University choices

Hi guys, I just wanted to ask a question regarding university (specifically aimed at Physics students who have taken it at uni) would you recommend going into Physics if you didn't take A level Maths or Physics, there is an alternative which is known as the foundation year for students who failed a level Maths/Physics or want to change career. Thank you.

Hi there,

It might help to contact universities to ask about their physics degree course content; this may help you understand if it is suitable for you to take without doing the A-level course and I would also suggest asking them about their foundation degree course. You can find contact details on the UCAS website-https://www.ucas.com/

Also do you have a career in mind that you want to get into? It might help to research into the specific entry requirements needed for that role so you can start to plan out your next steps. I would suggest exploring the job profiles on our website to help with this- https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/

If you have any further questions that I can try and help with please get back in touch!

I hope this helps!

Thanks-Samrita.

All the physics degrees I have come across require both maths and physics A level or equivalent for entry. If you want to study physics, which can lead on to a very wide range of interesting career options, then a foundation year is really going to be essential for you. The maths on a good physics degree will start off by assuming A level knowledge from day one and then go up from there quite rapidly, so you have to be confident that you can deal with this.

Some universities do that foundation year as a standalone option, quite a few offer an integrated course with year 1 as the foundation and then a transition into the 1st year of a BSc, including some of the better ones, e.g. Bristol and Durham.

I have decided to retake Maths to push it up to a grade 8/9 as I have practiced a lot and I am confident I will get a much higher grade.

Good for you. The jump from maths GCSE to maths A level is significant so making sure you have mastery of the GCSE material is really important next step. A large part of a physics degree will be heavily mathematical and you need to start preparing for that now if its your long term goal.

Hi, I am really into Astrophysics and I currently take Applied Science BTEC which is know is not enough but I really wanted to take Physics/Biology when i went to college I did not meet the Maths requirements because I needed a grade 6 (B)and I only had a grade 4 (C)- I got full marks on the Physics GCSE paper and near enough full marks on the Biology paper which I told the college about but they didn't seem to recognise how much I really wanted to do the course- I even decided to retake GCSE Maths to push up my grade and I will hopefully be retaking it in November or Next year in June. Thanks

Hi,

Thank for your message, it’s great you’re looking for advice.

It’s likely you will need to have a degree qualification in a relevant subject, such as maths, physics or astrophysics in order to get into a career as an astronomer or astrophysicist so it may be worth looking at the degree options available with an applied science qualification.

While many universities will request an applicant to have A-Levels as entry qualification, a lot of university will accept alternative qualifications such as applied science if you are able to show you have the knowledge needed for the course.

I would always recommend speaking with universities directly to find out exactly what type of qualifications they will accept in order to make sure you are working from the most up to date information. Examples of universities who will accept BTEC qualifications (alongside other qualifications) can be seen below but there are many more:

https://www.uclan.ac.uk/courses/bsc-hons-astrophysics-foundation-entry.php

https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/astrophysics-mphys/entry-requirements/

https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-and-cosmology-bsc

I would also recommend having a look through the below websites to get a wider idea of the astrophysicist career in general:

https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/astronomer

https://ras.ac.uk/education-and-careers/careers

https://spacecareers.uk/?p=careers_resources

I hope this helps to begin with and good luck!

Tom.