Choosing your A levels? Your questions answered here!

Are maths, further maths, biology and chemistry good alevels to do in combination, say if I wanted to do a degree in Computer science?

I want to go to Oxbridge and I'm struggling to choose my four A-Levels-
I was thinking Sociology, History, Politics, and economics/philosophy/english lang.
Can someone give me a set of four subjects they would recommend? Also, do Cambridge not like sociology? Thanks

Hi! I really want to go to Cambridge for their PPS course, and I'm thinking of doing History, Maths, English Language, and Sociology - are the last two considered too 'soft' for Cambridge, and should I switch from English Language to Literature, or perhaps drop Sociology and take up Physics instead? (I really wanted to do Physics too, originally.) Or is it okay just to have two 'traditional' A-levels in History and Maths?

Thank you

If you meet the requirements of the unis that you're interested in applying to then they are fine. However, i would say that physics would be of more use than biology so i'd probably switch it to that unless you have a reason to take biology.

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/ugprospectus/facultiesanddepartments/computing/entryrequirements

So you need A* in maths and A in further maths plus another A in another subject for Imperial computing. So you don't need physics but it would tie in well woth computing and maths better than biology.

Helloooo...

right i know i am jumping straight in here and i joined this website purely because i felt this community could guide me on my A level choices.

So, i got fairly decent grades at GCSE: 1 A* 5As 4Bs and a C

i know im doing English Lit and i have chosen Psychology and Philosophy as they fit with the timetable and i have been told will suit me well, however i would really love to be doing English, Philosophy, History and Drama but this DOES NOT FIT WITH THE TIMETABLE! a fact that has caused me much frustration over the summer! So for the first 2 weeks i am doing alternate history and drama lessons in order to help me decide but i am really unsure as i enjoy both of them hugely. Its a pre-u history course which would go great for university applications and i am very interested in the subject but drama just has this energy about it that i really love and i would hate to go without.

i have no idea what i want to do after a-level, uni i assume as its the usual path and im leaning towards a journalistic course or something to do with writing...

i can give more info if anyones bothering to read this but i would greatly appreciate help/guidance/past experiences of someone as im so frustrated with my options! Cheers in advance...

Helloooo...

right i know i am jumping straight in here and i joined this website purely because i felt this community could guide me on my A level choices.

So, i got fairly decent grades at GCSE: 1 A* 5As 4Bs and a C

i know im doing English Lit and i have chosen Psychology and Philosophy as they fit with the timetable and i have been told will suit me well, however i would really love to be doing English, Philosophy, History and Drama but this DOES NOT FIT WITH THE TIMETABLE! a fact that has caused me much frustration over the summer! So for the first 2 weeks i am doing alternate history and drama lessons in order to help me decide but i am really unsure as i enjoy both of them hugely. Its a pre-u history course which would go great for university applications and i am very interested in the subject but drama just has this energy about it that i really love and i would hate to go without.

i have no idea what i want to do after a-level, uni i assume as its the usual path and im leaning towards a journalistic course or something to do with writing...

i can give more info if anyones bothering to read this but i would greatly appreciate help/guidance/past experiences of someone as im so frustrated with my options! Cheers in advance...

Hi

For my GCSEs, I got the following results:

Maths - A*
English Language - A
English Literature - A
Physics - A*
Chemistry - A*
Biology - A* (full UMS marks!!!)
French - A*
Spanish - A*
Chinese - A* (only non-native pupil to take the exam - i was so proud of this result!!!)
Drama - A
Geography - A*

During years 10 and 11, I also took Maths A level, gaining the coveted A* grade - I got 90 UMS or over in every module except M1 in which i got 89 UMS and just scraped the A* with 90 UMS in C4. All with no retakes

For my A levels, I have decided to do: French, Spanish, Physics and Chemistry (not because they're traditional "hard" subjects but beacuse they are the ones which I enjoy the most). I will only do Chemistry up to AS and then join the Further Maths class in year 13 (as I've already done the year 12 course which is the whole Maths A level in 1 year). I will probably drop French in year 13 although I have not decided yet and may continue with all 4 subjects (although I find this unlikely).

