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A Level Choices Help

So I get my GCSE results on August 25th, and on that day I will also be asked to choose my 4 subjects to take on next year. I am definitely doing Biology and Chemistry at A Level, and deciding between Applied ICT and my fourth subject as which to drop at AS (whichever I get the worse grade in come the end of the year)

I would like to do Medicine at university so Biology and Chemistry are my main two focus points, however I can not decide between History or Technology and Design for my fourth subject. Come the end of the year I would like to focus mainly on my Biology and Chemistry exams seeing as they will be the most important, and choosing technology will allow me to do this as a certain percentage of the A Level will already have been completed due to coursework, whereas with History it is determined solely on the exam papers.

However, the technology department at my school tends to put all of their time into getting a good grade in the coursework, and is poor at teaching the exam theory (normally just printing out a booklet and skimming through it in class) which I do not find very beneficial. On the other hand, the History teacher is very good and will explain in a lot of detail the material and how to present it come to the exam. Another thing is that with my exam board (CCEA) there are very few/no revision guides nor a lot of revision material when it comes to these two subjects at anything above GCSE, which I heavily depended on during my GCSEs and would hope to do at A Level, but because of this I will be depending a lot on the teacher.

Could anyone give me some insight as to what I should do? The closer it gets to results day the more worried I become that I may make the wrong choice and end up messing up come to exam time next year.
Which subject do you enjoy more?

I know nothing about medicine; but is there one which will benefit you more?
Reply 2
History is well credited as an A level as it shows you can apply and understand content through intellectual argument. However it is not easy. Although alongside sciences it will be good as its essay based so shows universities that you are well-rounded.

I never did Tech, but if they focus on coursework and the exam prep is not good then i probably would not put yourself in a difficult position if its avoidable.

P.s i am biased as ill be starting my History degree shortly 😂
Original post by scross460
So I get my GCSE results on August 25th, and on that day I will also be asked to choose my 4 subjects to take on next year. I am definitely doing Biology and Chemistry at A Level, and deciding between Applied ICT and my fourth subject as which to drop at AS (whichever I get the worse grade in come the end of the year)

I would like to do Medicine at university so Biology and Chemistry are my main two focus points, however I can not decide between History or Technology and Design for my fourth subject. Come the end of the year I would like to focus mainly on my Biology and Chemistry exams seeing as they will be the most important, and choosing technology will allow me to do this as a certain percentage of the A Level will already have been completed due to coursework, whereas with History it is determined solely on the exam papers.

However, the technology department at my school tends to put all of their time into getting a good grade in the coursework, and is poor at teaching the exam theory (normally just printing out a booklet and skimming through it in class) which I do not find very beneficial. On the other hand, the History teacher is very good and will explain in a lot of detail the material and how to present it come to the exam. Another thing is that with my exam board (CCEA) there are very few/no revision guides nor a lot of revision material when it comes to these two subjects at anything above GCSE, which I heavily depended on during my GCSEs and would hope to do at A Level, but because of this I will be depending a lot on the teacher.

Could anyone give me some insight as to what I should do? The closer it gets to results day the more worried I become that I may make the wrong choice and end up messing up come to exam time next year.


In the end, only you can decide.

You've thought about the issues already:

- main advantage of DT; some coursework means less exam pressure
- but teaching may not be as helpful as that in History

- good teaching will mean you enjoy History and have good revision support
- but there will be lots of revision
- add to that the points made in previous posts about the usefulness of History in terms of academic skills that may be well regarded by medical schools

I think History may just have it ...... how does that feel to you?
There were several people in my year who are going for Medicine at university (I've just finished Year 13). Chemistry and Biology you definitely need to do, and I would suggest Maths instead of Applied ICT. If you're thinking about ICT as an A-Level, I'm assuming you're good at Maths. For your fourth subject, do something you know you'd enjoy, or something that's not related to your other A-Levels - that's known as your 'stand-out subject', and a lot of people in my year treated it as a way to relax, almost.

For example, two of my friends are going for Medicine at uni. They both did Chem, Bio and Maths. One girl did History as her fourth subject, the other did French.

I hope that helps. Good luck with your results! x

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There may be very few revision guides for your exam board; but remember, you do have TSR.

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