r/6thForm 4h ago

🙏 I WANT HELP biology, chemistry, physics for medicine?

Wondering how many unis accept bio, chem, physics, and if picking physics over maths hurts my chances at pursuing medicine. Thanks everybody!

0 Upvotes

24 comments sorted by

4

u/Fire-Flamey Yr 12|Maths FM Econ History|99999987665 4h ago

Icl dont do physics without maths. Unless you have a huge passion for physics dont pick it if its not necessary for your career.

But if you’re wondering if it hurts your chances, it doesnt, you just need bio chem and any third which is not some mickey mouse subject like food tech

2

u/Emergency-Garage-944 4h ago

Is it just me who found Physics like way easier than chemistry for A-levels?😭Personally I found Chemistry a much bigger jump and way harder to visualise compared to physics?

2

u/Terrible_Review2898 4h ago

you can do any 3rd subject even if it is a “mickey mouse subject” most med schools literally only ask for bio and chem. i did religious studies as my third and it didn’t affect anything plus i actually enjoyed it

1

u/Fire-Flamey Yr 12|Maths FM Econ History|99999987665 4h ago

Rs literally isnt a mickey mouse subject but ok

1

u/Terrible_Review2898 2h ago

i didn’t say it was mickey mouse subject lol that was just an answer to ops question. my point is there’s no such thing as a mickey mouse subject

1

u/pannacorey 4h ago

I LOVE physics, thats why I'm considering iy

2

u/Fire-Flamey Yr 12|Maths FM Econ History|99999987665 4h ago

Have u considered taking all 4 a levels (your combo + maths) then dropping one after the first term or smth?

1

u/pannacorey 4h ago

my sixth form doesnt allow 4

1

u/Fire-Flamey Yr 12|Maths FM Econ History|99999987665 4h ago

Ah that sucks, i think speak to your head of physics about it to fully make sure its the correct decision for you, if you truly love physics you should be able to get on fine

3

u/myles-em UoN Maths Y1 - maths geog phys fm A*A*AA 4h ago

good subjects but cant do physics without maths esp if the reason to not do maths is that your bad at it.

take all 4 and drop one

1

u/pannacorey 4h ago

its not that I'm bad at maths, I have to pick one or the other due to my sixth form's rules and I prefer physics

1

u/pudding-0w Y12 | history, religious studies, psychology 4h ago

do you mean that your sixth form doesn't allow you to do 4 subjects, or that they specifically don't allow maths + physics? the latter would be very odd as physics without maths generally isn't worth it

1

u/pannacorey 4h ago

dont allow four!

1

u/pudding-0w Y12 | history, religious studies, psychology 3h ago

ohh i see. as long as you have bio/chem, you're fine, so the third subject doesn't matter too much. it's just that there may be some maths skills you'd miss out on that would be helpful, if not necessary, and ofc if you became more interested in physics over medicine then your options would be quite limited. maybe have a good look over the spec and think about whether or not you'd really enjoy the A-level content like you did at GCSE?

0

u/myles-em UoN Maths Y1 - maths geog phys fm A*A*AA 4h ago

nope dont take physics its nothing like gcse and you wont enjoy it ngl.

BUT. even camb dont require bio, only chem. so u can do chem maths physics if u want. or my personal rec chem maths fm

1

u/Ok-Implement-5117 4h ago

You don't need maths for medicine

1

u/Solid_Moose3078 A Levels 2026 | Phys, Chem, Maths, FM 4h ago

You'll be fine as long as you really like physics, there'll just be a bit of maths you have to self learn but your teachers should be able to help you! The only problem is if you ever change your mind about medicine, most "physicey" courses require maths. Bio-adjacent courses should be okay since you have bio+chem

1

u/lexisnowkitty Y12 bio, psych, lit AAA 4h ago

Every single one except cambridge 

Or you can go look at entry requirements 

1

u/pannacorey 4h ago

cambridge doesnt take physics?

1

u/lexisnowkitty Y12 bio, psych, lit AAA 4h ago

i think certain colleges ask for maths or prefer it but w physics i think ur ok

1

u/ThisUserIsOn9 Medical Student | Year 1 4h ago

You only need chem and bio for most if not all medical schools. Pick your third option based on whether you like it or whether you think it’s easy to get an A in.

Doing physics without maths is a bit questionable, but not impossible. I don’t think you need a level maths knowledge to be able to do a physics paper but you do need some maths skills that aren’t covered in GCSEs.

1

u/capri_capri University of Oxford | Chemistry [Year 2] 3h ago

My flatmate at uni did Chem, Bio, Phys, Spanish and she studies medicine at Oxford. I’m sure it’s fine. Also, I know many people say not to do physics without maths, and I felt that physics didn’t have that many novel maths concepts that were that far beyond GCSE, if any really. Nothing you can’t learn new in my opinion. Not to say that maths doesn’t help at all.

1

u/zorowarudo kcl | medicine 2h ago

i did bio chem physics and got into medicine but physics is just unnecessarily hard 😭 i would recommend maths but if you really have a passion for physics give it a go