I don't know what degree to do with my A-levels

When I was in Year 11, I was very set on studying neuroscience and therefore chose to study Biology, Chemistry and Maths for A-levels. Chemistry was essential for most life science degrees, Biology consists of the basic fundamentals, and I picked Maths to keep options open (e.g. AI or computer science if I ever changed direction). My original plan was a BSc in Neuroscience followed by an MSc in Computational Neuroscience, but after doing more in-depth research recently, I started questioning whether neuroscience is the right path, mainly due to concerns about limited employment opportunities and long-term salary prospects. I’m not interested in Medicine, Dentistry or Vet Med. I got mostly 7s at GCSE, with a 5 in English Language, which limits me from going into the courses and medicine was never a strong interest anyway. As I’ve researched further, I’ve noticed that many bio-science degrees seem to lead to relatively low-paying roles unless you pursue further training (PhD). That’s made me worry that I may have chosen the “wrong” A-level combination. Most of my supercurriculars (online work experience, hospital volunteering) are bioscience-focused rather than tech-focused. I’m currently in Year 12, so I do still have time to explore tech-related opportunities, but tech has never been a genuine passion of mine and I don’t particularly enjoy maths. At the moment I’m considering Biochemistry or Pharmacology, but I’m unsure which would offer better long-term prospects. I’m also very interested in the NHS Scientist Training Programme (STP), but I’m not sure whether it would suit me in reality.
I’d really appreciate:
• Suggestions of bioscience degrees that offer reasonable financial stability and work–life balance
• Honest opinions on whether neuroscience is still worth doing (perhaps with a different Master’s)
• Insight into the NHS STP (competitiveness, day-to-day work, long-term career progression)
Thanks in advance.

When I was in Year 11, I was very set on studying neuroscience and therefore chose to study Biology, Chemistry and Maths for A-levels. Chemistry was essential for most life science degrees, Biology consists of the basic fundamentals, and I picked Maths to keep options open (e.g. AI or computer science if I ever changed direction). My original plan was a BSc in Neuroscience followed by an MSc in Computational Neuroscience, but after doing more in-depth research recently, I started questioning whether neuroscience is the right path, mainly due to concerns about limited employment opportunities and long-term salary prospects. I’m not interested in Medicine, Dentistry or Vet Med. I got mostly 7s at GCSE, with a 5 in English Language, which limits me from going into the courses and medicine was never a strong interest anyway. As I’ve researched further, I’ve noticed that many bio-science degrees seem to lead to relatively low-paying roles unless you pursue further training (PhD). That’s made me worry that I may have chosen the “wrong” A-level combination. Most of my supercurriculars (online work experience, hospital volunteering) are bioscience-focused rather than tech-focused. I’m currently in Year 12, so I do still have time to explore tech-related opportunities, but tech has never been a genuine passion of mine and I don’t particularly enjoy maths. At the moment I’m considering Biochemistry or Pharmacology, but I’m unsure which would offer better long-term prospects. I’m also very interested in the NHS Scientist Training Programme (STP), but I’m not sure whether it would suit me in reality.
I’d really appreciate:
• Suggestions of bioscience degrees that offer reasonable financial stability and work–life balance
• Honest opinions on whether neuroscience is still worth doing (perhaps with a different Master’s)
• Insight into the NHS STP (competitiveness, day-to-day work, long-term career progression)
Thanks in advance.

Have you considered a Natural Sciences degree? That would allow you to explore several areas, giving you more flexibility.

Try not to worry about the job market or your future finances, choose a degree that will interest you!
Im in year 13 now and last year I spent a lot of time on bio supercurriculars and narrowing down my options within bioscience degree courses. I'd be happy to answer any questions about this or a levels bio and maths 🙂

If u like neuroscience then just go for it dw about the job prospects. All u need to worry about is your personal statement (therefore super curricular and work experience) and your end of year exams for your predicted grades. This is because u need a good uni to get a job if thats what you’re worried about. Also consider optometry if u dont really care about the degree and more about work-life balance and jobs

Have you considered speech and language therapy?
It isn't as commonly known, however there is high demand for it currently and the pay is pretty good.
You can do a bit more research on it if you like, but it's an allied healthcare profession where you help people with speech difficulties.
Hope this helps.

