Southampton medicine A levels suggestions/access to medicine

So my med school im aiming for wants chemistry and biology. But i need four A levels at As and three at A2 im unsure what to take.

Or should i take an access although my nearest college that does this is two hours away. Im 25

So my med school im aiming for wants chemistry and biology. But i need four A levels at As and three at A2 im unsure what to take.

Or should i take an access although my nearest college that does this is two hours away. Im 25

Hi! I am at Southampton now. They have no preference over the 3rd A level (or 4th AS) so take something you'll get your As in. A levels are the simplest way in. What makes you think about the access course?

The acceptability of Access seems to vary when it comes to med school applications. If you have the option of doing A-levels, I would definitely do those instead.

A2 Biology and Chemistry will open up virtually every med school to you (as far as subject choice can). Choose two other things that you think you will enjoy and do well in (ideally nothing too soft - there are varying levels of 'softness' but most things should be acceptable).

A levels where i live all cancel each other out, what i mean by thag is biology is a wednesday evening then chemistry is a wednesday evening its a nightmare so id like to do infills. I am 25 and worried i dont have a lot of time left because age probably has some affect. I want southampton its where i live my family all the support i need, however im not sure what other subjects id get A's in as i have been out of the education system for 9 years, i dont really know what id like i know i found historh and geography boring at school predominantly because i teacher spoke with a voice of a bored man, he was very enthusiatic. So those extra A levels worry me do that have to be at As+A2 full A level


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Open up every med school does that mean there is an advantage there?' Yeah i dont know what id enjoy not been in education for 9 years only took maths, english and science and business at school. But definately know i need 3 full A2 levels and one at AS

I know you can drop at A2

I know A2 is a full A level and AS is half an A level



Thank You


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If you want a chance at Southampton and you want to apply with A-levels then you're going to need to find a way to do both Biology and Chemistry at A-level, unless you can email or ring them and see if they are understanding about your issues with timetabling due to you not having many options for taking the qualifications.


It's an advantage if you're open to going anywhere but Southampton. If you're set on it being Southampton or nothing then I'm afraid your chances of getting into med school are exceptionally low.

If you want a chance at Southampton and you want to apply with A-levels then you're going to need to find a way to do both Biology and Chemistry at A-level, unless you can email or ring them and see if they are understanding about your issues with timetabling due to you not having many options for taking the qualifications.


It's an advantage if you're open to going anywhere but Southampton. If you're set on it being Southampton or nothing then I'm afraid your chances of getting into med school are exceptionally low.

Oh no im interesting in UCL BRISTOL also i havent decided on a fourth option yet but southampton is my aim id accept a place at any reputable med school because competition is so fierce and chances are slim. Southampton would be my first choice, i could look at other colleges or see if i can join a 16-19 year course as an infill student to get around it. I really just wanted to clarify which option would be best and which courses are best. Thank you


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UCL apparently prefer a contrasting subject as the third A2, so basically not Maths or Physics. Few other places seem to state a preference, and you can't go wrong with other traditionally 'academic' subjects, eg English Literature, History, Geography, Languages.

This is quite useful to look at in case you don't end up doing Medicine and want to be able to apply for other courses. Look at the 'facilitating subjects' bit especially.

Other, less traditional subjects are also generally quite acceptable as a third A-level at most places it would seem - for example Economics, Government and Politics, Psychology. Have a look at what's on offer at the college(s) and what fits in with your schedule. Just be prepared to put the work in and you should be able to do well in whatever.

Thank you English is my worst subject i cant disect text, i cant analyse characters etc i find it very difficult. However in my advantage of mice and men was in GCSE and i love that book so i did well with that.

So if i took Biology, Chemistry, English at AS and then maybe Psychology (falls into the brain and mental state) would that be sufficient.

I do not want any other career i've pushed and shuffed about going for medicine for 5 years i didnt think id have a chance, i will apply until im 45 if i have to, its all ive ever wanted, i just never had the support to go forward until now. Ill work my butt off because nothing else matters.

Thank You


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That combination would be fine, but don't feel you should take English Lit if you don't like it/do well in it - English Language might be more your cup of tea if it's on offer (have a look at a specification to see what is covered - all I know is that there is some degree of linguistics involved, and I love linguistics), otherwise there's a good few other things you might want to look into. Check what's on offer at the colleges you're looking at. If English Lit turns out to be the best bet though, you may still find that you end up enjoying it. It's definitely a big step up from GCSE but the way of looking at texts changes and I found it very satisfying. I wish I'd spent more time on it and really got into it but I had too much on my plate to do that.

Do you study medicine?! Yeah i hear what your saying i definately prefer language, its been many years since i did english, so i may be ok i could try it and see how it goes and if i dont like it drop it. Thank you linguistics wow


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Nope, but I am 26 and hoping to study it in the near future. I studied languages (and linguistics ) previously.

A levels where i live all cancel each other out, what i mean by thag is biology is a wednesday evening then chemistry is a wednesday evening its a nightmare so id like to do infills. I am 25 and worried i dont have a lot of time left because age probably has some affect. I want southampton its where i live my family all the support i need, however im not sure what other subjects id get A's in as i have been out of the education system for 9 years, i dont really know what id like i know i found historh and geography boring at school predominantly because i teacher spoke with a voice of a bored man, he was very enthusiatic. So those extra A levels worry me do that have to be at As+A2 full A level


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For UCL you have to have a modern foreign language at GCSE grade C. I am 25 (I think we would have been in the same year at school!) and going into 3rd year and I am not the oldest by far so don't worry about that. A few years ahead of me was a woman studying medicine who was in her fifties!

Perhaps it would be an idea to phone and speak to someone in admissions about your situation and see what they suggest? They'll know everything in wonderful detail.

Have you looked into the BM6 program at Southampton? It has other requirements about socioeconomics, but the A levels grades are BBC instead of AAAa.

What subject did you enjoy most when you were last in education? As long as it isn't too obscure it is usually a good option

You okay?