Looking for some guidance

I want to become a heart surgeon in the future, however i can’t choose biology or chemistry at a level because u need a 6 in maths, i am only getting a 5 at the moment and it can’t be higher as i’m on foundation. I also can’t be moved up to higher.However, i’m getting 8s and 9s in every other subject, so just wondering if maybe a collage would allow me to take bio and chem if i achieve those high grades in my other subjects and also agree to study for the gcse maths higher paper along with my a levels to hopefully get a 6. Is this a possibility? Just feeling completely lost at the moment. I am in year 11

Nearly all medical schools require a 6 in maths so this is going to be an important consideration which goes beyond choosing A level subjects.

Registering for higher maths as a private candidate sounds like a good idea but you'll need to think about how you're going to learn the subject once you've left school.

Different colleges have different entry requirements - some may be happy to let you study biology and chemistry A level with a 5 in maths.

So some things

I was aiming to do foundation year medicine which allows me to enter without a 6 in maths, but i think i’m going to be a private candidate in november 2024 and hopefully get a 6 with the help of a tutor, Thanks for your help

I want to become a heart surgeon in the future, however i can’t choose biology or chemistry at a level because u need a 6 in maths, i am only getting a 5 at the moment and it can’t be higher as i’m on foundation. I also can’t be moved up to higher.However, i’m getting 8s and 9s in every other subject, so just wondering if maybe a collage would allow me to take bio and chem if i achieve those high grades in my other subjects and also agree to study for the gcse maths higher paper along with my a levels to hopefully get a 6. Is this a possibility? Just feeling completely lost at the moment. I am in year 11

What other subjects are you taking? As a former special needs teacher, I would want to look into the situation if I knew a student was getting 8s and 9s in physics and chemistry but doing Foundation tier maths. There might not be much crossover in content between those subjects, but there is in the skills required, and while every student has their strengths and weaknesses it's quite unusual to see such a sizeable and very specific disparity unless there are extenuating circumstances. In my experience, those are usually a specific learning difficulty, patchy teaching in the affected subject (e.g. the pupil has moved schools frequently, or their school relies heavily on supply teachers), an inaccurate assessment of the pupil's level when setting them, or some combination of the three. It's not uncommon for academically able pupils with specific learning difficulties to be put into a lower set than they should be, and unfortunately some schools do have a tendency to treat sets as if they're fixed in stone and no one can ever be moved up. It's frustrating. But to get off my teaching soapbox and to return to your question, this shouldn't cause you any problems as far as medicine is concerned. If you approach local sixth-form colleges with a predicted 5 in maths and 8s and 9s in everything else, including biology and chemistry, I'd be extremely surprised if any of them refused to enrol you in subjects where you were expecting a top GCSE grade. If you do end up with a string of 9s, you might even find your current school is suddenly quite eager to make an exception to the A-level enrolment policy for you! They tend not to like their high achievers going elsewhere for sixth form.

Regarding the maths grade itself, there are several medical schools for whom a 5 is absolutely fine. Remember you can only apply to a maximum of four medical schools anyway, and with a good set of A-levels and a solid UCAT score you will have many more options open to you than that. So don't waste your time and energy on doing higher maths when you could be concentrating on your A-levels and building up relevant work experience. (If it's also that you quite enjoy maths and you'd like to stretch yourself more, there are free short online courses on platforms like Coursera and FutureLearn that will let you do this in your own time, without putting you under extra unnecessary pressure.) Best of luck with it all! 🙂

Congratulations on achieving such good predicted grades. You'll comfortably meet the minimum GCSE science requirements of pretty much every med school in the UK with double award science at 8-8. As things stand at the moment, if you achieve these predictions you've cleared the GCSE eligibility hurdle for least eight universities: Cambridge, Exeter, Glasgow, Newcastle, Oxford, Plymouth, QUB, and St Andrew's. If you meet Brighton's widening participating criteria you could also apply to them. Of course, entry requirements can change, but it's unlikely you'll be left without options providing you do well in your A-levels and UCAT.