Please note, we do A2 further maths at my school, not just AS.

This will hopefully leave me with A Levels in Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Spanish, French (possibly or AS at least) and an AS in Chemistry. We are also required at my school to sit the General Studies exam for AS, which will give me another AS but I don't really want to do the exam and will see if I can opt out.

My school also offers what it calls "enrichment courses" on the side of A levels. One of these is Italian GCSE, which I have decided to study over the next 2 years to gain an extra GCSE.

Given that I've been predicted the following grades for my sixth form options, what would you recommend I study at university:

Further Maths - not given an offical prediction yet but should be an A
Physics - A
French - A
Spanish - A
Chemistry - A
Italian GCSE - A*

All these predictions are for AS (except Italian GCSE) and I believe I could get at least one more A* at A2 in addition to my Maths A2.

In addition to all above, I am also doing an hour a week of Chinese at my school. I wanted to do the AS level but the school would not fund the class as I was the only person interested but I am still hoping to improve my Mandarin as I find it very interesting and the school is allowing me to do an hour a week during one of my free periods.

With all this, what course could I do at university??

I'm very interested in Maths and possibly Economics as I am very interested in how money works but this is not offered at A level at my school - would this be a disadvantage?

I would also be very interested in studying "exotic" languages: Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Japanese

And, of course, I would love to study at a prestigious university (Oxbridge, LSE, UCL, Warwick)

What would you suggest?

Many thanks in advance, Connor

I'm currently taking maths, economics, pyhsics , chemistry. I plan to study economics at uni, however currently the chemistry I'm studying is quite confusing. The class for chemistry is rather lame and the teachers don't seem to help. WOuld it be wise to change to Furthe Maths or French(studyed As level during Yr 11, took exam early) or should I continue with Chemistry.

If feel i can do well in the other 3 a levels since i have already started in advance(GCSE economics, Additional Maths) but i feel chemistry will hinder my progress as i do not seem to enjoy it.

Hey!

I am really keen on doing vet medicine in university, and I am definitely doing Biology and Chemistry. However, I am also choosing between maths or physics my third one a level.

Does anyone have any experience with the maths or physics a level course and could you tell me the difficulty level/which one I should choose? (:

I'm been predicted an A in maths for GCSE and A for physics.

OR, should I take both? As I'm a bit worried it might be too much work.

Thanks!

I haven't done either but my sister is in the same position as you and I have a lot of friends studying maths and/or physics. From what they say, studying maths without physics is fine, however studying physics without maths can get pretty difficult. Obviously it's possible but you will need a good grasp of maths (which it sounds like you have from your prediction). Taking both might be difficult, with vet medicine it's important to get good grades as you must know, and since these are all very difficult subjects you need to be sure you can handle them. On the other hand generally people who take 4+ a-levels generally have a good work ethic and tend to do well, and if you're really focused on getting onto a course it should help. I hope that helps.

Thaanks! That helped a lot! I've heard physics is really hard, so I might just take maths and choose another 'easier' subject...
Does you sister want to become a vet too?
I just want to focus on getting AAB/AAA which will be hard so I think I'll focus on three at A2 level. Although, I'm not sure how good/bad I'll be when I have to start the a level course for these subjects

Yeah she does, she's in year 11 at the moment which I assume is the same as you? Be careful about an 'easier' fourth subject(I assume that's what you mean); make sure it's something you can get a good grade in (e.g. I have a friend who took philosophy as an 'easy' subject and while she enjoys it she has realised that because of the way it is marked it can be difficult to do well or to improve) because of how competitive veterinary courses are. Thinking about it a little more, as you'll need to get a lot of work experience as well, only taking 3 subjects at A2 will help free up more time for that. Good luck!