Where can I study Astronomy?
Hi, i have almost finished college, i had no idea what i wanted to do until recently. I want to do a course in Astronomy, any level, but i dont want to do Astronomy and physics, which is all i can find at the moment. I live in Surrey, so any college or university in the UK is good.
Im am currently studying I.T (BTECH), business(A level) and photography(A level), (did do physics but dropped it), and hopefully i will get merit, b, b, i am staying after my exams to do another IT thing which will mean it will be worth a b A level, so basically bbb 
Thanx
ps, i have never wanted to go to uni, until I discovered Astronomy, this is the only thing i want to do, so any help is greatly appreciated.
The Russell Group of top universities have been saying for years that without maths and a science A level your options at university are a lot more limited. School leavers completely ignore them when making A level choices and then act all surprised a couple of years later when they find they can’t get on the courses they want.
There are only a couple of astronomy courses on offer at British higher education institutions – the usual choices are astrophysics, physics with astrophysics or just plain physics and selecting relevant modules as part of a physics course. The institutions that offer astronomy as a separate course demand both maths and physics at A level.
Having dropped physics does not bode well since the essence of any astronomy course is more akin to physics (or is stuff that would also be on a physics course). Dropping physics suggest you like the idea of studying astronomy but not the reality. I’m also surprised your college would even let you do physics without maths – usually maths is regarded as a co-requisite.
However, all is not lost. It sounds as if you are staying on at college for another year for your IT course. If you can combine that with A/S physics and maths and actually complete them your chances are improved – you’ll probably get in to an astronomy-related course somewhere even if it is not a top institution. I’d also see if you could do maths and further maths – that’s twice as much work but if your college allows it that would allow you to do a maths A level in one year.
Ultimately, there’s no getting away from “difficult” subjects if this is where you want to go. You also need to be willing to put the work in: if not forget the whole idea now. Your A level choices do affect what you can do at uni – if uni did not build on college ultimately there would be little point spending two years there.
The Alpha Course at St Paul’s with St Mary’s