A-Level Mathematics Advice

Hi everyone, I’m currently thinking about my A-level choices and I’m certain about studying English Literature and History, but for my third option I am not 100% sure yet. I have been considering Maths but here is the thing; it’s always been a subject I struggled with from primary school, then it got a little better in secondary and during my GCSEs I started liking it a bit more when I studied it alone (my teachers weren’t all that great until Year 11). However, I was terrified of the GCSE exams because during the mocks I was stuck on a 7, but in the end I managed a strong 8. Therefore, my parents are encouraging me to take it and other people have told me it would be a great pick to broaden my options, but I’m a bit hesitant whether it would be realistic for me to obtain a good grade (of course I must put in the hard work). In lessons it would take me a bit longer to fully grasp the concepts and I felt insecure until I practiced them at home, so that makes me a little scared if I’d risk falling behind given the difficulty and rapid pace of A-levels. I’d really appreciate some advice and any personal experiences, thank you

Well, it's not an easy A Level. You will need to spend a lot of time to go through the concepts.

Having done AS English Lit (didn't do History unfortunately), I can say English Lit was harder for me. Having said that, I am more of a maths and science person to begin with. Those who prefer English Lit (and can get straight As in the subject) tend to avoid maths like the plague. It's rare to find someone who is both good in essay subjects and maths; it's more usual that you are good at one of the 2 and need to work a lot harder to get good in the other.

The idea with doing Maths A Level is that you should finish the material ahead of time e.g. January of the year you are going to do your exams. You would need the extra time to revise and to allow for the material to sink in. You're not likely going to master the material immediately from reading about it (it's not one of those subjects).

See the following for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqAX4Ui_9lE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHivkPLsj2o

The options that you're eligible for should you do A Level Maths include degrees in:
If none of the above interest you, then doing Maths isn't a must (even though it's a highly respected subject). (Note, degrees in economics, actuarial science, physics, engineering, life science, healthcare, and possibly maths would be considered credible for applying for jobs in industry, otherwise the above degrees are relevant if you want to go into academia - data science/analysis might be useful if you apply for a role in stats in the public sector.)
Should you want to go into apprenticeships in engineering, actuary, physics research, then having A Level Maths can be a requirement (or at least very beneficial). If none of these interest you, then you're not missing much.

Personally, I consider Maths a mismatch with history and English lit, but it's up to you whether you want to do it.