Astrophysics
My son is currently doing his GCSE. He loves space research and fascinated by the possibilities. He likes to take up astrophysics as a career option. I don't know much about the learning pathway . I was hoping to get some advice on the pathway to become an astrophysicist.
Original post by Learning guru
My son is currently doing his GCSE. He loves space research and fascinated by the possibilities. He likes to take up astrophysics as a career option. I don't know much about the learning pathway . I was hoping to get some advice on the pathway to become an astrophysicist.
Hiya,
I'm a current 3rd year astrophysics and cosmology student at Lancaster Uni and the previous response to this post is correct: he does need to take maths and physics at A Level. Further maths is not a requirement for most unis but would definitely be a good subject to take if he thinks it is somehting he would like to do during A Level as it does make his uni application better and would make him more comfortable with the maths done within the degree as a whole. Personally, I took it for my 1st year of A level (year 12) but then decided to drop it and just focus on 3 subjects instead of 4, as it wasn't a requirement for the course I wanted to apply to (astrophysics at Lancaster).
Ultimately, it is a peronal choice whether he wants to pursue further maths or not and it also depends on the courses he wants to apply to for his degree.
I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Wishing him all the best for his GCSEs!
-- Arya (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)
Original post by Learning guru
My son is currently doing his GCSE. He loves space research and fascinated by the possibilities. He likes to take up astrophysics as a career option. I don't know much about the learning pathway . I was hoping to get some advice on the pathway to become an astrophysicist.
My daughter originally went down the Astrophysics route. She studied triple sciences, and did Physics Maths, Further maths and Chemistry, but almost ditched the Chemistry as it got a bit much. You can apply to unis without the further maths Alevel because you catch up in year one at uni anyway. Unless its somewhere like oxford/cambridge or ucl/imperial then maybe FM might be favorable.
She went to astronomy society in notts once a month which did look good on the personal statement. Also did a summer school at a university so thats always worth a look under summer school/summer residential. Thats where they stay at uni for 4-5 days studying that subject with other students who have just finished year 12.
She did work experiance at Nottingham uni in year 12 in the physics dept and there was around 18 students and she got put into the particle physics and cosmology group, and thats where she found her true calling.
Year 12 she would start to visit universities to get a feel if she liked a city or campus uni. She chose Oxford, Lancaster, leicester and york. York and Leicester was physics with astrophysics.Oxford physics, and lancaster physics with astro/physics with particle and cosmology. Oxford she had to do an entrance test, then got to interviews and then got rejected. She went to Lancaster doing physics, particle and cosmology. Its all under the term physics now, but the module choices are the same, so come year 2 into year 3, you can hone in more on the topic that suit your son. Which is great because he might find he likes quantum more, or electrodynamics even. He might like the computational side.
She is going into particle physics research and has a phd place at Manchester for september all being well with her 4th year exams which shes in at the moment. She has got friends in astrophysics and that subject for phd research is more competative, so when it comes to applications, its best to apply to as many unis as possible.
For now, physics and maths is key for alevels. he might was to do computing /IT if it helps.
Proffessor poveys perplexing problems is a good book she enjoyed during her alevels https://www.amazon.co.uk/Professor-Poveys-Perplexing-Problems-Pre-University/dp/1780747756 Also worth watching PBS spacetime on you tube.
Original post by Learning guru
My son is currently doing his GCSE. He loves space research and fascinated by the possibilities. He likes to take up astrophysics as a career option. I don't know much about the learning pathway . I was hoping to get some advice on the pathway to become an astrophysicist.
It’s great that your son has a good idea what he wants career-wise.
My university flatmate did an Astrophysics degree, a long time ago. She took A levels in Physics, Maths and another science, Chemistry I think, and possibly Statistics.
Gained a 1st class degree, then a PhD (also in Astrophysics). She did some post-doctoral work in a university, then worked in the private sector for about 6 years.
After that, she changed career, going down a fast-track management route into the Civil service. She became a senior manager, loved it, was well paid and worked there until she retired!
I wish your boy well.
Original post by Lancaster Student Ambassador
Hiya,
I'm a current 3rd year astrophysics and cosmology student at Lancaster Uni and the previous response to this post is correct: he does need to take maths and physics at A Level. Further maths is not a requirement for most unis but would definitely be a good subject to take if he thinks it is somehting he would like to do during A Level as it does make his uni application better and would make him more comfortable with the maths done within the degree as a whole. Personally, I took it for my 1st year of A level (year 12) but then decided to drop it and just focus on 3 subjects instead of 4, as it wasn't a requirement for the course I wanted to apply to (astrophysics at Lancaster).
Ultimately, it is a peronal choice whether he wants to pursue further maths or not and it also depends on the courses he wants to apply to for his degree.
I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Wishing him all the best for his GCSEs!
