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Need help picking a levels

I don’t know what to choose.
At first originally I chose Bio, Chem and Psychology but after gaining back some results from mocks I’ve realised I do better in physics than biology and I actually prefer physics to biology but after researching I was going to switch but it doesn’t seem like a good combination. I was considering 4 a levels but I don’t think I can handle that nor would I be good because people say it’s useless to do physics without maths and I’m not that good at maths (a Grade 5 student currently). So I don’t know.
I don’t really know what I want to be for the future either so that doesn’t help.
I like physics and I want to do it for a level but I don’t know if it’s a smart choice to do just because I get better scores in biology.
(I do combined science overall a 6/6
In physics 7/7
Biology 4/4
Chemistry 6/7)
I need help picking a levels because I don’t know if I was to choose physics should I continue it with chem and psych or switch psych with maths even though I’m a grade 5 student in maths. (I don’t think I will even be able to take maths if I’m a grade 5 student anyway)
So please help.
GCSE science subjects compared to A-levels are completely different, don't base it off on how good you are and also definitely not just on a mock. A-level Physics usually require you to take maths alongside it due to the heavy maths content. The maths in GCSE physics currently is literally just easy and simple maths that you apply in a physics content, a-level physics go way beyond that.
Unfortunately, most colleges and sixth forms may not accept you onto the physics course if you dont score higher than a 6 in maths and even then they may persuade you to choose otherwise.
Usually, phsyics are stricter than maths when it comes to your maths GCSE grade because of how difficult it is, and you'll find many physics students take further maths too.
You could get away with not having a great maths GCSE with your other science subjects, but probably not Physics since they might require you to take A-level maths too.
That said, go to your sixth forms open days and attend as many taster sessions they offer, its how you find out what they require for GCSEs to enrol into the course, and they'll offer better and more specific advice.
Also consider what you want to do for university, there's no point taking such a difficult subject and ending up with a bad grade if you're not planning to explore further.
Reply 2
Original post by Normalityme635
I don’t know what to choose.
At first originally I chose Bio, Chem and Psychology but after gaining back some results from mocks I’ve realised I do better in physics than biology and I actually prefer physics to biology but after researching I was going to switch but it doesn’t seem like a good combination. I was considering 4 a levels but I don’t think I can handle that nor would I be good because people say it’s useless to do physics without maths and I’m not that good at maths (a Grade 5 student currently). So I don’t know.
I don’t really know what I want to be for the future either so that doesn’t help.
I like physics and I want to do it for a level but I don’t know if it’s a smart choice to do just because I get better scores in biology.
(I do combined science overall a 6/6
In physics 7/7
Biology 4/4
Chemistry 6/7)
I need help picking a levels because I don’t know if I was to choose physics should I continue it with chem and psych or switch psych with maths even though I’m a grade 5 student in maths. (I don’t think I will even be able to take maths if I’m a grade 5 student anyway)
So please help.

What do you want to do after a-levels? If there’s a specific subject you’re thinking of studying at uni, look at different course pages and see if there’s any a-levels lots of courses require or recommend.

I do Physics A-Level without Maths A-Level, and it’s definitely not useless to do Physics without Maths - the majority of A-Level Physics (at least AQA, not sure about other boards but I would imagine they are similar) only needs a strong understanding of GCSE Maths and pretty much the only A-level maths topic that comes into the course is logarithms, and you just need to be able to know how to do them, nothing too complicated. Knowing standard deviation is also helpful, but again, it’s just something you need to know how to do rather than fully understand - your Physics teacher or classmates at A-Level would gladly teach these to you if you needed help.

However, I would say a 7 in GCSE Maths is the minimum grade you would need to have a good enough understanding for A-Level Physics, so if you’re predicted a 5, it suggests it may be better to avoid doing Physics A-Level unless you work hard to improving your Maths grade.

In terms of mix, I think both Biology and Physics go well with Chemistry as Chem is sort of the ‘in-between’ of Bio and Phys.

I think the best thing to do would be talk to your Physics teacher and explain you’re thinking of doing it but aren’t sure about the maths aspect of the A-level, and talk to your maths teacher on how you could improve your grade if you want to do Physics or Maths A-Level.

If you really can’t decide, I would suggest looking into AS-Level Physics if your school offer it as there is hardly any A-Level Maths at AS Phys and it means there is less work than 4 full A-Levels.
(edited 4 months ago)
Original post by jklaww
What do you want to do after a-levels? If there’s a specific subject you’re thinking of studying at uni, look at different course pages and see if there’s any a-levels lots of courses require or recommend.

I do Physics A-Level without Maths A-Level, and it’s definitely not useless to do Physics without Maths - the majority of A-Level Physics (at least AQA, not sure about other boards but I would imagine they are similar) only needs a strong understanding of GCSE Maths and pretty much the only A-level maths topic that comes into the course is logarithms, and you just need to be able to know how to do them, nothing too complicated. Knowing standard deviation is also helpful, but again, it’s just something you need to know how to do rather than fully understand - your Physics teacher or classmates at A-Level would gladly teach these to you if you needed help.

However, I would say a 7 in GCSE Maths is the minimum grade you would need to have a good enough understanding for A-Level Physics, so if you’re predicted a 5, it suggests it may be better to avoid doing Physics A-Level unless you work hard to improving your Maths grade.

In terms of mix, I think both Biology and Physics go well with Chemistry as Chem is sort of the ‘in-between’ of Bio and Phys.

I think the best thing to do would be talk to your Physics teacher and explain you’re thinking of doing it but aren’t sure about the maths aspect of the A-level, and talk to your maths teacher on how you could improve your grade if you want to do Physics or Maths A-Level.

If you really can’t decide, I would suggest looking into AS-Level Physics if your school offer it as there is hardly any A-Level Maths at AS Phys and it means there is less work than 4 full A-Levels.

I was thinking of psychology or medicine (leaning more towards psychology) but I’m not yet set on what I actually want to do in the future but if I was to go uni I think would go for a psychology degree and I requires my first options so I will probably go with that. Even still I am still going to work to improve my maths grade and if somehow miraculously I manage to get a 7 and really enjoy maths I might change my options but after reading both replies its helped me to see not to base my next step on 1 singular mock.
It's also encouraging to hear that you took physics without maths a level so thanks for that information. Even still i will still take your advice and talk to my physics teacher and look at the maths aspects just to see.
Thanks for this!! I really appreciate it!
Original post by Carrotsroom
GCSE science subjects compared to A-levels are completely different, don't base it off on how good you are and also definitely not just on a mock. A-level Physics usually require you to take maths alongside it due to the heavy maths content. The maths in GCSE physics currently is literally just easy and simple maths that you apply in a physics content, a-level physics go way beyond that.
Unfortunately, most colleges and sixth forms may not accept you onto the physics course if you dont score higher than a 6 in maths and even then they may persuade you to choose otherwise.
Usually, phsyics are stricter than maths when it comes to your maths GCSE grade because of how difficult it is, and you'll find many physics students take further maths too.
You could get away with not having a great maths GCSE with your other science subjects, but probably not Physics since they might require you to take A-level maths too.
That said, go to your sixth forms open days and attend as many taster sessions they offer, its how you find out what they require for GCSEs to enrol into the course, and they'll offer better and more specific advice.
Also consider what you want to do for university, there's no point taking such a difficult subject and ending up with a bad grade if you're not planning to explore further.

Thanks for bringing me back to earth a little bit. Reading the first few lines just clicked a switch in my head. Considering for university I don’t think I’ll need physics because I might go on the psychology route but even still I will go to taster days and still look around.
Thanks!!

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