• Question: did you take all three sciences at school? if you did did you pass them all with top marks?

    Asked by PurdiePie to Anne, Arthur, Rose, Ruhina, Thomas on 15 Jun 2015. This question was also asked by scientist360.
    • Photo: Ruhina Miller

      Ruhina Miller answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      I took all 3 at GCSE but only Physics at AS-level and Chemistry at A-level – top grades for all. But good grades aren’t everything and it’s possible to do well without, providing that you show a willingness to work hard 🙂

    • Photo: Arthur Wilkinson

      Arthur Wilkinson answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      I only did GSCE physics and chemistry (or O levels as they were then called) and then left school to work in industry. I then did BTEC qualifications on day release from work. As my BTEC qualifications (and all my qualifications after that) are in polymers, I sometimes feel that my breadth of scientific knowledge is narrower than that of my colleagues. For this reason, and the fact that a lot of the exciting science is now done where two sciences meet (such as biological physics), I’d recommend as broad a science education as possible.

    • Photo: Rose Simnett

      Rose Simnett answered on 15 Jun 2015:

      I did all 3 sciences at GCSE and I did well in them. I got an A in Chemistry and Biology and an A* in Physics. At A Level I took Maths, Chemistry and Physics. I did well in Physics, I got a B but my Maths and Chemistry grades were not so good! I got a D in Chemistry and an E in Maths. I knew that this was just because I didn’t work hard enough.
      Luckily, I got into the university I wanted to and began to work hard again!

    • Photo: Thomas Farrugia

      Thomas Farrugia answered on 21 Jun 2015:

      Hi PurdiePo – I had all three at O Level, and then took biology and chemistry to A Level, and kept physics at Intermediate (similar to AS) Level.

      I’ve noticed you asked – all three sciences – don’t forget your maths! I only did Maths to O level and think it would have been better to keep studying it to a higher level – I had to do a lot of catch up at University, and was brought to around A Level standard, since it’s quite important for chemistry and science in general!

      Although I really enjoyed my sciences I think I was a pretty good all-rounder at school, but enjoying the subject does make it easier to study, and later on take to a higher degree. However don’t be put off if you don’t get the grades you expect – the higher up you go the more it is down to doing work consistently than having a good memory and revising the night before, so it’s all about work attitude.

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