Astronomy, Space Science and Astrophysics

Hi I want to apply to the following subject- Astronomy, Space Science and Astrophysics, as an undergraduate course for uni.
But for sixth form I take the following subjects- Sociology, Applied Science (b-tech) and English Literature. I'm scared that I won't be able to study what I really want to because of the options I messed up on. It's too late for me to change so that's not an option. And I understand that Science A-levels and mathematics are favoured by universities providing this course (none of which I'm doing except the applied science course; which is a combination of biology, chemistry and physics). I'm willing to put in the extra work for me to be prepared, like do an extra course or something outside of sixth form but I have no idea what, my school is not helping me and I don't have anyone I can go to for advice.
I'm really confused and would appreciate advice and if I'm sane in wanting to pursue this subject, albeit I will definitely put in all the effort I can as this is a real, genuine passion of mine.
I did get pretty good grades in my gcses- mostly Bs and As. So would that help?
Am I delusional in thinking I'll be able to pursue this?

Reply 1

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

It's not that science and maths A-levels are "favoured" for those courses - they're required for direct entry. You need maths and physics to A-level as the first year of those degrees will follow directly from there. If you apply without then you will just be automatically rejected.

You will need to apply to courses with a foundation year, as those are designed for students doing the "wrong" subjects. You then complete the foundation year, which is a preliminary year 0 where you cover the relevant A-level material, before progressing into the first year of the main course and thereafter as any other student. If you are getting good results in your subjects and can write about your interests in the field in your PS then you should be well placed to apply successfully to those courses :smile:

So look at unis with foundation years for that subject/subject area. Many might simply be called "physics foundation year" or similar since those kinds of courses will be based in the physics department and the foundation year will dovetail to most if not all courses in the department (also I'd point out there's no special need to focus on a degree named astrophysics/astronomy/etc; those are all just physics degrees except with certain optional modules "preselected" for you to form the theme of the name of the degree. You can just as easily do a "regular" physics degree and pick all the astro options :smile:

).

Note that physics (and hence, those areas) is a necessarily mathematical field and you would be doing maths above and beyond A-level standard every day for the entire duration of the course. So this is something to be aware of, since often students seem to not take A-level Maths as they don't like maths or struggle with it, then get it in mind they wish to do a degree which requires A-level Maths via foundation year, without considering that the requirement is not arbitrary and reflects the nature of the course!

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