Can A-Level PE Lead to a Degree in Medicine?

Welcome to our blog.

Before you go further and discover whether, in fact, A-level PE can lead to a degree in medicine, I want you to ask yourself two questions:

1) What do you think will be the conclusion to this post?

2) In your opinion, is A-level PE a good preparation for a medicine degree?

(Parts 2 and 3 are now available! Read "Can A-level PE Lead to a Degree in Medicine? Part 2" and "Can A-level PE Lead to a Degree in Medicine? Part 3" to find out how the story ends.)

Now that that’s out of the way, allow me to offer a little context. I am an experienced PE teacher and I am a very experienced A-Level PE teacher. My career has spanned five different schools and colleges in the state sector and ten of those years were as Head of PE at Farnborough Sixth form College, between 2003 and 2013. Whilst in this role, I managed A-Level PE cohorts of up to 300 students per year and I became knowledgeable about every facet of A-Level delivery and management—it is my superpower, if I have one. I am deeply enamoured with the teaching of PE and consider myself to be in love with the subject. I also teach biology and have taught MFL in the past.  

I am also a father of two and, in 2021, my elder daughter Anna completed year 11 with a really pleasing set of outcomes. During the first week of July 2021, the four of us (we have a daughter in year 10 too) spent ten days in West Wales bodyboarding and kayaking and visiting some beautiful beaches. We also chatted a great deal about all sorts of things including Anna’s future. Naturally, there was a focus on which three A-Level subjects to choose and what these choices would mean for her future.

In July, Anna had these courses in mind in preference order:

1. A-Level PE
2. A-Level Biology
3. A-Level History
4. A-Level Chemistry
5. A-Level Art (Textiles)
6. A-Level Maths

The more we talked, the more Marta (mum) and I stressed the importance of having an eye on the future and the potential outcome of study. We tried diligently and compassionately not to be pushy but to ensure that Anna knew the general destinations of her impending choices. Also, the more we talked, the more Anna realised how much she wanted to study A-Level PE. “Great,” we thought. “We know the direction we are taking.” We repeatedly visited https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/ and looked at typical course combinations and where they led.

Then, in the middle of the week away, Anna asked us what we thought about studying medicine. I tried to suppress my excitement as a person who always felt that medicine could have been for me but never made the right choices to make it happen. We studied https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/ further and, predictably, discovered that science was the cornerstone of the knowledge and skill base that A-Level students must build.

From this point forward, Anna’s preferences now looked like this:

1. A-Level Chemistry
2. A-Level Biology
3. A-Level PE
4. A-Level History
5. A-Level Art (Textiles)
6. A-Level Maths

Then came the big question: does A-Level PE get you onto a medical degree?

On a personal level, I immediately experienced a conflict: I adore my subject and I am deeply proud to be an A-Level PE teacher, but I was uncertain whether A-Level PE as a third A-Level during a time of three courses only at KS5 would carry sufficient weight to get Anna where she wanted to be. I found myself making statements like “Anna, I love A-Level PE, you know I do, but…” I found this heartbreaking but the truth is that, in those moments before I had the big picture, Anna’s future was more important to me than my aspiration that A-Level PE was just as important as maths, say. 

The more we looked through guidance on both https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/ and also university pages themselves, we discovered the following:

➡️ Two sciences were mandatory. These could be two from bio, chem, phys or maths.

➡️ Some courses were not accepted as a third A-Level.

➡️ Achieving A,A,A was paramount.

➡️ Most students going on to medicine study biology, chemistry and maths.

➡️ Some universities leave a grey area in their entry requirements along the lines of “...any A-Level will be accepted unless it is atypical”.

So, on paper, there was no restriction with studying A-Level PE as a third subject. We then read further and studied testimonials from former students and those that have and have not been offered places and there was a very strong theme that studying biology, chemistry and maths was the “normal” way to get it done. But Anna was now adamant that she no longer wanted to study maths. Again, as parents we guided Anna to be prepared to do so if the end goal justified it but, again, I found myself disheartened that there was even a question mark over the worthiness of A-Level PE.

Eventually, we settled with the following assumptions before we took our final actions:

1. Anna would study biology and chemistry + 1 subject to be decided.
2. If necessary, Anna would study maths alongside the sciences in order to achieve a place in medicine.
3. On paper, there is no reason why A-Level PE should not be the third course, but that an admissions tutor may lean towards a three-science-student “behind closed doors”.
4. Studying A-Level PE would make Anna less competitive for the reasons described above.

So, there was only one thing for it: we needed to hear it from the horse’s mouth, we needed to speak with admission tutors and take advice. 

Once again, as diligent parents, we put the onus on Anna. We helped her with her confidence to do so but we made Anna ring the numbers we could find and email the addresses that were available to us.

In total, Anna engaged with six admissions tutors from universities all over the UK and every single one of them gave the same resounding answer:

➡️ A-Level PE is absolutely acceptable as a course alongside two sciences, as long as grades were high enough (typically A,A,A).

➡️ A-Level PE is not seen as less valid than A-Level maths when studied alongside biology and chemistry (or physics).

The relief was palpable because the consistency of the responses was so high. Anna had her answer and, a few weeks later, she enrolled at Farnborough Sixth Form College (my old jaunt) as a student of A-Level PE, A-Level biology and A-Level chemistry. She is also a member of the college’s medical society and is about to start voluntary work in a local care home. She is also studying with great intent and with the passion of knowing where hard work might take her. Furthermore, she is consistently telling us that her ideal long-term specialism might be elite sports medicine and rehabilitation. 

Whilst many twists and turns will present themselves in the future, both Anna and we as her parents believe that A-Level PE was absolutely the right choice for her and her future. 

In conclusion, I wanted to write this account because I think it is important that PE teachers take two important messages from this post:

1. We must be proud of our subject and not become jittery—like I was—in the context of A-Level PE needing to be valued externally.

2. We must maintain and enhance the top echelon qualifications in our domain. A-Level PE numbers are currently declining nationally and I, for one, will be fighting the battle to maintain its role in the lives of young people.

I would be grateful if you could share this post widely amongst PE teachers in order for us to spread the message.

Thank you.