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A Level Help?

I'm currently in Year 10 but in my school we've finished the Year 10 content for GCSEs so we're starting Year 11 GCSE content.Along with this they're also pressuring us about A Levels and sixth forms. I'm thinking of taking Chemistry,Biology,English Lit and Geography. I'm pretty confident with these subjects and achieve A/A*s in exams.

I'm mainly concerned about Chem and Bio as most people advice against taking A level sciences because they're so hard,also threads on TSR about this have very mixed reactions with some saying they're manageable with hard work and some saying you need natural ability or luck!

How hard are Chem and Bio exactly?
How much maths are involved in them?
Are my suggested A level choices too random together?
Are Chem,Bio,English Lit and Geography manageable together?

Thanks in advance!
Firstly do have any idea of what sort of career/ course your interested in? No worries if you don't cause you've got ages to think about it.
I've done chem and bio AS this year and they are quite tough. Biology is not conceptually difficult, but compared to GCSE the volume of content you need to know is far greater. However you can easily do well if you put the work in. As far as I'm aware the bio papers have 10% of maths in them, but it is very basic GCSE level maths so you should be fine.
Chemistry was my hardest a level ( out of maths,phys and bio). It has difficult concepts, quite a lot of content and also some tough calculations. But like with any subject, if you work hard at it and practice then you can do well. With any a level, regular hard work throughout the year is the key to doing well.
Your choices are good, they leave a lot of options open. I would recommend maths if your good at it, but its up to you. They are definitely manageable. But firstly focus on smashing your GCSE's, as they are much more important at this stage. Good Luck:smile:
Reply 2
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Od.xiv
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10
Original post by HopelessMedic
Firstly do have any idea of what sort of career/ course your interested in? No worries if you don't cause you've got ages to think about it.
I've done chem and bio AS this year and they are quite tough. Biology is not conceptually difficult, but compared to GCSE the volume of content you need to know is far greater. However you can easily do well if you put the work in. As far as I'm aware the bio papers have 10% of maths in them, but it is very basic GCSE level maths so you should be fine.
Chemistry was my hardest a level ( out of maths,phys and bio). It has difficult concepts, quite a lot of content and also some tough calculations. But like with any subject, if you work hard at it and practice then you can do well. With any a level, regular hard work throughout the year is the key to doing well.
Your choices are good, they leave a lot of options open. I would recommend maths if your good at it, but its up to you. They are definitely manageable. But firstly focus on smashing your GCSE's, as they are much more important at this stage. Good Luck:smile:



Thank you so much and I've been thinking about either Pharmacy or Nursing :smile:
Original post by Od.xiv
Thank you so much and I've been thinking about either Pharmacy or Nursing :smile:

In that case definitely try and get some work experience in a pharmacy, just ring them up and it should be easy. Perhaps try and volunteer in a nursing/care home if there's one nearby, it will look good on your CV even you decide against nursing and it'll help for DOFE if you do it. Id also recommend that if there's the slightest chance you might be interested in Medicine that you get work experience for that as early as possible. Its very hard to secure, but if not then dw about it. But like I said above, focus much more on your coursework/exams for GCSE as they are still important despite what some people say.:smile:
Reply 4
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Od.xiv
OP
10
Original post by HopelessMedic
In that case definitely try and get some work experience in a pharmacy, just ring them up and it should be easy. Perhaps try and volunteer in a nursing/care home if there's one nearby, it will look good on your CV even you decide against nursing and it'll help for DOFE if you do it. Id also recommend that if there's the slightest chance you might be interested in Medicine that you get work experience for that as early as possible. Its very hard to secure, but if not then dw about it. But like I said above, focus much more on your coursework/exams for GCSE as they are still important despite what some people say.:smile:


I'm starting my DOFE next month.I was interested in medicine but my predicted grades at GCSE discouraged me (2 A*s and 7 A's),I know they're not awful however in comparison to prospective medical students they don't really stand out.Also thanks,I'll start looking for work experience this summer as I'll have more free time.
Reply 5
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Od.xiv
OP
10
Probably Pharmacy at university and by manageable, I know that the subjects are quite content heavy so I don't know if the workload can be done to the best standard if I were to be revising every weekend.Would sociology or psychology be a better option than English Literature?
(edited 3 years ago)

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