• Question: do you need A levels for engineering, if so in what subjects?

    Asked by engineerFaN to Oliver, Lesley, Leah, Hannah, Graeme, Aleks on 8 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Hannah Griffin

      Hannah Griffin answered on 8 Mar 2019:

      Not necessarily. If you enjoy studying and have some favourite subjects then by all means do A levels. Usually folks say maths and physics (which are great if you enjoy them) but it really depends on the type of engineer you want to be. I am a software engineer and studied Art, Biology and IT at A level. Although if you have your heart set on a particular type of engineer then have a look at what colleges/universities need you to have studied at A level to get on to their course. I’d suggest going for subjects where you have to think logically (technology and science subjects) and get to make things or do things to solve problems. Don’t be afraid of having a mix of different types of subjects. It doesn’t have to be maths, maths and more maths!

      Where I work, STFC, we have engineers that start out on an engineering apprenticeship straight after GCSEs. This way they get the best of both worlds – earning and learning at the same time! Several have then gone on to complete higher qualifications if they wanted to.

    • Photo: Graeme Burt

      Graeme Burt answered on 8 Mar 2019:

      No, there are other ways. About 10-20% of the students studying engineering at uni come via a BTEC rather than A’levels. But I recommend getting A’levels if you can as they better prepare you for University level maths.
      You can become an engineer through an engineering apprentiship as well with GCSE’s.But you get far more career options and flexibility with the degree due to the higher level of engineering mathmatics.But if you aren’t great an mathmatics its a far more practical way of becoming an engineer with much more hands on experience.

    • Photo: Lesley Colquhoun

      Lesley Colquhoun answered on 12 Mar 2019:

      they are required if you want to go straight into university from high school, but as said by the other guys, there are many different routes into engineering where you don’t need to do A-Levels. My friend in work went through college and apprenticeships gaining practical applied experience of engineering through his college and different jobs. He started his route into engineering much earlier than me and as such has more experience than i do but is of similar age.

      There is no right or wrong route and it is important to look at what kind of engineer you want to be, the different routes to achieve it and what works best for you!

      If you have an idea of what you want to do, let me know and i’ll see if i can help some more 🙂

    • Photo: Leah Morgan

      Leah Morgan answered on 13 Mar 2019:

      Hey engineerFAN, it depends what route you want to take! If you want to go to University then you definitely need A-levels. Probably in maths, physics, maybe engineering if your school offers it.
      If you don’t want to go to Uni, you can skip A-levels all together by doing an apprenticeship straight after GCSE! Apprenticeships are a great way to gain experience and qualifications at the same time 🙂

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