A-Level Subjects needed to get into Medicine?

Would someone taking A-Levels in Biology, Chemistry, English Lit & History have no real chance of getting into Medicine at a good Uni? Are 2 Science A-Levels enough?

Reply 1

vixky!

It really depends on the uni but I think Physics & Maths would be preferable to your subjects.

Reply 2

Elles

Have a look at what the medical school entry requirements are or they give "preference" to? Or the TSR Wiki summary if you're feeling more lazy!

Assume you're not paranoid & they're not wasting everyone's time by outright lying then there's your answer as to how far your chances are determined by the A levels per se that you take.

But I imagine most people applying for medicine do sciencey/maths A levels - so you might get a warped idea from school teachers & friends & internet randoms as to what you "need".
Whether or not candidates doing certain subjects might have more success in their applications as a population is fairly impossible to answer with publically available stats & there might be all sorts of causation/correlation confounds i.e. do the admissions tutors just look at their all sciences & maths A levels & thus decide they would make the perfect medical student (direct causation) - or might these students generally perform well in the aptitude tests & sciencey interviews if the university has them (more a correlation)? If you're not carrying on sciences & maths then you might want to do more preparation to refresh your memory if they're relevant to exams you might sit or interviews to try & reduce the chance of their being any latter effect, if there is.

<insert personal anecdote, ah the fodder of such forums... :wink:

)

I don't know whether they're in your mental list of good universities - but those were my A2 subjects, along with A2 general studies & AS Physics - I got offers from Bristol, Imperial & Oxford.

Reply 3

Revd. Mike

Chemistry is the biggy, and biology next. Apaprently, Universities like abit of diversity, and don't always go for the all science people, so I think you could stand a good chance.

There was some guy applying for medicine last year who took bio chem physics and drama, and the interviewer was only really interested in talking about the last one.

Reply 4

vixky!

What am I talking about? Not Physics, ignore that. :P I totally misread your post.

Bio and Chem should be fine, Maths preferred but I don't think it's mandatory. But will definitely depend on the uni. Just look on the UCAS site for entry requirements.

Here's the info for KCL (just for example):
Subjects and grades required: Chemistry or Biology at grade B.
Excluded Subjects: General Studies
Additional Information: Grades AAB required at A level plus grade C at AS level. Other of Chemistry or Biology must be at A level. If Maths and Further Maths is offered, only one will be counted. Equivalents considered.

Reply 5

kiaora

brightxburns

Would someone taking A-Levels in Biology, Chemistry, English Lit & History have no real chance of getting into Medicine at a good Uni? Are 2 Science A-Levels enough?

yes. i did four A-levels in chemistry, biology, german and latin. i got two offers, (for manchester and leeds). the only place you may have a problem is cambridge, but i think the other universities would find that an acceptable combination. they are serious, analytical academic subjects, and they show you are a well-rounded person.

Reply 6

randdom

yup I only had two sciences.

Reply 7

Happy_Holidays

When I was looking at requirements for different universities most seem to like it if you have 1 or 2 non science subjects. It makes you stand out more I think. I want to do medicine and I'm not doing the sciences and maths.