• Question: Without your maths qualifications, do you think you would be where you are today?

    Asked by Evan on 19 Nov 2025.
    • Photo: Melissa Upjohn

      Melissa Upjohn answered on 19 Nov 2025:

      I did maths A Level, and this was one of the A Levels which was important when I applied to vet school (each vet school is slightly different but they typically want you to have Biology, Chemistry, either Maths or Physics A Levels) so I can definitely say that Maths A Level was essential for me being able to train as a vet. In my current job I also use statistics a lot, which are pure Maths taken to a different level, so again, a key part of being able to do what I do now (after my vet degree I later did a Masters in Veterinary Epidemiology which includes training in statistics, alongside lots of other topics for helping to understand diseases in populations, rather than individual animals or people)

    • Photo: CIARA HURLEY

      CIARA HURLEY answered on 21 Nov 2025:

      Definitely not – there are so so many careers that needs maths and we use it in applied scenarios which is much more interesting anyway. The more difficult stuff you see tends to be calculated using software so even if you don’t love maths it’s still good to stick at it to leave your career options open!

Comments

  • Photo: Alex Hunt

    Alex Hunt commented on :

    Absolutely not. Maths is an incredibly important part of civil engineering because it often involves needing to calculate or estimate values which determine whether a piece of infrastructure works or not. Whilst no single job in the sector is likely to require the use of all of the varieties of maths we learned at school, there are many different specialisms of engineering which all require different mathematical skills, and you often don’t know exactly where you will specialise until you have gained some professional experience.