the subject page (so biology courses, chemistry courses, maths courses) and then go off at a tangent when something catches your interest.

I'm a little bit concerned at the lack of imagination and initiative in looking into this from a potential medic tbh, the list of possible options for starting points in researching when you've got these three subjects is gigantic and that's without all the careers that don't require specific subjects.

I'd start here www.ucas.com/undergraduate/what-where-study

@NeverTrustaRabbit She picked them purely because she enjoyed them the most. She also wanted to take physics but was only allowed 3. The school also does not offer EPQ.

DD2 did those plus AS FM. She is studying Natural Sciences and having a blast

She ought to get a few uni prospectuses and look through them, something may jump out which she didn’t really know about.

Which subject does she like the most?

Something like radiography? Any of the healthcare professions. Or course that previous posters have listed like biochemistry.

@AnnieK5 that's a pity. An EPQ really helped DS when he decided to something quite different to his ALevels. His chosen Uni's interviewed him to make sure he knew what he was getting into.

Do they have enrichment activities, eg career guidance, help with Uni applications etc? At DD's school they all completed an online questionnaire/psychometric type exercise which analysed their answers and came up with suggested career paths.....is it worth asking if her school do something similar?

It is worth pushing the school on this ad they collect and should publish destination data. They want to be able to show that their post 16 students are getting the best outcomes possible going forward as this attracts students.

Has she had a good rummage around the UCAS site? (It's not just an application form).

www.ucas.com/undergraduate
www.ucas.com/introducing-ucasdiscovery

This has been really interesting. My DD is doing Biology, Chemistry and English at A Level. She is considering medicine but loves Biology so also looking at that. She is very interested in genetics.

I did pharmacy with those A levels. Like previous oysters have said, any healthcare professions could be studied - midwifery, radiography, nursing, pathology etc. Forensic science maybe?