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Do I need A levels to study astrophysics/astronomy in uni?

Are there any universities that accept students with only a IGCSE certificate into their astrophysics courses or do I need A levels first? I got a 9 in math and 8's in Physics, Biology, and Chemistry if that helps.

Reply 1

DataVenia

Volunteer Team

Original post by Abdirahman_M

No UK will accept you with just IGCSEs, and will require level 3 qualifications. Depending on the uni, these level 3 qualifications could be A levels, the IB, BTECs, etc.

Reply 2

TheSturmanator

This raises a few other questions. Where do you want to study, and how do you want to get to astrophysics? What I mean by this is that if you want to study at Oxbridge or other top unis like imperial, you’ll likely need a levels, physics, maths and further maths being the most important with probably either chemistry or computer science if you did 4. For more competitive applications you’d also have to do lots of other stuff to prove you’re going to flourish on that course. How do you want to study it? Astrophysics and astronomy are different subjects, but both of them can likely be accessed through a regular physics course, which is recommended because it builds the foundations that you need in all the different fields of physics to be able to understand Astro, which you’d pick up likely in your third year. It can also be done by applying to an astrophysics course, but these tend to be the same as the physics course at that uni anyway perhaps with a module or two swapped out, until third year again. Other courses are natural sciences and maths, both of which at some universities allow you to specialise towards Astro. Bearing in mind that most of these options require a levels, I’d stick to school for now and review your options at the beginning of year 12 to give yourself the best chances. Hope that helps!