-- Arya (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)
I'm a current 3rd year astrophysics and cosmology student at Lancaster Uni and the previous response to this post is correct: he does need to take maths and physics at A Level. Further maths is not a requirement for most unis but would definitely be a good subject to take if he thinks it is somehting he would like to do during A Level as it does make his uni application better and would make him more comfortable with the maths done within the degree as a whole. Personally, I took it for my 1st year of A level (year 12) but then decided to drop it and just focus on 3 subjects instead of 4, as it wasn't a requirement for the course I wanted to apply to (astrophysics at Lancaster).
Ultimately, it is a peronal choice whether he wants to pursue further maths or not and it also depends on the courses he wants to apply to for his degree.
I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Wishing him all the best for his GCSEs!
-- Arya (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)
HI, That really did help. I just have a few more questions. What did you do in terms of work experience to make your application stronger? Are you enjoying your course? What are your long term career plans?
Kind regards
Sree
Original post by Lancaster Student Ambassador
Hiya,
I'm a current 3rd year astrophysics and cosmology student at Lancaster Uni and the previous response to this post is correct: he does need to take maths and physics at A Level. Further maths is not a requirement for most unis but would definitely be a good subject to take if he thinks it is somehting he would like to do during A Level as it does make his uni application better and would make him more comfortable with the maths done within the degree as a whole. Personally, I took it for my 1st year of A level (year 12) but then decided to drop it and just focus on 3 subjects instead of 4, as it wasn't a requirement for the course I wanted to apply to (astrophysics at Lancaster).
Ultimately, it is a peronal choice whether he wants to pursue further maths or not and it also depends on the courses he wants to apply to for his degree.
I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Wishing him all the best for his GCSEs!
-- Arya (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)
I'm a current 3rd year astrophysics and cosmology student at Lancaster Uni and the previous response to this post is correct: he does need to take maths and physics at A Level. Further maths is not a requirement for most unis but would definitely be a good subject to take if he thinks it is somehting he would like to do during A Level as it does make his uni application better and would make him more comfortable with the maths done within the degree as a whole. Personally, I took it for my 1st year of A level (year 12) but then decided to drop it and just focus on 3 subjects instead of 4, as it wasn't a requirement for the course I wanted to apply to (astrophysics at Lancaster).
Ultimately, it is a peronal choice whether he wants to pursue further maths or not and it also depends on the courses he wants to apply to for his degree.
I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask.
Wishing him all the best for his GCSEs!
-- Arya (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)
My daughter wants to do Astrophysics please can you let me know the requirements? She has Maths, physics, economics & English, she will drop Economics so will ABB accepted?
Original post by Sammy15
Hello Arya
My daughter wants to do Astrophysics please can you let me know the requirements? She has Maths, physics, economics & English, she will drop Economics so will ABB accepted?
My daughter wants to do Astrophysics please can you let me know the requirements? She has Maths, physics, economics & English, she will drop Economics so will ABB accepted?
Hi daughter at lancaster doing physics particle physics and cosmology, and the entrance grade was the same for BSC or intregrated masters (bsc + 1 years masters together) for physics with astro its AAA. It is possible they could drop to AAB. When the youngest applied in zoology, she got a 1 grade drop on one of them but that was about 3 weeks after the initial offer of what was advertised on the internet. So they could reduce it by a grade. Its definitely worth having Lancaster as one of the five.
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-bsc-hons-f3fm/2024/
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-mphys-hons-f3f5/2024/
To put it into context for clearing last year the grades were below (but is subject to change each year depending on how many make the grades).
Physics with Astrophysics : BSc Hons : F3FM - ABC
Physics with Astrophysics : MPhys : F3F5 - ABB
Original post by Ghostlady
Hi daughter at lancaster doing physics particle physics and cosmology, and the entrance grade was the same for BSC or intregrated masters (bsc + 1 years masters together) for physics with astro its AAA. It is possible they could drop to AAB. When the youngest applied in zoology, she got a 1 grade drop on one of them but that was about 3 weeks after the initial offer of what was advertised on the internet. So they could reduce it by a grade. Its definitely worth having Lancaster as one of the five.
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-bsc-hons-f3fm/2024/
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-mphys-hons-f3f5/2024/
To put it into context for clearing last year the grades were below (but is subject to change each year depending on how many make the grades).
Physics with Astrophysics : BSc Hons : F3FM - ABC
Physics with Astrophysics : MPhys : F3F5 - ABB
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-bsc-hons-f3fm/2024/
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-mphys-hons-f3f5/2024/
To put it into context for clearing last year the grades were below (but is subject to change each year depending on how many make the grades).
