English Lit or Maths A-Level?

I'm in year 11, choosing my A-levels now, and want to do medicine at uni
I'm planning to do

Biology
Chemistry
French

...And as fourth option I'm stuck between English Lit or Maths

Maths complements the two sciences, is recommended by unis and I'm ok at it (my target is an A)
BUT
English is my best subject along with French, my target is an A* for both Language and Literature and I'm way more confident at it

I need some advice: I want to do maths because it's good for medicine and all those reasons above, but I want to keep my options for uni open and maybe do Modern Languages as a backup so English could be beneficial

Thanks in advance :smile:

Reply 1

iceangel8

14

If you're decent at maths I'd say go for it because it will help you with chemistry and especially if you want to do medicine.

Reply 2

chickenonsteroids

17

Maths isn't necessary for medicine. You can have a successful application without it so if you think you'll do better in it (and enjoy it more) go for English Lit.

Maths would keep your options open the most. If you choose to do something like Economics then you'd need maths. If you choose to do languages, it wouldn't matter if you have English or Maths since neither are a requirement.

Reply 3

7253567

8

Do maths as their are a lot of resources for it on the internet if you do end up struggling.

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Reply 4

Jooooshy

17

English hands-down. You don't need maths, and English lit is just as academic. Plus, it's a brilliant and fun subject. Don't put yourself through the horror of doing maths beyond GCSE if you don't enjoy it!

Spoiler

Reply 5

Jooooshy

17

Original post by iceangel8

If you're decent at maths I'd say go for it because it will help you with chemistry and especially if you want to do medicine.

Lol you do not need anything in A-level maths for chemistry. If anything, you need to know what the equation of a straight line is, and know how to press the log button on your calculator..

Reply 6

zuzu096

English lit is easier. I achieved an a* in lit and an a in maths at gcse and did both at AS alongside biology and chemistry.

At AS your focus should be on chem and bio really, which are time consuming subjects. I ended up spending the most time on maths, as I was least confident with it, and the least on English lit. In the end, I got an A in lit and a B in maths at AS. I've now dropped maths at A2.

Bear in mind with maths you have 3 exams which you will sit in the summer (no jan exams) and in lit there is one (plus ongoing coursework).

I'd say only go for maths if you're really confident. I had to really work on maths to get my grade but you might be different. If you've got a natural talent for lit then go for that as it will give you more time to focus on bio chem and french.

Hope I've helped!

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Reply 7

legendaryy

8

ignore the other answers.

the bottom line is a-levels are pretty stressful. the last thing you need is to regret picking a subject that you don't particularly enjoy for whatever reason.
go with your heart, whatever subject you enjoy more is the one you should pick. both subjects are very academic so the choice should be a little easier. if you like the subject you will perform better. doing an a-level you dislike is a terrible, draining experience.

Reply 8

Emma:-)

Entertainment Forum Helper

19

Original post by jeje198

I'm in year 11, choosing my A-levels now, and want to do medicine at uni
I'm planning to do

Biology
Chemistry
French

...And as fourth option I'm stuck between English Lit or Maths

Maths complements the two sciences, is recommended by unis and I'm ok at it (my target is an A)
BUT
English is my best subject along with French, my target is an A* for both Language and Literature and I'm way more confident at it

I need some advice: I want to do maths because it's good for medicine and all those reasons above, but I want to keep my options for uni open and maybe do Modern Languages as a backup so English could be beneficial

Thanks in advance :smile:

Id do english lit.
You dont need maths at a-level to do medicine. If you are better at english lit then id go for it as you are more likely to get a better grade in it. Plus like you said, its better for if you want to go down the foreign languages route.

Reply 9

manic_fuzz

17

I agree that you don't need maths. I took maths and english lit and enjoyed english far far more (and I didn't find maths to complement bio/chem particularly well either, nor has anything I learnt been useful since).

Reply 10

zuzu096

I completely agree!

Maths used in chem is basic skills, maths didn't really help me with chem in the end.

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Reply 11

zuzu096

Original post by manic_fuzz

I agree that you don't need maths. I took maths and english lit and enjoyed english far far more (and I didn't find maths to complement bio/chem particularly well either, nor has anything I learnt been useful since).

I completely agree!

Maths used in chem is basic skills, maths didn't really help me with chem in the end.
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Reply 12

Lottie_

7

If you don't know what you want to do yet then definitely do english - it will leave way more doors open for you in case you change your mind and you don't need to do maths either really for medicine - there was a girl at my school who got into kings for medicine last year and didn't do maths :-)

Reply 13

games211

16

Original post by zuzu096

English lit is easier. I achieved an a* in lit and an a in maths at gcse and did both at AS alongside biology and chemistry.

At AS your focus should be on chem and bio really, which are time consuming subjects. I ended up spending the most time on maths, as I was least confident with it, and the least on English lit. In the end, I got an A in lit and a B in maths at AS. I've now dropped maths at A2.

Bear in mind with maths you have 3 exams which you will sit in the summer (no jan exams) and in lit there is one (plus ongoing coursework).

I'd say only go for maths if you're really confident. I had to really work on maths to get my grade but you might be different. If you've got a natural talent for lit then go for that as it will give you more time to focus on bio chem and french.

Hope I've helped!

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what board did you do for english lit

Maths?

I would definitely go for English Lit!
I take both and prefer English by a mile - I got an A in both at GCSE but I'm finding there's a huge difference in difficulty now.
I don't know if you're more of a 'maths person' but in my opinion the jump between GCSE and A Level Maths is huge. I used to find it fairly easy but now I'm doing A Level, I haven't got anything higher than an E :frown:

I think that if you put a lot of work in and you're naturally good at Maths, it's a great subject to take and very well valued.

In English Lit, I find that I learn immediately in lessons rather than having to go over everything at home just to get it to sink in. The homework is mostly essay writing, which isn't so bad as we make notes in class. I find the topics pretty interesting too. So far the jump from GCSE has been alright - not saying it's super easy but it's definitely easier than some other subjects.
Although Maths is probably better regarded by unis (and helpful for medicine), English really isn't far behind and in the long run it's better to do a subject you like.

What are your teachers like? If you like the subjects equally I would say to go with the subject with better teachers - it makes such a difference.

On a side note, I do French and really enjoy it (even though there's so much vocab to learn) - good choices :wink: