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!

Oh bloody hell - POSTERS not oysters!

I did those a levels as wanted to be a vet. Don't think anyone has suggested veterinary medicine yet :-)

My niece did those subjects and is studying chemistry.

The more scientific side of Archaeology? Biological anthropology?

Engineering?

She needs to consider what drives her and what she likes. Those A Levels are becoming an increasingly common combination.

When I was at school if you did science and maths and were clever, everyone assumed medicine and dentistry and if it was English, MFL, history everyone was pushed to law.

A much wider range that that exists now, especially for scientists! One look in any prospectus will tell your DD what a huge range of science related courses there are. I was just looking at the Leeds prospectus and I reckon 85%+ of the courses are suitable for your DD, from psychology, anthropology and archaeology, right over to various therapies, nursing, allied medical degrees, and medicine. As well as straight degrees in biology, chemistry, and maths!

Working backwards from a career makes sense, as does thinking about which aspect of each subject she enjoys most.

As specialist STEM university Imperial has a good list of degree choices to browse through that may give her ideas for her A level combination
www.imperial.ac.uk/study/ug/courses/
That list does n’t include social science options mentioned by Piggywaspushed or natural science type degrees.

Use nhs careers website to look at medicine plus related careers as a starting point.
What role if any interests her the most.

There are also careers beyond the first degree too. Eg teaching, law and HR etc. Just because you train with a degree you don’t have to do it for a job. Stem Degree holders can apply for all sorts of jobs.

For the poster whose DD is doing English A level and not maths, some of the more scientific mathsy options are not really available, eg chemical engineering.

I would also look at what she enjoys. Working with people, in a lab, problem solving, indoors vs outdoors. So many degrees come down to what you enjoy and so does work.

The Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries has a useful feature on its web site showing the various options for students at different stages of education:

www.abpi.org.uk/medicine-discovery/academic-collaboration-education-skills/careers-in-the-pharmaceutical-industry/your-career/#5766b033

It's only one example, and there are obviously lots of other industries that employ people with chemistry/biology/maths backgrounds: food & drink, agricultural science, chemicals (huge range of options, including fuels, sustainable energy sources, etc.), environmental monitoring, health & safety, household products, personal care products, and on and on. And that's without even thinking about specialist areas of law, journalism, publishing, broadcasting, etc.

It's very difficult for school/college students to have an idea of how wide the range of options is, as you can't really guess what kinds of careers there are beyond what your family/friends' families, etc., do, or what you've seen on television/web/etc.

I've often tried to get groups of sixth-formers to produce lists of what they do & don't want out of a career before trying to identify specific pathways. For example, do they want to work regular hours (the idea of working 9-5 five days a week fills me with horror, but it's exactly what some people want), do they want to work in a team, do they want to work in one place all the time, do they want to work outdoors, do they want to work in a calm, quiet environment, do they want to be responsible for other people, do they want to work with the public (and with particular groups, e.g. children, elderly people, disabled people, people with significant personal problems), do they want to do lots of analysis, do they want to do something that requires prolonged concentration or something where they have to make decisions quickly, and so on. It's difficult to do because they tend to have a very narrow outlook imposed on them by the appalling education system of England, wales & Northern Ireland, but if you can get them to stop thinking about subjects and start thinking about roles, it can get you somewhere.

All just from St Andrews
Animal BehaviourBSc (Hons)
BiochemistryBSc (Hons)
BiochemistryMBiochem (Hons)
BiologyBSc (Hons)
BiologyMBiol (Hons)
Cell BiologyBSc (Hons)
Ecology and ConservationBSc (Hons)
Evolutionary BiologyBSc (Hons)
Marine BiologyBSc (Hons)
Marine BiologyMMarBiol (Hons)
Molecular BiologyBSc (Hons)
NeuroscienceBSc (Hons)
Sustainable DevelopmentBSc (Hons)
Sustainable DevelopmentMA (Hons)
Zoology
There are also joint honours such as Biology with philosophy/statistics/geology

Optometry?