Physics with Astrophysics : BSc Hons : F3FM - ABC
Physics with Astrophysics : MPhys : F3F5 - ABB
Thank u so much … this helps🙏🏼
Original post by Ghostlady
Hi daughter at lancaster doing physics particle physics and cosmology, and the entrance grade was the same for BSC or intregrated masters (bsc + 1 years masters together) for physics with astro its AAA. It is possible they could drop to AAB. When the youngest applied in zoology, she got a 1 grade drop on one of them but that was about 3 weeks after the initial offer of what was advertised on the internet. So they could reduce it by a grade. Its definitely worth having Lancaster as one of the five.
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-bsc-hons-f3fm/2024/
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-mphys-hons-f3f5/2024/
To put it into context for clearing last year the grades were below (but is subject to change each year depending on how many make the grades).
Physics with Astrophysics : BSc Hons : F3FM - ABC
Physics with Astrophysics : MPhys : F3F5 - ABB
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-bsc-hons-f3fm/2024/
https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/physics-with-astrophysics-mphys-hons-f3f5/2024/
To put it into context for clearing last year the grades were below (but is subject to change each year depending on how many make the grades).
Physics with Astrophysics : BSc Hons : F3FM - ABC
Physics with Astrophysics : MPhys : F3F5 - ABB
Hello can you suggest more universities please, I have made up a list but want to see if I missed out on a good university, and thanks I added Lancaster to my list😊
Original post by Sammy15
Hello can you suggest more universities please, I have made up a list but want to see if I missed out on a good university, and thanks I added Lancaster to my list😊
The ones she applied to at the time was
Physics with astrophysics
Physics with particle physics and cosmology , both lancaster she chose the particle and cosmology route.
Physics with astro - york
Physics with astro - leicester
Physics - Oxford.
She got as far as interviews for oxford. unconditional at lancaster (they dont give them any more as far as i know). York was AAA and Leicester was ABB.
She also went to Leeds open day and that was also very good. Yorks astrocampus was great.
I would also think about birmingham, manchester, and durham.
We had Leicester in the mix as its lower grades, but its still a great uni regarding space physics.
Original post by Antique1
It’s great that your son has a good idea what he wants career-wise.
My university flatmate did an Astrophysics degree, a long time ago. She took A levels in Physics, Maths and another science, Chemistry I think, and possibly Statistics.
Gained a 1st class degree, then a PhD (also in Astrophysics). She did some post-doctoral work in a university, then worked in the private sector for about 6 years.
After that, she changed career, going down a fast-track management route into the Civil service. She became a senior manager, loved it, was well paid and worked there until she retired!
I wish your boy well.
My university flatmate did an Astrophysics degree, a long time ago. She took A levels in Physics, Maths and another science, Chemistry I think, and possibly Statistics.
Gained a 1st class degree, then a PhD (also in Astrophysics). She did some post-doctoral work in a university, then worked in the private sector for about 6 years.
After that, she changed career, going down a fast-track management route into the Civil service. She became a senior manager, loved it, was well paid and worked there until she retired!
I wish your boy well.
@Antique1
That is really interesting to hear as I am doing a Physics PhD as well although in low temperature physics rather than astro. Hearing about her career change is really insightful.
Tineke
Lancaster University Student Ambassador
Original post by Learning guru
HI, That really did help. I just have a few more questions. What did you do in terms of work experience to make your application stronger? Are you enjoying your course? What are your long term career plans?
Kind regards
Sree
Kind regards
Sree
Hi @Learning guru
I studied general physics at Lancaster, so didn't specialise in astrophysics but still physics.
It can be really difficult to get work experience in physics as it is not something that is widely offered. I didn't have any physics relevant work experience on my UCAS uni application. However, saying that we recently had a work experience student on a private tour of our labs (I'm currently a PhD student at Lancaster) so it may be possible. I would recommend that your son emails academics in the field that he's interested at a uni local to you. They are often impressed by the interest student's have and might be able to offer him something.
I really enjoyed my undergrad course, especially the labs.
I am unsure what my long term plans are at the moment to be honest. So far I have just followed what interests me and that has worked out so far. During my degree i completed internships over the summers. From a summer internship as a tech analyst at a bank I was offered a graduate job, which i had planned to take until my current PhD course popped up.
Hope that helps!
Tineke
Lancaster University Student Ambassador
Original post by Sammy15
Hello Arya
My daughter wants to do Astrophysics please can you let me know the requirements? She has Maths, physics, economics & English, she will drop Economics so will ABB accepted?
My daughter wants to do Astrophysics please can you let me know the requirements? She has Maths, physics, economics & English, she will drop Economics so will ABB accepted?
Hi @Sammy15
The nominal entry requirement is AAA including Physics and Maths. It may be that reduced offers are offered or the admissions team allow lower grades on results day / clearing but that can depend year on year as it depends on many factors and will be at the admissions teams discretion.
