What A Levels are required to apply for bioinformatics?

I am currently taking biology, math, and chemistry, however, I want to drop chemistry as I heard computer science is a better option. Are there any other A-Levels besides biology and maths that would help me enter it?

Chemistry is a more prestigious A level than Computer Science and it's a science, so it will probably help.

For degrees involving Computer Science, Further Maths is often preferred instead of Computer Science. Further Maths would definitely help you enter it, especially as it is viewed as a difficult A level. I know people who went to study Maths and Computer Science at Oxbridge with Physics, Chemistry, Maths and FM. (CS not needed).

Hi, I plan to specialise in Bioinformatics in the future too (I barely see anyone interested tbh ) , though I was unable to find it at undergraduate, there are plenty of phd and masters degrees offering this.

What I did was applied to universities that offer modules of bioinformatics e.g. Manchester. Also quick note on Manchester in third year they allow you to do a bioinformatics based project instead of a lab based project if you wish.

As a result i applied to do biomedical sciences with biology, psychology and sociology. Though I have some computer science background from GCSE. If you have no CS background i would say try to learn python in your spare time.

Your A-levels overall seem perfectly fine, as you still have 2 sciences (bio and maths) so you can change to CS if you want, but only do so if you prefer to.

If you have any questions please do ask

I would guess maths, biology and computer science are the best three, but chemistry, further maths, physics could help as well. Pick what you’re better at and what you enjoy over what subjects you think you’ll need. Bioinformatics seems more like a masters degree spécialisation than an entire undergrad though,

Hiya! I'm an international student so it'll be pretty hard to make it anywhere in the UK so I was thinking Germany, Poland, etc. I wanna ask though, what other courses generally provide modules of bioinformatics? Biomedical sciences sounds okay, I just wanted to know all the other options and choose the best one for me. If you know some, thank you.

I do have to start learning pythons yeah. It'll be hard doing CS as an AS and A2 in one go but to me that's easier than chemistry haha. And YES exactly, no one knows it exists kajkasj. I heard it by chance as I was talking to my aunt about universities (she's a career counselor at the school she teaches) and she told me to consider biotechnology. I researched a bit and decided that was okay, then google randomly recommended bioinformatics in a question. I believe it was "Bioinformatics vs Biotechology". Decided to research Bioinformatics and I actually liked it! Besides the computer science, I'm quite good at all the other requirements needed and I'm excited to start CS as I really wanted to do it at gcse anyways. Thank you so much!

It's not common as an undergraduate course. I think most going into PhD programmes in bioinformatics will have a first degree in maths or CS, although I don't think physics or engineering are that uncommon. Biology grads who have a very strong quantitative background in their course (typically by taking optional modules in maths or CS I would imagine) might also be suitable, or if the programme specifically has a track for those from a bioscience background. I get the impression most programmes think it's easier to teach the relevant biology to someone with a strong numerate background than vice versa.

"Prestige" of A-level choices is meaningless. If neither chemistry nor CS are required for the course, then the better option is the one you can get the highest grade in. That said, CS would be more relevant for a bioinformatics course, but very few CS courses (and undoubtedly the handful of bioinformatics undergraduate courses) require A-level CS. Normally A-level Maths is the only requirement, although for some courses A-level FM might be useful.

As long as you take A-level Maths any other A-levels are fine, just pick those you find most interesting and/or think you'll do well in. Obviously Biology/Maths/CS (and/or FM) would probably be as close to that course as you can get in your options now. Bear in mind that bioinformatics doesn't actually have a great deal of biology, and is mainly CS applied to biological issues. However, taking A-level Chemistry alongside A-level Biology would still satisfy any programmes in that realm, but would offer you a lot more flexibility if you decide to go down a different route.

biochem, genetics, some biological science courses, biology, biotech, some molecular biology courses etc. (basically most biology related courses) all tend to have at least one bioinformatics module, but again always check the specification for whether or not they offer this module.

I was told by one teacher that they main languages are python, ruby and perl. Python is probably the easiest to start with and you can be taught the others later.

Outside of the UK some universities actually do bioinformatics as an undergraduate, e.g. in Berlin (this course is offered in german though)
https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/studium/studienangebot/grundstaendige/bioinformatik_mono/index.html

So yeah shop a around a little

Hi, I plan to specialise in Bioinformatics in the future too (I barely see anyone interested tbh ) , though I was unable to find it at undergraduate, there are plenty of phd and masters degrees offering this.

What I did was applied to universities that offer modules of bioinformatics e.g. Manchester. Also quick note on Manchester in third year they allow you to do a bioinformatics based project instead of a lab based project if you wish.

As a result i applied to do biomedical sciences with biology, psychology and sociology. Though I have some computer science background from GCSE. If you have no CS background i would say try to learn python in your spare time.

Your A-levels overall seem perfectly fine, as you still have 2 sciences (bio and maths) so you can change to CS if you want, but only do so if you prefer to.

If you have any questions please do ask