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How Important Is Physics in a Chemistry Degree? (Probably a Stupid Question)

Hello, I have applied to do undergraduate chemistry this autumn, and I have a somewhat silly question for anyone currently doing a chemistry degree; that is, how important is it to have done physics at A Level, in order to do a chemistry degree?

I know that obviously, the chemistry courses do not require A Level Physics in order to apply, but I have heard from a number of sources that degree-level Chemistry is very heavily physics-based.

For context, I took A Level Chemistry, Biology, and Maths. I suspect that a lot of chemistry applicants will have taken physics, but I haven't been in contact with any fellow applicants to confirm or deny.

I know that I am not expected to have any prior understanding of A Level Physics, but in a class of students who did do physics, will I be at a significant disadvantage?

Just to add on, I am expecting a good grade in A Level Maths, and handled the maths in A Level Physical Chemistry well, so my main concern isn't that I'll struggle with the content, more that I'll be behind compared to my peers.

Tl;dr, I didn't do A Level Physics. Will this significantly hinder me in a Chemistry degree?

Reply 1

gd99

Short answer - no. Loads of people on my course (Chemistry) did the same A Level combinations as you. They may have a bit more work when there are topics where we partially covered it in A Level Physics, but equally in the BioChem parts of the course those of us who didn’t do Biology had a bit more to do. It won’t be a problem, just be prepared to do a little bit more work on a few topics, but it won’t be too many.