When I was applying for unis I was given the advice to apply to one or two ambitious entry requirements, 1 safety with slightly lower entry requirements and the rest with entry requirements similar to your predicted grades. I think this is very good advice and so I wouldn't put your daughter off from applying to Lancaster. I'd recommend that she attends the interview days offered once she has applied so that she can get a feel for the unis she's considering. It wasn't until I had visited the unis I had applied to that I was able to make a decision about which ones to put as my firm/insurance choices.
Hope that helps!
Tineke
Lancaster University Student Ambassador
Original post by ghostlady
The ones she applied to at the time was
Physics with astrophysics
Physics with particle physics and cosmology , both lancaster she chose the particle and cosmology route.
Physics with astro - york
Physics with astro - leicester
Physics - Oxford.
She got as far as interviews for oxford. unconditional at lancaster (they dont give them any more as far as i know). York was AAA and Leicester was ABB.
She also went to Leeds open day and that was also very good. Yorks astrocampus was great.
I would also think about birmingham, manchester, and durham.
We had Leicester in the mix as its lower grades, but its still a great uni regarding space physics.
Physics with astrophysics
Physics with particle physics and cosmology , both lancaster she chose the particle and cosmology route.
Physics with astro - york
Physics with astro - leicester
Physics - Oxford.
She got as far as interviews for oxford. unconditional at lancaster (they dont give them any more as far as i know). York was AAA and Leicester was ABB.
She also went to Leeds open day and that was also very good. Yorks astrocampus was great.
I would also think about birmingham, manchester, and durham.
We had Leicester in the mix as its lower grades, but its still a great uni regarding space physics.
Hi @Sammy15
Just to say that if you decide to apply to Lancaster Physics it is best to only apply to one of the streams and/or only one of the bsc/mphys courses. This is because you should be able to swap between the streams once you are at the university (unless you are on TPM - then it can be tricky) and can also swap between bsc/mphys provided there's space on the courses and you meet the requirements for the mphys. The first year is the same for all the physics courses, with the exception of theoretical physics and maths (TPM) which is also taught by the maths department. In my time you had to have a 2:1 to be accepted onto the mphys year, as far as I know this is still true.
This just means that you could free up a UCAS slot to give an application at another uni a shot.
My UCAS application was as follows:
Physics:
Oxford - failed admissions test
Liverpool - offer - was too close to home
Lancaster - offer - accepted - It felt very friendly and relaxed, I didn't have to share a room in accommodation, I liked the feel of the place and look of the facilities from the interview day, it wasn't too far from home and I was certain that I would meet the offer
York - offer
Biology and Physics:
Durham - offer
Hope that helps!
Tineke
Lancaster University Student Ambassador
(edited 9 months ago)
Original post by Lancaster Student Ambassador
Hi @Sammy15
Just to say that if you decide to apply to Lancaster Physics it is best to only apply to one of the streams and/or only one of the bsc/mphys courses. This is because you should be able to swap between the streams once you are at the university (unless you are on TPM - then it can be tricky) and can also swap between bsc/mphys provided there's space on the courses and you meet the requirements for the mphys. The first year is the same for all the physics courses, with the exception of theoretical physics and maths (TPM) which is also taught by the maths department. In my time you had to have a 2:1 to be accepted onto the mphys year, as far as I know this is still true.
This just means that you could free up a UCAS slot to give an application at another uni a shot.
My UCAS application was as follows:
Physics:
Oxford - failed admissions test
Liverpool - offer - was too close to home
Lancaster - offer - accepted - It felt very friendly and relaxed, I didn't have to share a room in accommodation, I liked the feel of the place and look of the facilities from the interview day, it wasn't too far from home and I was certain that I would meet the offer
York - offer
Biology and Physics:
Durham - offer
Hope that helps!
Tineke
Lancaster University Student Ambassador
Just to say that if you decide to apply to Lancaster Physics it is best to only apply to one of the streams and/or only one of the bsc/mphys courses. This is because you should be able to swap between the streams once you are at the university (unless you are on TPM - then it can be tricky) and can also swap between bsc/mphys provided there's space on the courses and you meet the requirements for the mphys. The first year is the same for all the physics courses, with the exception of theoretical physics and maths (TPM) which is also taught by the maths department. In my time you had to have a 2:1 to be accepted onto the mphys year, as far as I know this is still true.
This just means that you could free up a UCAS slot to give an application at another uni a shot.
My UCAS application was as follows:
Physics:
Oxford - failed admissions test
Liverpool - offer - was too close to home
Lancaster - offer - accepted - It felt very friendly and relaxed, I didn't have to share a room in accommodation, I liked the feel of the place and look of the facilities from the interview day, it wasn't too far from home and I was certain that I would meet the offer
York - offer
Biology and Physics:
Durham - offer
Hope that helps!
Tineke
Lancaster University Student Ambassador
Thank u for all the information 🙏🏼❤️
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