Have you considered a Natural Sciences degree? That would allow you to explore several areas, giving you more flexibility.

In terms of neuroscience, what sort of WEX would you recommend bc right now I can’t seem to find things specifically for neuroscience so I’m just doing things that cover a broad aspect of biosciences. Furthermore I believe that neuroscience is sort of physics heavy which makes me re-consider my choice since I particularly don’t enjoy that subject too much. Please do correct me if I’m wrong tho.

Maybe get lab experience like shadowing phd students or something which can be really hard to find unless u have someone in your family who has friends doing that sort of things. Also u can do an epq on something related to neuroscience. It can be a bit boring as u can spend that time learning content or basically revision but some unis give reduced offers if u have a relevant epq and it shows your commitment. As far as ik neuroscience isn’t just physics with extra suffering. It can get quantitative, especially if you go into computational or systems neuroscience, but loads of it is biology, psychology, anatomy, pharmacology. If you actively hate physics, you’d probably just avoid the heavily maths based pathways. But yh overall i think its an interesting subject to do. You’d be exposed to stuff no one else would even think of

I do have a family friend working in a lab, but it's not a medical lab. It manufactures health, beauty and skincare products so I would say its more of a cosmetic chemistry lab. The people that work there did say that they will be able to give me a 1 week placement there but I'm not too sure if it would actually be suitable WEX for a bioscience applicant. I'm actually doing an EPQ but it completely unrelated to neuroscience. My EPQ is actually a project based on synthetic blood technologies and how effective they are in terms of managing the current blood shortages in emergency and trauma medicine. Thank you so much for your response tho, it really helped!

If you don’t mind could you lmk what degree you ended up choosing and what sort of supercurriculars you did to make that decision??

When I was in Year 11, I was very set on studying neuroscience and therefore chose to study Biology, Chemistry and Maths for A-levels. Chemistry was essential for most life science degrees, Biology consists of the basic fundamentals, and I picked Maths to keep options open (e.g. AI or computer science if I ever changed direction). My original plan was a BSc in Neuroscience followed by an MSc in Computational Neuroscience, but after doing more in-depth research recently, I started questioning whether neuroscience is the right path, mainly due to concerns about limited employment opportunities and long-term salary prospects. I’m not interested in Medicine, Dentistry or Vet Med. I got mostly 7s at GCSE, with a 5 in English Language, which limits me from going into the courses and medicine was never a strong interest anyway. As I’ve researched further, I’ve noticed that many bio-science degrees seem to lead to relatively low-paying roles unless you pursue further training (PhD). That’s made me worry that I may have chosen the “wrong” A-level combination. Most of my supercurriculars (online work experience, hospital volunteering) are bioscience-focused rather than tech-focused. I’m currently in Year 12, so I do still have time to explore tech-related opportunities, but tech has never been a genuine passion of mine and I don’t particularly enjoy maths. At the moment I’m considering Biochemistry or Pharmacology, but I’m unsure which would offer better long-term prospects. I’m also very interested in the NHS Scientist Training Programme (STP), but I’m not sure whether it would suit me in reality.
I’d really appreciate:
• Suggestions of bioscience degrees that offer reasonable financial stability and work–life balance
• Honest opinions on whether neuroscience is still worth doing (perhaps with a different Master’s)
• Insight into the NHS STP (competitiveness, day-to-day work, long-term career progression)
Thanks in advance.

