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4 A-levels?

OMaggers

Not sure whether to take 4 A-levels (They would be Further maths, maths, history and biology)

Reply 1

DataVenia

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

Original post by OMaggers

Not sure whether to take 4 A-levels (They would be Further maths, maths, history and biology)

There are very few courses at very few universities whether there is any benefit to taking four. In fact, opting to do four can have a negative impact on every uni / course if your grades suffer as a result of being spread too thin. A*A*A is a better grade profile then A*AAA.

For what course night you be applying? Do you have any particular unis in mind yet?

Reply 2

OMaggers

Original post by DataVenia

Mathematics Bsc at Cardiff University. I don't need Further Maths a-level for this course but my teacher said I should take it as I can drop it after a year and it will greatly help my maths a-level.

Reply 3

University of Kent

Official Rep

Original post by OMaggers

Not sure whether to take 4 A-levels (They would be Further maths, maths, history and biology)

Hi there

Whilst taking 4 A levels may be challenging, it could help boost your applications if you are able to achieve good grades.

Here are a few things you can consider:

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Are you achieving strong academic grades at the moment? (A levels is a huge step up from GCSEs, so you will have to spend more time on the content etc.

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Another question is whether you will have free time to participate in extracurricular activities: volunteering, work experience and many other opportunities are available to boost your application for University.

•

Whether you enjoy the subjects: throughout A levels, it is important to stay motivated to prevent burn out.

•

However, I think like your teacher said, you are always able to take 4 A levels then drop one if you feel like you are struggling. Or obtaining an AS level in further maths would be really good too.

I hope this helps.
Chloe
University of Kent Student Rep

Reply 4

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper

Original post by OMaggers

Mathematics Bsc at Cardiff University. I don't need Further Maths a-level for this course but my teacher said I should take it as I can drop it after a year and it will greatly help my maths a-level.

You could start with 4 then if you wanted. I know of people who have done 4 because 2 of them are maths and further maths.
Then if you want to drop further maths at any point then you can. Otherwise you could always keep it.

Reply 5

Peach_rose34

Original post by OMaggers

Mathematics Bsc at Cardiff University. I don't need Further Maths a-level for this course but my teacher said I should take it as I can drop it after a year and it will greatly help my maths a-level.

If you want to do a maths heavy degree further maths is a very helpful 4th/3rd choice .
I do further maths, maths, economics and history and I love my subjects. The economics teaching is naff but further maths re inspired a liking of maths in me after gcse being just so boring. What I would say is if ur not on a high 8/9 at gcse further maths will be very tough, (still tough even with a 9 with no revision) . It definitely makes the normal a level look ridiculously easy though in comparison. I’ve done all of as level apart from binomial distribution and mechanics and will finish the as by Christmas so you definitely have a lot of work when you do 4 including maths but it could easily be well worth it for you(just don’t be afraid to drop a subject ).

History and biology are both very content heavy but the difference is the essay skills required in history are like 40% of your grade . It’s tough(my most difficult subject) but I love it and the content is much more interesting than gcse (the Tudors are suddenly very interesting and I’m going to germany!!!!). Biology from what I know from friends is just extremely content heavy and in October they showed me about five stacks of flash cards which I think was already more than the entire gcse if not close . But it seems interesting even as someone who massively prefers humanities and maths and disliked gcse biology.

Now whether you do 4 a levels is up to you but like I said further maths would be very helpful for a maths degree so if you can work hard consistently , then trying it out at least is well worth it.