Am I being too risky with my university options?

3

Hi,
I'm a yr12 student studying A level biology, chemistry, maths and further maths who is hoping to study biological natural sciences (I got 7s-9s at GCSE).

The universities I would like to apply to are as followed:
Cambridge- natural sciences
King's- natural sciences
Imperial- biology
York- biology
Bristol- biology

Am I setting myself up to fail if I apply to these universities, or should I be ok? I know biology is less competitive than subjects like medicine and computer science, but I'm still worried.

(edited 11 months ago)

Reply 1

stilllearning123

16

Original post

by Milah_

Hi,
I'm a yr12 student studying A level biology, chemistry, maths and further maths who is hoping to study biological natural sciences (I got 7s-9s at GCSE).
The universities I would like to apply to are as followed:
Cambridge- natural sciences
King's- natural sciences
Imperial- biology
York- biology
Bristol- biology
Am I setting myself up to fail if I apply to these universities, or should I be ok? I know biology is less competitive than subjects like medicine and computer science, but I'm still worried.

I would say you might have a tough time getting in to Cambridge, Imperial and King's, not saying you shouldn't apply but they are top uni's so they'll get a lot of top applicants. The other two are more realistic and can probably act as safety choices if you don't get into the others.

You need to ask yourself, why would you get in over someone else? What do you you have over an applicant with better grades than yourself? You need to think of something or there is no way you'll get in.
Maybe good work experience or a good score in a biology Olympiad? You wouldn't have much problem getting a decent score as you seem smart enough. What sets you apart from the crowd?

Best of luck.

Reply 2

McGinger

20

You are also going to find it difficult writing a PS for both Natural Sciences and single subject Biology that doesn't make it look obvious that you are not focussed on either.

Reply 3

University of York

Official Rep

13

Original post

by Milah_

Hi,
I'm a yr12 student studying A level biology, chemistry, maths and further maths who is hoping to study biological natural sciences (I got 7s-9s at GCSE).
The universities I would like to apply to are as followed:
Cambridge- natural sciences
King's- natural sciences
Imperial- biology
York- biology
Bristol- biology
Am I setting myself up to fail if I apply to these universities, or should I be ok? I know biology is less competitive than subjects like medicine and computer science, but I'm still worried.

Hi there,

It's great to hear that you're considering studying at York! 🎉

I don't think you're setting yourself up to fail at all, it sounds like you did excellently at GCSE, so I'm sure you'll perform well at A level as well. Plus, it sounds like you're a fairly organised person as you're ahead of the game by working out where you'd like to apply now, rather than waiting till the start of year 13.

For 2025 entry, the entry requirements to BSc (Hons) Biology at York are: AAB, including Biology and a second science.

I actually studied biology at York between 2018 and 2022, so I'll give a quick overview of my experience studying biology with us:

Modules and teaching

I found the modules available to be extremely varied, I was usually stuck between a few when it came to picking my modules for second and third year!

In my experience, the teaching was always good, and I liked that there was a variety of teaching formats across my modules:

•

Tutorials - small group teaching where you develop your academic skills such as analysing papers, critical thinking, presentations and writing essays.

•

Workshops - a chance to work through problems related to the lecture material to help you apply the theory learnt in lectures and prepare for exams.

•

Practical lab sessions - to begin with, this is taught in larger groups with support from PhD student demonstrators. You are often in pairs, which helps you meet students from across the cohort. In final year(s), these practical lab sessions may take place in a research lab with a supervisor as part of your dissertation.

•

Lectures

Reputation

•

York is currently 7th in the UK for Biology (Complete University Guide, 2025)

•

1st in the Russell Group for Academic Support (National Student Survey, 2025)

•

University of York is one of only four UK universities which is ranked gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (2023) and in the top 10 for research (REF, 2021)

Facilities

The Department of Biology has some great study spaces specifically for students within the Department, my favourite being the Creative Lounge as it has really cosy sofas and desks which are perfect for group or independent work. When I was a student, many of our lecturers had offices around the Creative Lounge, making it super easy to catch them for a chat with any questions I had about an assignment or “homework” for the module.

The teaching block for the Department (including seminar rooms, teaching labs, computer rooms and study spaces) was built in 2016, so it remains very modern and an incredibly pleasant teaching and learning environment.

Industry connections / employability

At the end of the second year of your Biology/Biomed course at York, you'll have the opportunity to undertake a Year in Industry or a Placement Year (a Year in Industry is supported by the Department of Biology, while a Placement Year is supported by the Careers Department).

Finding this year in industry / placement will be largely down to the student during the second year of the course, but the Department of Biology does support with this process by:

•

Holding practice interviews and practice assessment centres

•

Sharing opportunities as the Department becomes aware of them

•

Offering in-house years in industry, when possible

After your degree, you become a York alum and you can access careers support from us through our York for Life scheme.

