• Question: what GCSE's & Alevels did you take to allow you to take this career path and what grades do you need to get?

    Asked by bethmcgeachiex to Alice, Bose, Christian, Emma, Steve on 9 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Alice Harpole

      Alice Harpole answered on 9 Mar 2016:

      For GCSE I took maths, English language & literature, separate sciences, IT, french, business studies, engineering and product design, as well as RS & PE half course (which were compulsory at my school).

      For A level I did Maths, further maths, physics and chemisty, plus I also did AS English literature.

      I’d say that to do physics at university, you definitely need to take maths and physics at A level. Most universities will also ask for another science or further maths as your third option, and you normally need to get at least AAB (though this is higher at some universities such as Imperial, Oxford and Cambridge).

      I found that my A level choices really helped me in my first year – having done further maths, lots of the maths we did in the first term was just revision. After that point however everything was new, so I wouldn’t say further maths is at all essential to do physics at university.

    • Photo: Steve Marsden

      Steve Marsden answered on 10 Mar 2016:

      The important GCSEs to take are Maths and the three separate sciences. That said, I know a couple of people who did double award science (because their school didn’t offer separate sciences) and still went on to become scientists. Any remaining options are entirely up to you, and won’t have an effect on your chances of becoming a scientist.

      I did, Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English Language, English Literature, Design, Business Studies, Spanish, Religious Studies. I think there was one more, but at this point I can’t recall.

      The more important decisions come at A-level. At this point it is vital to study maths, and the science you want to go into. Further maths is an advantage, but not compulsory. I did, Maths (A), Physics (A) and Business Studies (B). Not doing further maths didn’t hinder my application to university, but it did lead to a busy couple of months when I first started uni and quickly had to catch up.

      When I was applying, the very highest universities were asking for either AAB or AAA (this was before A* existed at A-level). I believe that AAB is still a fairly standard entry requirement, though it’s worth googling them. Notable exceptions include oxbridge which require one star, and Manchester which often ask for two or three.

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