I recently looked at my DD1s results from her Morrisbury test. It asked all the questions @NoNotHimTheOtherOne mentions. It means teachers don’t have to go through it all themselves. Or in many cases, not do it!

Looking at the different aspects of careers can mean students do focus on what they do like and what they are interested in. Now aged 28, DDs results back at 15 years old were an accurate reflection of her right now. Even a suggested career was pretty accurate. I know this test costs money but the questions asked are a good template to rule out some things and look more closely at others.

It’s also worth considering that some careers can be accessed after a general degree by further study. Others, such as engineering, need the decision made in y12 or early in y13. Other degrees might close you down to a certain career and reduce the breadth of work. It’s all rather complex!

DD had offer to study philosophy with those A-levels.

She can just decide which of the three she likes best and do that? Or something to combine the two favourites.

This is not to be worried about.

Maths in particular is very versatile degree.

ps: I know someone got on a course to study law with those A-level (senior RG uni).

@lljkk

ps: I know someone got on a course to study law with those A-level (senior RG uni).

Because STEM lawyers are in demand : www.lex100.com/2019/09/23/why-law-firms-are-on-the-hunt-for-stem-graduates/

Yet another reason to not study the arts subjects. Oh dear.

In addition to all the STEM subjects mentioned, can I add Human Sciences? Run by only a handful of universities and slightly different in each one, but basically a portfolio degree allowing the student to choose across the full range of STEM subjects.
DD just finishing hers and planning on teaching sciences

Medicine also offers a huge range of careers. And then not all medical students become Doctors. Some become lawyers, work for Pharmaceutical companies, go into academic research, become journalists, or even comedians. It is not uncommon for a student medic to decide after a year or two, that they don't want to be a Doctor.

My medical daughter is intercalating, taking a year out to study for a BSc at a different University. If she were interested she could apply for a PhD place attached to that department.

Your daughter is lucky. The subjects she likes are subjects that open doors to all sorts of occupations. She should follow her interests and do her research. She might get an early peek into what she might do through looking at the courses offered by Imperial College and their entry requirements. Lots of things she might not have heard of, like Materials Science.

Given the fierce competition for med school places and the inadequate supply of home-educated medics, I humbly submit that application for medicine places should be left to those who most badly want to be there.

Yes. But how?

The reality is that it is not uncommon for students to realise that being a doctor is not for them, even after starting medical school. Medical schools do their best to weed people out, but they can't always get it right.

I am always surprised by posters here who claim that volunteering and shadowing is not required to get into medical school, and that work in a cafe is just as worthwhile. My take is that spending time working or volunteering with the elderly or disabled is important for the applicant. Not to get into medical school, but to gain confidence that medicine is what they want to do. Not everyone, say, enjoys working with the elderly.

In addition there is a certain amount of "glamour" attached to being a "doctor". It is not unknown for teenagers to get caught up in their parents' ambitions for them, and be so focussed on getting the grades that they do not step back to think about what career they themselves might want to follow. You only need to go to a medical school open day and note the dads asking the questions.

She could do pretty much any subject.

Does she have a favourite topic in her studies? Dd loves the topic of DNA in biology and she wrote her EPQ about it. She's studying Biology, Maths and Psychology and wants to study Psychology at uni. It doesn't require any subject but people with Chemistry, Biology or Maths are preferred. She considered neuroscience or behavioral science but isn't keen on the chemistry.

Sustainable Energy Engineering. With the net zero horizon in 2050 she'll never be out of work.

Indeed all true need. Same with Law. Two young people (early 20s) at my school now doing tutoring programmes with Law degrees (one from Oxford). All they know is they no longer want to be lawyers. Both very clever and both perhaps taken in by the 'clever people do law' trope.

This is very helpful in realising what your DD may be suited to. It’s payable but worth it as they can do the tests over and over.
www.morrisby.com/morrisby-profile