• Question: what a level do i need to take to be a doctor?

    Asked by jennifer on 17 Jun 2021.
    • Photo: Laurence Quirk

      Laurence Quirk answered on 17 Jun 2021:


      Chemistry, biology and either maths or physics (or both) are the ones that most medical schools require. You’d have to check individual universities to see if they have a preference and what grades they would be looking for.

    • Photo: Jamie Hynes

      Jamie Hynes answered on 17 Jun 2021:


      To be a Doctor Jennifer, Chemistry is the must-have, with at least 2 others.
      All the rest you can pick up at Medical School, but for those of us who had done Biology as well the first term was easy going- the need to know bits from Biology A Level were covered that term- for the poor students who hadn’t done it it was a bit stressful!!!
      I found A Level Physics helpful and one of my modules that boosted my A Level was Health Physics- came in handy understanding how MRI scanners worked!
      You can check the UCAS guides for the latest A Level requirements as it may vary from Medical School to Medical School.

    • Photo: Sonali Kinra

      Sonali Kinra answered on 18 Jun 2021:


      I didn’t receive my education in UK but in India we had to do Physics, Chemistry and Biology. How much of that was useful in daily practice is questionable but was certainly helpful towards exams. Biology gave a good insight on what was to come further down the line.

    • Photo: Chisom Anaduaka-Akpan

      Chisom Anaduaka-Akpan answered on 23 Jun 2021:


      I am not really sure as I am an International Medical graduate. I studied in Nigeria and I’m sure the route is different.

    • Photo: Neha Rud

      Neha Rud answered on 29 Jun 2021:


      Hi Jennifer, I had to do biology and chemistry to get into medical school in the UK in 2008, ideally with Maths alongside. I found Biology the most helpful as we learnt lots about the human body which I found really interesting.

      However as previously mentioned, I would have a look online at university medical school websites as different medical schools may have different requirements.

    • Photo: James Waldron

      James Waldron answered on 2 Jul 2021: last edited 2 Jul 2021 3:03 pm


      Hey Jennifer,
      As far as I am aware, Chemistry is the only MUST DO, but biology will make the degree much more straightforward for you!
      The other is up to you! Some of the more traditional universities want maths or physics but I did Chemistry, biology, psychology and performance studies (which was Drama/Music and Dance!) I think these actually helped me a bit because it showed the other interests. (and of course I use my interpretive dance aspect of that course all the time…)
      Different unis might approach this different ways for instance – Nottingham offered me a place and were very complementary about how I interviewed (actually I met one of the doctors several years later who remembered me!) but Bristol didnt offer me an interview at all!

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