• Question: what grade do you have to get to become a scientist

    Asked by anon-176146 to Stephen on 12 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Stephen MacKenzie

      Stephen MacKenzie answered on 12 Jun 2018:

      Hi there, a fair question. There are not set grades to become a scientist although you will almost certainly need to pass GSCEs in Maths, Science and English. These are usually basic barriers you need to enter into college courses, A levels or even apprenticeships. Beyond that there are actually many different routes not all involving university although many of them do. It really depends on the type of scientist you want to be and whether you want to work in a university, directly for the government or a private company.

Comments

  • Photo: Ali

    Ali commented on :

    I know this was directed at Stephen, but I’d like to jump in here (as someone who runs a science course at university). The grades universities ask for will depend a lot on what the course is. For instance, my (nutrition) course you need 4+ at GCSE (grade C) in English, Maths and two sciences, and then 112 points at A-level or equivalent including one science subject (info on how many points you get for each grade here: https://www.ucas.com/file/56691/download?token=OZbZ0gsQ). But we might take you with lower grades through clearing (something which happens when A-level results are released, if we still have spaces). Another science course at the same university you need 112 points, but 2 A-levels in an appropriate subject.

    But as Stephen says, you don’t necessarily need to go to University to be a scientist. It depends on what you want to do. Do you have a careers advisor at school? It might be worth talking to them about what you need.

    In terms of what I got at school, I got As, Bs and a C (and the C was in a science) at GCSE and then 2Bs and a C at A-level. When you apply to university you have to say which one is your first choice and which one is your back-up option. I wanted to go to Bristol uni, but didn’t get the grades I was predicted so I went to Glasgow uni, which was my second choice. Tell you what though, things always seem to work out, and I’m now doing things I never would’ve imagined of when I was at school. And that’s despite not getting the grades I needed!