Entry requirement advice

Hi there!!

I find myself in a challenging situation and would greatly appreciate your advice. Last academic year, I had to restart Year 12 due to a change in colleges. The transition required me to repeat the year, as the History class at my new college finished the topics faster than what I had previously studied, and I would have fallen behind.

I am currently pursuing A-Levels in Psychology, History, and Sociology, along with an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), for which I achieved an A. My long-term goal is to study Biomedical Science and subsequently pursue a graduate degree in Medicine. Unfortunately, I did not perform as well as I had hoped in my GCSE science subjects, which prevented me from taking A-Level Biology, which is why I am taking this longer route to become a surgeon.

My concern is whether universities consider A-Level Psychology as a science, particularly for Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours courses in Biomedical Science, which often require an A-Level in a science subject. This is a significant consideration for me, as I am exploring foundation courses, though I am somewhat discouraged by the prospect, having already repeated a year.

I am specifically interested in the following universities:

University of Surrey
University of Kent
Canterbury Christ Church University
University of West London
University of Suffolk

Thank you all in advance for any help and guidance!

Reply 1

EssexStudentRep

Official Rep

Original post

by dxmiliah

Hi there!!
I find myself in a challenging situation and would greatly appreciate your advice. Last academic year, I had to restart Year 12 due to a change in colleges. The transition required me to repeat the year, as the History class at my new college finished the topics faster than what I had previously studied, and I would have fallen behind.
I am currently pursuing A-Levels in Psychology, History, and Sociology, along with an Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), for which I achieved an A. My long-term goal is to study Biomedical Science and subsequently pursue a graduate degree in Medicine. Unfortunately, I did not perform as well as I had hoped in my GCSE science subjects, which prevented me from taking A-Level Biology, which is why I am taking this longer route to become a surgeon.
My concern is whether universities consider A-Level Psychology as a science, particularly for Bachelor of Science (BSc) Honours courses in Biomedical Science, which often require an A-Level in a science subject. This is a significant consideration for me, as I am exploring foundation courses, though I am somewhat discouraged by the prospect, having already repeated a year.
I am specifically interested in the following universities:
University of Surrey
University of Kent
Canterbury Christ Church University
University of West London
University of Suffolk
Thank you all in advance for any help and guidance!

Hiya 👋

I'm a biomed student at Essex, just finishing up my placement year and coming back for my final year this October.

It's worth getting in touch with the undergrad admissions for each of the unis you're interested in to ask about their specific entry requirements.

At Essex they would accept psychology as a second science but you would need to have biology or chemistry as well, unless you go through the foundation year first. I came in a different route as a mature student with a Science Access to HE Diploma as I did an extra one year college course before applying. I picked Suffolk as my insurance but ultimately preferred Essex for its campus and STEM facilities.

Our BSc Biomedical Science courses are accredited by the IBMS and we have the best NHS placement programme for biomed in the country. We have more students on their applied biomed placement than any other uni.

If you do the applied biomed course with the NHS placement year, that's a 4 year degree right there. If your plan is to go into post grad medicine and you're not that interested in becoming a biomedical scientist, then you don't really need the placement year. So if you were to do a foundation year first with Essex Pathways then that's still 4 years to complete your degree.

Let me know if you have any questions or want to know more about biomedical science.

Best wishes
Essex Student Rep - Hayley