Overall, I hugely enjoyed studying Biology at York, and I'm certain I made the right decision for me. To help you make the right decision, I would definitely recommend that you join us for visit day for offer holders, which you might be invited to in the coming weeks.

If you have got any specific questions about studying Biology/Biomed at York, or about life as a student in York, just drop us a reply and we'll do our best to answer :blush:

I hope this helps - Hannah 😀

Reply 4

hicweondksc

11

Original post

by Milah_

Hi,
I'm a yr12 student studying A level biology, chemistry, maths and further maths who is hoping to study biological natural sciences (I got 7s-9s at GCSE).
The universities I would like to apply to are as followed:
Cambridge- natural sciences
King's- natural sciences
Imperial- biology
York- biology
Bristol- biology
Am I setting myself up to fail if I apply to these universities, or should I be ok? I know biology is less competitive than subjects like medicine and computer science, but I'm still worried.

A good structure for UCAS choices that I used is having 1 dream/top unis that you really want to go to but have a small chance because it's so competitive then 2 attainable unis where it is realistic to get into them as you meet entry requirements finally of course 1 safety uni where you exceed entry requirements and have a very likely chance of getting into. The most important thing is that you genuinely like all your university choices and the courses they offer. I know people in my school who only wanted to get into top unis and applied to random ones as fillers/safeties and ended up in places they hated.

Reply 5

Milah_

OP

3

Original post

by stilllearning123

I would say you might have a tough time getting in to Cambridge, Imperial and King's, not saying you shouldn't apply but they are top uni's so they'll get a lot of top applicants. The other two are more realistic and can probably act as safety choices if you don't get into the others.
You need to ask yourself, why would you get in over someone else? What do you you have over an applicant with better grades than yourself? You need to think of something or there is no way you'll get in.
Maybe good work experience or a good score in a biology Olympiad? You wouldn't have much problem getting a decent score as you seem smart enough. What sets you apart from the crowd?
Best of luck.

Thank you. In terms of supercurriculars, I do plan on entering the Biology Olympiad and I also have some work experience lined up which might make me stand out. I also intend on entering an essay competition. I'm currently doing an outreach programme with Cambridge.
While this doesn't guarantee me a place at these universities, I hope that it would allow me to stand out amongst other candidates.

Reply 6

Holly162

4

If you have the required predicted grades then you’ll be fine. I applied for 5 top unis with no safety options for chemistry and got all 5 offers, albeit this was a few years ago now. In the admissions statement they often say they don’t even read the personal statements anyway, I know this was the case for chemistry at Bristol. But yeah overall you shouldn’t have a problem if you have the grades. Good luck!

Reply 7

McGinger

20

Original post

by Holly162

If you have the required predicted grades then you’ll be fine. I applied for 5 top unis with no safety options for chemistry and got all 5 offers, albeit this was a few years ago now. In the admissions statement they often say they don’t even read the personal statements anyway, I know this was the case for chemistry at Bristol. But yeah overall you shouldn’t have a problem if you have the grades. Good luck!

Chemistry is not that competitive, even at AAA Unis - mainly because far fewer folk are taking A level Chemistry now and so Unis are more likely to make offers to those below grades. The same does not apply to Natural Sciences.

Reply 8

Holly162

4

Original post

by McGinger

Chemistry is not that competitive, even at AAA Unis - mainly because far fewer folk are taking A level Chemistry now and so Unis are more likely to make offers to those below grades. The same does not apply to Natural Sciences.

Yes, but I’ve also never heard from anyone that I know who applied to any of the top unis for biology/natural sciences with the right grades that they didn’t get an offer. Everyone I know was the same as me despite the different course

Reply 9

stilllearning123

16

Original post

by Milah_

Thank you. In terms of supercurriculars, I do plan on entering the Biology Olympiad and I also have some work experience lined up which might make me stand out. I also intend on entering an essay competition. I'm currently doing an outreach programme with Cambridge.
While this doesn't guarantee me a place at these universities, I hope that it would allow me to stand out amongst other candidates.

Yeah, I don't know much about getting into other courses other than Medicine and Dentistry, so I don't know specifically what would make you stand out. Seems you are doing well for yourself, ahead of the game for the people that think that biology will be easy to get in to.
Best of luck to you.

Reply 10

Milah_

OP

3

Original post

by McGinger

You are also going to find it difficult writing a PS for both Natural Sciences and single subject Biology that doesn't make it look obvious that you are not focussed on either.

I genuinely don't know how to get around this, as not every school does natural sciences, and some that do don't have my preferred modules.
I'm interested in biology, but how would I incorporate this into a personal statement for natural sciences where I would also do other subjects?

