What sort of degrees or career paths can I go down?

Biology related but not medicine you could get into environmental sciences, conservation type work with animals like marine biology.
Maths is more self explanatory and can take you into things like finance, accounting etc.
Geography maybe geology, again conservation, geographical technician, cartography and such.
Best thing to do would be going on websites like prospects careers and just having a look about - even in your subjects aren’t completely right you can sometimes do an additional course or foundation year to make up for it

Honestly things like environmental science and geology don't really do it for me.

I heard a bit on biomedical science I don't know if you've heard anything about it? I'll just continue to keep looking and hopefully do something biology/medical related, thanks for your time.

Yeah I was interested in it for a while although a lot want chemistry there are some universities that don’t require it, if you use the ‘which course finder’ thing you can find all the universities that will do a BA in it and look at the individual entry requirements

Not all medical schools require A-level Chemistry. You should do more research....

have you considered graduate entry medicine?

Ah ok thank you. What degree do you study? If you dont mind me asking

I study a levels maths, biology and geography.

I wanted to study medicine, but it’s too late for me to change my a-levels and I can’t stay a 3rd year at college sadly.

What sort of degrees and career paths could my alevels get me down? I’m still confused on other sort of careers but I do really enjoy all my subjects but biology the most!

Or if anyone who studied a similar set of a-levels what do you do now?

Hi Jamiehou,

You can still study medicine! The entry requirement at Plymouth states: 'The typical offer is A*AA – AAB at GCE A level which must include an A grade in biology and one further science from chemistry, physics, maths, and psychology. Your third GCE A level can be from any subject area including the humanities, languages, music, sport, science and the social sciences.'

With biology and maths, you are also open to a wide range of careers in science. You could also study biomedicine, which could lead you down a more research-based path.

Make sure you do as much as you can - apply before the deadline, get some work experience under your belt and be the best candidate you can be All is not lost!

Let me know if you'd like me to answer any more questions

- Seren, University of Plymouth Student Rep
(FYI - I will be out of office from 21.12.18-02.01.19 but will reply as soon as I can after this period).

Hi, thank you for contacting me! I never really realised I would have a chance, as I thought all universities take chemistry students over just biology ones.

At the moment, I have applied for a 2 day shadowing with junior doctor in the old medicine department for April and also volunteering at a care home. I was also thinking of asking my local GP for experience too, would you recommended anything else to strengthen my application?

Thanks again.

Hi Jamiehou,

You are really welcome! Honestly, it's not the case. We even have a Medicine course with foundation entry if you didn't get the grades! I remember in Year 8 I wanted to go for medicine (which obviously changed drastically by the time I applied for University!) and I was told that I absolutely had to take Latin GCSE to stand a chance. If I didn't take it, I wouldn't get in. That is definitely not the case!

A lot of people volunteer at a local hospital - have you tried this? Dedicating a few hours a week to a hospital throughout your studies will look great! I’d also recommend doing some other unrelated extracurricular activities if you have the time – a lot of people will have the same experience, and in such a competitive field you want to be as stand out as possible Do you do anything outside of your A Levels? I was a part of my school’s Student Leadership Executive team which looked really great

Of course, you can always contact [email protected] for medicine specific application questions, as they deal with this every day (although we do shut today until January 2nd)

Let me know if you have any more university related questions – I’ve just graduated so I’m always happy to talk and help!

- Seren, University of Plymouth Student Rep
(FYI - I will be out of office from 21.12.18-02.01.19 but will reply as soon as I can after this period)

At my local hospital, the 2 day NHS experience is all they offer however I will look into it! I’m not apart of any extra curricular to, which I will definitely try to do next year when going into 2nd year of my studies. And just wondering, would this experience also be succificent if I went on to do biomedical science instead?

I’m guessing your in FY1 now? Regarding medical school, honestly from student to student how hard is it and did you ever really have time to do things? One of the major throwbacks for me personally is the amount of years it takes out, as much as I want to study medicine and become a doctor I also want to travel and explore the world.