As it does sound as if you have extenuating circumstances that tripped you up with maths, it would be worth asking colleges if they could waive the enrolment requirement. Shy bairns get nowt, as they say round here! Something like, "I'm interested in joining your college to study biology, chemistry, and [whatever else you're planning to do]. I plan to apply for medicine at university. My predicted GCSE grades in my chosen A-level subjects are 8, 8, and [whatever it is]. My other predictions are all 8s and 9s, with a 5 in maths. As I've been entered for Foundation tier, I'm working at the grade ceiling. Being entered for Foundation instead of Higher was a recent decision that I believe is a reflection of my situation rather than my ability; our class was affected by disruptive extenuating circumstances that I'm happy to discuss in detail if necessary. I've identified eight medical schools that I will be eligible to apply for with these GCSE results, providing I continue to get good results in the sciences at A-level. Would I be able to study biology and chemistry at [college name]?"

The problem with minimum requirements are that they will not necessarily meet shortlisting requirements.
Oxford and QUB heavily score GCSEs, and QUB score 9s separately to 8s and OP would not meet recent cut offs.
Cambridge would need 2 A* A levels, Exeter would need 3A* A levels and a 7th decile UCAT, Newcastle and St Andrews have needed >2800 UCAT, as have Glasgow for 2 out of the last 3 years. So without a top 10-20% UCAT and top A level grades, that leaves Plymouth (and Imperial), whereas a 6 in maths GCSE opens up many more med schools and allows for AAA at A level and a far lower UCAT and still have a good chance of shortlisting.

I was working on the assumption that as OP is predicted 8s and 9s in everything except maths, they have a good chance of pulling a couple of A*s out of the hat at A-level. A good chance obviously isn't a guarantee, but getting a 6 or better in GCSE maths isn't guaranteed either, especially not if the school's compromise is to make them study for the higher tier paper alongside their A-levels. There's a risk they would be spreading themselves too thin, and that might affect their grades across the board.

I think Oxford stopped scoring GCSEs as of last year. I know they used to be very GCSE-heavy, but their website now says there are no formal GCSE requirements for medicine.

Oxford stopped scoring GCSEs during covid as felt TAGs and CAGs were not accurate, but it is back to 50% of their scoring this year.
OP will need to decide if they are more likely to get a 6 in maths GCSE or several A* A levels and a high UCAT

I didn't realise Oxford's change was only temporary. Thanks for clarifying.

If OP doesn't achieve A* at A-level and they don't meet criteria for any widening participation schemes, I'd recommend they take a gap year and do their maths then. Hopefully they won't need to do that, but if they do, it's a safer option than balancing it alongside three A-levels. They could also find a job as a healthcare assistant or something similar, which would help them to pay for a tutor and for exam registration as a private candidate, as well as giving them some valuable experience and letting them demonstrate a pragmatic commitment to studying medicine.

If they didn't have such strong predicted grades across every other subject, I'd be giving different advice. I might also hesitate if they hadn't mentioned they were in a higher maths set until their class experienced a chaotic year, but these two things combined make me think that the issue is almost certainly their situation rather than their aptitude. It's disappointing that their school won't enter them for the higher tier, because with a bit of extra tuition to compensate for the disrupted learning I think they would stand a very good chance of getting that 6. Unfortunately decisions about which exams to enter pupils for aren't always based on the pupils' abilities and what would be in their best interest. They can be unduly influenced by the intense pressure schools are under to maintain their pass rates, especially in core subjects. With pupils who seem at all borderline in a tiered subject, a school might play it safe and enter them for Foundation because they are confident those kids will definitely get 5s when following that syllabus. They won't gamble their pass statistics by letting them attempt the higher tier, even if it means trapping them beneath a grade ceiling that doesn't allow them to explore their full potential and could affect their university prospects.