I was the top of all my classes in sixth form (maths, further maths and all three sciences) and wanted to study medicine. During the meeting with the (female) careers advisor (who had access to my AS-level results: straight A’s with almost full marks in many of them) I was told that medicine is quite a challenging subject and I should consider nursing or biology instead. A male peer with similar exam results and ambitions was heartily encouraged to apply for medical school.
