A- Level Help!!??

just wondering if anyone does English, biology, maths and chem A level and how they're finding it!? I know that I want to do biological sciences at uni and wanted English as I enjoy it and want something different but not sure whether this would be too much to do, so any opinions would be really useful :smile:

Reply 1

YoloBaggins00

I'm doing biology, maths and chemistry as well. So far it has been easy, but I'm still in the first year of my A-levels. Out of all three subjects I think chemistry is the most difficult.

Reply 2

RoadToGradeA

I am an A2 student, AS Chemistry I found to be quite interesting but hard, got loads of D grades in mocks and ended up with a high C in the real exam. Biology is interesting but very long content wise and is quite hard.

Reply 3

GraceTheTortoise

Following

These are my choices for next year :smile:

Reply 4

Stoke123

English is really good if your genuinely interested in it. Difficulty: Medium
Maths is essential for entry requirements in every science course. Difficulty: Medium
Chemistry is quite is quite harsh actually since GCSE was a lie. Difficulty: Hard
Biology is a word bank, you'd have to revise everyday after class. Difficulty: Hard

If you have doubts about what I say, simply check out some past papers.

Reply 5

DanF2000

I'm doing Statistics and Applied Science (kind of related to those subjects)
Stats/Maths: You need to be good with calculators and learning formulas, write down all the working out (I got an A instead of an A* in a test because I got bored of writing my working out) and try to ask questions if you're stuck (believe me, it helps!)
Science: When it comes to practicals, you need to be precise! (currently doing titrations) If you miss a lesson or don't finish in time, get results from other people in the class.
Personally, I'm really good with numbers with As and Bs in Stats tests (apart from Normal Distribution with a U) and with science, I tend to like the theory/writing part of science compared to the practicals and experiments

(edited 7 years ago)

Reply 6

Indiaa99

Original post by freya13

Everyone is different. I've been reading through the comments and a lot of people have mentioned how they are finding them easier. Me on the other hand, isn't! I've taken biology, chem and psychology and the sciences are difficult if you don't put the work in which is partly my problem. I got all a*s at GCSE and the step up from a non reformed GCSEs to reformed A-levels is tough. I'm waiting for chem to just 'click' as people say. Biology really is just about making sure you know everything and practising how to word your answers closest to the mark schemes. Obviously there are some application questions but chemistry is more application questions based and less knowledge that you recall straight on the paper. I'm probably not making sense 😂. I would say choose your options on what you enjoy (providing they all work well together) as you're more likely to put the work in that way! I have a friend who is doing bio chem and English and she enjoys the difference between the sciences and English because it's a break. Good luck for whatever you chose! I have heard that English gets harder in the second year as the first year is just building up GCSE knowledge even more whereas Chemistry and biology start off hard and get easier.

Reply 7

CH214

I'm in my 2nd year of A levels and taking Biology, Maths & PE, last year and part of this year I took Chemistry. If I could go back 2 years to where you are now, I would give myself the following advice:

- PICK SUBJECTS THAT YOU LOVE - I took chemistry because after getting full UMS in it at GCSE; I though I was good at it. However that combined with a lack of passion for the subject doesn't work out well. I dropped it 3 weeks into year 13 and managed to not have to take any exams in it, thankfully. Arguably, it also has the biggest step up from GCSE, and you really have to be able to understand everything. English therefore sounds like the perfect choice as you enjoy it, and adding in something in different and more creative will be a nice change from the other subjects

-DON'T MAKE IT UNNECESSARILY HARD FOR YOURSELF (in terms of the subjects you take & number of a levels) - Universities only require 3 A levels, obviously doing more is arguably impressive, but not when it means 4 A levels at lower grades rather than 3 at high grades. In terms of doing biological sciences at university you'll need a biology & and a second science subject (either chem or maths would count for that) but aside from that they really don't care what subject you take. I got an unconditional for biological sciences at Birmingham with Bio, Maths & PE

Obviously feel free to ignore this, but what I would do is maybe start out with 4 subjects with the view to definitely drop one of them (if you do this, explain to your school your intentions and check they are okay with it). This will give you a feel of what the subjects are like,so that you can make a fair judgement, but obviously bare in mind that the first things you learn are a lot easier than the stuff you do at the end of A2. As much as it's annoying that I basically did chemistry for no reason, if I had only done 3 A levels from the start I would have done Maths, Biology & Chemistry, and would have not been able to have PE to fall back on when I realised chemistry was't the one. Dropping chemistry was by far the best decision I've ever made and probably contributes to getting an unconditional. So for me, being realistic with what I could achieve payed off in the best possible way.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

Reply 8

username2596081

Original post by freya13

Im in year 12 atm and I do a2 maths, AS bio and chem.
Maths is fairly easy. If you don't get anything make sure you don't leave it and address it asap. Also practice, practice, practice. The more you practice the better your grade will be right at the end

Bio is alright as it just builds on GCSE. There's a lot of content so its v important that you consistently revise and go over what youve learnt. Then do practice questions.

Chem is the hardest out of the three and thats just because a lot of what you learnt at gcse is irrelevant. But if you just keep going over what youve learnt its fine.

Reply 9

ilovefruit

I do biology and chemistry, along with psychology, and am currently in my second year of A-levels. I'm going on to study biological sciences at uni after and the majority of entry requirements were biology and a second science( chemistry, physics or maths). It depends on what exam board you do, but biology is easier than chemistry. You need to know a lot more but you can kinda get away with simply memorising the text book, although there's a lot. Chemistry in the other hand is quite the opposite. There is a lot of maths involved, a lot to learn and understand, and many practicals which you need to be able to describe and explain in the exam.

Reply 10

freya13

thanks everyone :smile:

Reply 11

freya13

have you decided yet? :tongue:

Original post by GraceTheTortoise

Following

These are my choices for next year :smile:

Reply 12

GraceTheTortoise

Original post by freya13

have you decided yet? :tongue:

Yeah I think i'm sorted! I'll be taking Biology, Chemistry, English Lit and Maths :smile:

How about you? x

Reply 13

freya13

my form's due on tuesday, im certain i'll take bio chem and maths and am leaning towards english lit for my fourth but still dont know whether i should take economics instead... x

Original post by GraceTheTortoise

Yeah I think i'm sorted! I'll be taking Biology, Chemistry, English Lit and Maths :smile:

How about you? x

Reply 14

GraceTheTortoise

Original post by freya13

my form's due on tuesday, im certain i'll take bio chem and maths and am leaning towards english lit for my fourth but still dont know whether i should take economics instead... x