What comes next
What A-levels do I need for medicine?
Chemistry is the near-universal requirement - nearly every UK medical school asks for it. Biology is strongly typical alongside, and required by many. The third subject is freer than people assume. But requirements genuinely differ between medical schools, so always check each one's published list - and remember that strong GCSEs, an admissions test and relevant experience count alongside the A-levels. If a first application misses, foundation years and graduate entry keep the road open.
Last updated 29 July 2026 · Written and fact-checked by the GCSEwiz team
The subjects, honestly weighted
If you want the widest possible choice of medical schools, the safe core is chemistry and biology. Chemistry is the closest thing medicine has to a universal requirement; biology is required or expected by many schools and never counts against you. The third subject is genuinely freer than sixth-form folklore suggests - maths and physics are popular and useful, but a well-taught essay subject shows range and is welcomed by plenty of schools. What matters most in the third slot is a subject you can score highly in, because medicine offers are high.
| Subject | Where it stands |
|---|---|
| Chemistry | Near-universal - required by almost every UK medical school |
| Biology | Strongly typical - required by many, expected by most |
| Third subject | Freer than assumed - pick something you can excel in |
| Further maths as the third | Rarely asked for - three strong grades matter more |
Medicine is one place your GCSEs really do count
Most degree courses barely glance at GCSEs; medicine is the exception. Many medical schools score GCSE results as part of selection - some quite mechanically - with English, maths and the sciences carrying particular weight. If medicine is a serious thought in Year 10 or 11, that is worth knowing early: the GCSE grades you are earning now are already part of the application, not just a warm-up for it. It is one of the few cases where "these exams matter for the dream" is the literal, checkable truth.
The A-levels are necessary, not sufficient
Medical selection looks at the whole picture. Alongside predicted and achieved grades, you will sit an admissions test - the UCAT, for most UK medical schools - and your application is strengthened by evidence that you understand what the job actually is: volunteering, time in caring roles, conversations with people who do the work. None of this needs to be glamorous; consistent commitment to something caring beats a week of prestigious shadowing. Start gathering it in Year 12, not the week the form is due.
Check every school - and know the road has more than one lane
Requirements differ between medical schools more than applicants expect - subjects, grades, how GCSEs are scored, how the admissions test is weighted. Before you fix your A-level choices, read the published entry requirements of a handful of medical schools you might apply to; before you apply, read them again, because they change. Never let a forum summary (including this one) substitute for the school's own page.
And if the first application does not land - which happens to strong candidates every year, because places are scarce - the road forks rather than ends. Medicine-with-foundation-year programmes, degrees in biomedical sciences followed by graduate-entry medicine, and simply reapplying with a stronger year are all well-trodden. Plenty of excellent doctors got in on the second ask.