Physics A level without maths?
Hi there. My original plan for A level was to do geography, chemistry, biology and maths but I think I messed up my maths exam and I don't think I got the A which I need to be able to do it at A level. At the moment I'm thinking about a career in medicine and I've read that maths is not needed at all for medical schools and in undergraduate courses. The main idea the sources I read stressed was that you must take chemistry along with two other science A levels. I think I did well in my science exams and found physics pretty straightforward. I just wondered if it would be ok to take physics as well as biology, chemistry and geography without maths A level. I've read that maths A level is necessary when doing physics but I really don't want to take it. I'm not looking into doing a physics degree or anything. I've just read that most applicants to medical school etc have three science A levels. So can I get away with it if I put the work in? Thank-you!
Original post by Dominosh
Hi there. My original plan for A level was to do geography, chemistry, biology and maths but I think I messed up my maths exam and I don't think I got the A which I need to be able to do it at A level. At the moment I'm thinking about a career in medicine and I've read that maths is not needed at all for medical schools and in undergraduate courses. The main idea the sources I read stressed was that you must take chemistry along with two other science A levels. I think I did well in my science exams and found physics pretty straightforward. I just wondered if it would be ok to take physics as well as biology, chemistry and geography without maths A level. I've read that maths A level is necessary when doing physics but I really don't want to take it. I'm not looking into doing a physics degree or anything. I've just read that most applicants to medical school etc have three science A levels. So can I get away with it if I put the work in? Thank-you!
They are legally required that physics A level cannot depend on maths A level, so in principle yes of course.
What board are you doing? My school does AQA and the prevailing opinion seems to be that not that much maths is needed. Other boards might be more maths based.
Are you good at physics? And/or decent at maths and willing to put the work in to cover the gaps? If you are only okay at both maths and physics, then it might be a struggle to take physics without the extra reinforcement that maths A level provides (this is pure speculation TBH).
Oh, and seeing as how you want to do medicine, you might want to have a look on some threads more related to that as to what med schools actually want in terms of A levels.
To pass physics a-level all you need is basic fluency in algebra (mostly GCSE rearranging equations) and a bit of knowledge of logarithms. To properly understand it however, you need A2 calculus and differential equations.
People can take physics without maths, but you would have 0% chance of getting onto a uni physics course without it, and I expect medecine courses would prefer maths anyway. You could take a-level maths with mechanics modules,which kind of covers both bases but not all colleges give the option.
People can take physics without maths, but you would have 0% chance of getting onto a uni physics course without it, and I expect medecine courses would prefer maths anyway. You could take a-level maths with mechanics modules,which kind of covers both bases but not all colleges give the option.
When you say maths isn't needed, you mean at A Level, right? Because for pretty much every [decent] bioscience/medical degree I've looked at they want at least a B in Maths at GCSE.
Original post by lerjj
They are legally required that physics A level cannot depend on maths A level, so in principle yes of course.
What board are you doing? My school does AQA and the prevailing opinion seems to be that not that much maths is needed. Other boards might be more maths based.
Are you good at physics? And/or decent at maths and willing to put the work in to cover the gaps? If you are only okay at both maths and physics, then it might be a struggle to take physics without the extra reinforcement that maths A level provides (this is pure speculation TBH).
Oh, and seeing as how you want to do medicine, you might want to have a look on some threads more related to that as to what med schools actually want in terms of A levels.
What board are you doing? My school does AQA and the prevailing opinion seems to be that not that much maths is needed. Other boards might be more maths based.
Are you good at physics? And/or decent at maths and willing to put the work in to cover the gaps? If you are only okay at both maths and physics, then it might be a struggle to take physics without the extra reinforcement that maths A level provides (this is pure speculation TBH).
Oh, and seeing as how you want to do medicine, you might want to have a look on some threads more related to that as to what med schools actually want in terms of A levels.
Ok thanks. As for the board I do not know. I was with AQA for gcse science. I'm decent at physics (I think), but I'll guess I see at results day. Thanks for the advice.
Original post by Desk-Lamp
To pass physics a-level all you need is basic fluency in algebra (mostly GCSE rearranging equations) and a bit of knowledge of logarithms. To properly understand it however, you need A2 calculus and differential equations.
People can take physics without maths, but you would have 0% chance of getting onto a uni physics course without it, and I expect medecine courses would prefer maths anyway. You could take a-level maths with mechanics modules,which kind of covers both bases but not all colleges give the option.
People can take physics without maths, but you would have 0% chance of getting onto a uni physics course without it, and I expect medecine courses would prefer maths anyway. You could take a-level maths with mechanics modules,which kind of covers both bases but not all colleges give the option.
Ok thanks. At the moment I'm not thinking about doing a physics based degree.
Original post by Stanley Winchest
When you say maths isn't needed, you mean at A Level, right? Because for pretty much every [decent] bioscience/medical degree I've looked at they want at least a B in Maths at GCSE.
Yeah A level maths. Yep they definitely want gcse. This is what I've been looking at: http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/Medical_school_a_level_requirements
Original post by Dominosh
Hi there. My original plan for A level was to do geography, chemistry, biology and maths but I think I messed up my maths exam and I don't think I got the A which I need to be able to do it at A level. At the moment I'm thinking about a career in medicine and I've read that maths is not needed at all for medical schools and in undergraduate courses. The main idea the sources I read stressed was that you must take chemistry along with two other science A levels. I think I did well in my science exams and found physics pretty straightforward. I just wondered if it would be ok to take physics as well as biology, chemistry and geography without maths A level. I've read that maths A level is necessary when doing physics but I really don't want to take it. I'm not looking into doing a physics degree or anything. I've just read that most applicants to medical school etc have three science A levels. So can I get away with it if I put the work in? Thank-you!
Might be worth doing AS level maths if you can, as this will teach you the basics of logs and improve your rearranging of equations and algebra, but it is not a necessity.
I'm just coming to the end of A Level Physics (Edexcel). I would say that 85% needs no Maths, and what does need Maths you can probably survive on GCSE as long as you can cope with rearranging formulas and standard form (x10^5 etc). The guy I sat next to only took AS Maths (and failed it) and he was fine with Physics really.
Maths A-level definitely isn't needed to do physics, but it does help, particularly at A2. Have a look at different unis to see which would be preferred, but don't make any final decisions until results day. You may have done better than you thought!
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