A level subjects for UK medicine?

Question

My cousin wants to do medicine in A levels and has decided to do either 3 scienctific subjects for A level OR 2 scientific subjects and one non scientific subject in A level.

What is recommended 3 scientific subjects OR 2 scientific and one non scientific subject!

and what will help her more to go to a good university...

btw she is very ambitionous and wants to go to a good university like Oxford or Cambridge so if anyone knows what Oxford and Cambridge would prefer please say .

And she is a very very very geeky cleverish sort of person so i dont think hard courses are a bad option for her..

she also wants to take psycology.. is psycology counted as a science or not?

Answer 1

Get the prospectus from Cambridge and Oxford to find out what they want exactly but they'll want 3 A's at A2 level for sure, Oxford is better for studying English, Cambridge is better for sciences.

The other people that have answered have told you nearly everything so I'll just answer the psychology bit, psychology is a social science some places will ask for 'sciences' psychology would be included in that but if they ask for core sciences then that's the proper sciences like biology and chem. Psychology at A2 includes the parts of maths you need to know for analysing in science related stuff because it does inferential statistics other than that part, psycho is fun :D lol.

But it's not just about the courses she needs to do other work at the moment my friend is doing work experience at Reading university in the biological sciences department and other things to help her get in.

By the way if she wants to go to Cambridge they forbid them to work so they can concentrate on their studies.

Answer 2

If she is so clever she could do 4 A-levels (I did and I'm no genius). This would maybe let her get away with doing psychology (although as others have said there is a stigma attached to psychology and she may be better off without it), she will have to do chemistry and would be mad not to do biology. This leaves at least one other option which I would suggest could be: maths, history, english lit, physics or a modern foreign language. All medical schools (not just Oxbridge) are very competitive.

Answer 3

Hi!

The big thing with Oxford and Cambridge is how well you do in your BMAT test for medicine, and also your GCSE results. It does sound that your cousin is very intelligent and capable, so this should not be a problem.

Chemistry is basically a must, and i would definitely recommend biology along side it. Most medical schools require both, or at least both to AS level and one to A2 level. As for the third, it really depends on interests. I would recommend doing a non-science subject as a third choice, merely to show diversity, but it should be a pure subject, such as English, French, German (etc.), history, rather than law, or RE, or sociology. Pure subject take you a lot further with Oxbridge.

As for taking 4, so taking 3 sciences (bio, chem, maths or physics) and a non-science subject, you are not necessarily at an advantage. The offer will be conditional on 3 subjects, and some applicants find that taking 4 subjects mean they are less specialised, and could have done better if they'd taken only 3. Definitely recommend your cousin to start with 4 subjects, and then after AS consider dropping or carrying on.

I wish your cousin all the success in the world!

Answer 4

you can do 2 my sister did 2 and in a few weeks she will be going to medical school! biology, chemistry and art is what she did

Answer 5

the recommended 3 scientific subjects would be biology, chemistry and physics. if she just wants to do two i would recommend taking biology and chemistry, maybe with maths. psychology is considered as a science but would not be an acceptable alternative to biology, chemistry or physics if she wants to do medicine. I would also recommend taking 4 A levels if she wants to apply to oxford or cambridge. If she doesnt want to do all sciences she could take a language, they are very well respected by universities.

Answer 6

Maths - Very much respected as an A level

Biology - Sciences

Chemistry - Sciences

History or Eng Lit - Humanities - respected when done with sciences and maths.

Answer 7

for medicine...the more sciences you do will probably better..i know for a fact that you should take chemistry even if not taking biology

psycology is a social science..it is about the way the mind works but a social science like sociology

there i answered your questions as straightforward as i could..good luck to your cousin

Answer 8

Ok.

To study Medicine at Oxford, it's recommended that you take at least 2 of the science subjects. You can also take all 3 but that's not completely necessary.

At Cambridge, they ask that you must have an A Level in Chemistry, and you also must have an A Level in Biology OR Physics OR Maths.

So, if she does 2 out of 3 sciences, she can apply anywhere.

Oh, and tell her NOT to take Psychology. It's a complete waste of time for an Oxbridge candidate. She needs to be taking a subject which is well respected like a language or History.