Hiya,
I agree with all the people saying look into Natural Sciences!
As a second year NatSci student who took the same A-Levels I’ve loved the range and flexibility of the course. It may differ between unis but at Exeter we get so much freedom with which modules to pick in second and third years so you can really tailor the course to your interests. I’m taking modules from the maths and biosciences departments but I know others taking modules around neuroscience, statistics, computing, physics and astronomy. While the majority of our optional modules have to be STEM based I also know a few people who chose to take an economics or languages module to expand their horizons.
I’m also interested in the NHS scientist training programme and have a NatSci friend who is too! While I can’t give any insight into what it’s like, I can say that with suitable module choices for the STP specialism you’re interested in, a Natural Sciences degree can give you a good foundation of knowledge in life sciences and analytical skills that will definitely help your application, if you can achieve the grades for the required 2:1 degree classification.
I’ve seen some other really interesting degree suggestions on this thread so definitely have a look into anything that appeals to you! Hope this was helpful, let me know if you have any more questions.
Bella
University of Exeter Student Ambassador

As someone who shortlists for the STP, if you have a Natural Sciences degree make sure you highlight very carefully how your module choices map to the specialism. Because it can be relevant, but it can also be entirely irrelevant and you risk your application being thrown out if you aren't careful.

When I was in Year 11, I was very set on studying neuroscience and therefore chose to study Biology, Chemistry and Maths for A-levels. Chemistry was essential for most life science degrees, Biology consists of the basic fundamentals, and I picked Maths to keep options open (e.g. AI or computer science if I ever changed direction). My original plan was a BSc in Neuroscience followed by an MSc in Computational Neuroscience, but after doing more in-depth research recently, I started questioning whether neuroscience is the right path, mainly due to concerns about limited employment opportunities and long-term salary prospects. I’m not interested in Medicine, Dentistry or Vet Med. I got mostly 7s at GCSE, with a 5 in English Language, which limits me from going into the courses and medicine was never a strong interest anyway. As I’ve researched further, I’ve noticed that many bio-science degrees seem to lead to relatively low-paying roles unless you pursue further training (PhD). That’s made me worry that I may have chosen the “wrong” A-level combination. Most of my supercurriculars (online work experience, hospital volunteering) are bioscience-focused rather than tech-focused. I’m currently in Year 12, so I do still have time to explore tech-related opportunities, but tech has never been a genuine passion of mine and I don’t particularly enjoy maths. At the moment I’m considering Biochemistry or Pharmacology, but I’m unsure which would offer better long-term prospects. I’m also very interested in the NHS Scientist Training Programme (STP), but I’m not sure whether it would suit me in reality.
I’d really appreciate:
• Suggestions of bioscience degrees that offer reasonable financial stability and work–life balance
• Honest opinions on whether neuroscience is still worth doing (perhaps with a different Master’s)
• Insight into the NHS STP (competitiveness, day-to-day work, long-term career progression)
Thanks in advance.

When I was in Year 11, I was very set on studying neuroscience and therefore chose to study Biology, Chemistry and Maths for A-levels. Chemistry was essential for most life science degrees, Biology consists of the basic fundamentals, and I picked Maths to keep options open (e.g. AI or computer science if I ever changed direction). My original plan was a BSc in Neuroscience followed by an MSc in Computational Neuroscience, but after doing more in-depth research recently, I started questioning whether neuroscience is the right path, mainly due to concerns about limited employment opportunities and long-term salary prospects. I’m not interested in Medicine, Dentistry or Vet Med. I got mostly 7s at GCSE, with a 5 in English Language, which limits me from going into the courses and medicine was never a strong interest anyway. As I’ve researched further, I’ve noticed that many bio-science degrees seem to lead to relatively low-paying roles unless you pursue further training (PhD). That’s made me worry that I may have chosen the “wrong” A-level combination. Most of my supercurriculars (online work experience, hospital volunteering) are bioscience-focused rather than tech-focused. I’m currently in Year 12, so I do still have time to explore tech-related opportunities, but tech has never been a genuine passion of mine and I don’t particularly enjoy maths. At the moment I’m considering Biochemistry or Pharmacology, but I’m unsure which would offer better long-term prospects. I’m also very interested in the NHS Scientist Training Programme (STP), but I’m not sure whether it would suit me in reality.
I’d really appreciate:
• Suggestions of bioscience degrees that offer reasonable financial stability and work–life balance
• Honest opinions on whether neuroscience is still worth doing (perhaps with a different Master’s)
• Insight into the NHS STP (competitiveness, day-to-day work, long-term career progression)
Thanks in advance.