Reply 11

McGinger

20

Original post

by Milah_

I genuinely don't know how to get around this, as not every school does natural sciences, and some that do don't have my preferred modules.
I'm interested in biology, but how would I incorporate this into a personal statement for natural sciences where I would also do other subjects?

I would suggest that you contact the 'Biology' choices now (by phone, not email) and explain.
Ask if they will allow you to submit a separate PS directly to them for your Biology options.

Btw, for NS, its important that you don't just explain your interest in the individual subjects you want to study, but you need to also stress that you are interested in the connections between those subjects.

And - this course isnt called Natural Sciences but its similar
BSc Life Sciences - course details (2025 entry) | The University of Manchester
and have you looked at Bath - Natural Sciences

Reply 12

lucasnch1

10

Original post

by Milah_

I genuinely don't know how to get around this, as not every school does natural sciences, and some that do don't have my preferred modules.
I'm interested in biology, but how would I incorporate this into a personal statement for natural sciences where I would also do other subjects?

People have been successful writing about a single science in their personal statement at places like Cambridge and Durham. As long as it's strong you should be fine and maybe briefly mention the interdisciplinary nature of science. Also I don't know about King College but Cambridge give the opportunity to write about why you want to apply natural sciences more specifically on Something seperate to your personal statement. I would say, if you're worried about whether you need to blend both. I reckon you should focus 95% on biology for your academic personal statement

Reply 13

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post

by Milah_

Hi,
I'm a yr12 student studying A level biology, chemistry, maths and further maths who is hoping to study biological natural sciences (I got 7s-9s at GCSE).

The universities I would like to apply to are as followed:
Cambridge- natural sciences
King's- natural sciences
Imperial- biology
York- biology
Bristol- biology

Am I setting myself up to fail if I apply to these universities, or should I be ok? I know biology is less competitive than subjects like medicine and computer science, but I'm still worried.

In terms of entry criteria for those courses I don't think there's anything unreasonable about this set of options. If anything you might be able to venture swapping out one of the safer options for another aspirational choice if you wished to, assuming you are going to be predicted A*A*A or above in line with the requirements for Cambridge (which will be the highest grade criteria of the set and I suspect highest for any bioscience or natural sciences course...?

Reply 14

Jonjon7

Universities Forum Helper

14

Original post

by Milah_

Hi,
I'm a yr12 student studying A level biology, chemistry, maths and further maths who is hoping to study biological natural sciences (I got 7s-9s at GCSE).
The universities I would like to apply to are as followed:
Cambridge- natural sciences
King's- natural sciences
Imperial- biology
York- biology
Bristol- biology
Am I setting myself up to fail if I apply to these universities, or should I be ok? I know biology is less competitive than subjects like medicine and computer science, but I'm still worried.

Do be extremely careful when applying to Imperial with a PS that does not suit their taste, so as to speak. Various departments at ICL have mentioned they want to see a "pure dedicated" application to their departments. Therefore having natural sciences and biology is likely to be an issue for ICL application.

Now going back to PS, it will be scrapped from 2025 onwards and replaced with 3 questions - though still likely revolving around the previous ps structure.

Olympiads may or may not be considered as a plus point by unis so it's best that you do your homework and research on the unis you are intending to apply to.

Reply 15

Actuallyhelp:(

3

If it's any help I applied for Natural sciences at KCL, UCL + Cambridge and Biological sciences/Biology at Imperial + Queen Mary this year. My personal statement was quite Biology focused but I did include some Chem. So far I've gotten offers from KCL, QM and Imperial (I also did get invited to interview by Cambridge but I absolutely bombed both my ESAT and interviews for a multitude of reasons).

I would say that your selection of universities are not too risky if you have the ability to get the grades to apply to Cambridge! I would be careful when it comes to the universities you pick with lower entry requirements though. Make sure you actually want to go there if you plan to put one as your insurance and don't just apply for the sake of having one lower offer (like me :/).

Some other people have mentioned difficulty writing a PS for 2 'different' courses but I noticed that, in reality, many NatSci and Biology courses are not that dissimilar. You should maybe be careful and make sure to speak about the sciences in an interdisciplinary manner to some extent whilst also relating back to biology (considering some of the comments I've seen about Imperial and other unis about "dedicated" PSs). I would make sure to go to open days/ webinars, etc. from the unis you're interested in as they tend to talk about what they expect from a PS, especially for NatSci courses. I wouldn't be too worried in that regard though, a biology focused PS is likely to be understood by most admissions tutors for a natural sciences course, especially considering that most candidates tend to have a preference for the biological or physical side.

p.s. this should still work for the new PS layout

Am I being too risky with my university options?

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