A Level options (Biology advice!)
Hi I'm currently coming to the end of year 11 and have to choose my A level options in the next few weeks. So far I have decided on Art and Geography, but stuck with my last option! I would love to do Biology as it is a real area of interest for me, and it links well with Geography. But I'm worried on the difficulty level from GCSE to A level (I'm predicted a level 7) and if it relies heavily on Chemistry or Physics, my weaker areas, too! All help greatly appreciated! 
(edited 6 years ago)
Biology, both at A-level and in general, doesn't have much relation to physics with a few exceptions of crossdisciplinary fields. It does however have a close relation to Chemistry at degree level and above, however there isn't much chemistry in the A-level beyond some basic concepts of bonding in the context of molecular biology.
If you’re interested in studying geography at uni/after school I would also recommend maths/chemistry, at my uni you have to do catch up modules if you don’t have these a levels
I’m in year 12, so I have been doing A Level Biology for over 2 months now.
I’d say that the actual biology content isn’t too difficult and all of the concepts are fairly easy to understand. It is the quantity and depth of the content you study that makes it difficult. In my opinion (others might disagree though) the “big step up from GCSE to A Level” everyone talks about is about how much more work you have to do, not the difficulty.
If you are someone who hates having to remember a lot of information (like me!), then you might struggle with biology at first. However, it does get much easier once you get in to it as you see how the topics connect and link to each other.
Also, I’d say that A Level biology doesn’t rely on chemistry and physics, apart from the occasional and slight overlap with chemistry. Although I don’t do A Level Physics so I can’t really comment on that.
If you have any more questions about biology, or feel like I didn’t fully answer this question just message me
I’d say that the actual biology content isn’t too difficult and all of the concepts are fairly easy to understand. It is the quantity and depth of the content you study that makes it difficult. In my opinion (others might disagree though) the “big step up from GCSE to A Level” everyone talks about is about how much more work you have to do, not the difficulty.
If you are someone who hates having to remember a lot of information (like me!), then you might struggle with biology at first. However, it does get much easier once you get in to it as you see how the topics connect and link to each other.
Also, I’d say that A Level biology doesn’t rely on chemistry and physics, apart from the occasional and slight overlap with chemistry. Although I don’t do A Level Physics so I can’t really comment on that.
If you have any more questions about biology, or feel like I didn’t fully answer this question just message me
I am doing biology, chemistry and maths for A-level and took AS physics. In my experience chemistry and maths helps with biology but is not necessary. A few people in my class take biology without any other sciences or maths and enjoy it. You definitely don’t need physics as there is hardly any overlap at all. Biology isn’t incredibly difficult but there is so much content to learn so it’s a time consuming subject. However, if you enjoy biology GCSE then you will probably like A-level as it’s just more content.
Original post by Teco12
Hi I'm currently coming to the end of year 11 and have to choose my A level options in the next few weeks. So far I have decided on Art and Geography, but stuck with my last option! I would love to do Biology as it is a real area of interest for me, and it links well with Geography. But I'm worried on the difficulty level from GCSE to A level (I'm predicted a level 7) and if it relies heavily on Chemistry or Physics, my weaker areas, too! All help greatly appreciated!
I am sure you can do Biology A Level without Chemistry as Biology is very different to Chemistry at A Level
Biology is a good subject as it’s a facilitating subject so you could do a lot with it. Geography is also a facilitating subject so they are both good options considering there are some topics that link. I also do geography and biology and I think they are okay. You just need to be able to handle your workload and not get behind in anything especially coursework. Good luck picking your options!!!😊
Original post by Erica1210
Biology is a good subject as it’s a facilitating subject so you could do a lot with it. Geography is also a facilitating subject so they are both good options considering there are some topics that link. I also do geography and biology and I think they are okay. You just need to be able to handle your workload and not get behind in anything especially coursework. Good luck picking your options!!!😊
Thank you
Original post by jesss_
I’m in year 12, so I have been doing A Level Biology for over 2 months now.
I’d say that the actual biology content isn’t too difficult and all of the concepts are fairly easy to understand. It is the quantity and depth of the content you study that makes it difficult. In my opinion (others might disagree though) the “big step up from GCSE to A Level” everyone talks about is about how much more work you have to do, not the difficulty.
If you are someone who hates having to remember a lot of information (like me!), then you might struggle with biology at first. However, it does get much easier once you get in to it as you see how the topics connect and link to each other.
Also, I’d say that A Level biology doesn’t rely on chemistry and physics, apart from the occasional and slight overlap with chemistry. Although I don’t do A Level Physics so I can’t really comment on that.
If you have any more questions about biology, or feel like I didn’t fully answer this question just message me
I’d say that the actual biology content isn’t too difficult and all of the concepts are fairly easy to understand. It is the quantity and depth of the content you study that makes it difficult. In my opinion (others might disagree though) the “big step up from GCSE to A Level” everyone talks about is about how much more work you have to do, not the difficulty.
If you are someone who hates having to remember a lot of information (like me!), then you might struggle with biology at first. However, it does get much easier once you get in to it as you see how the topics connect and link to each other.
Also, I’d say that A Level biology doesn’t rely on chemistry and physics, apart from the occasional and slight overlap with chemistry. Although I don’t do A Level Physics so I can’t really comment on that.
If you have any more questions about biology, or feel like I didn’t fully answer this question just message me
Original post by Icypricy
Ngl some of the content for biology is boring
Key example of why you should take courses you like and research the course before you take it.
Original post by Neophyteee
Key example of why you should take courses you like and research the course before you take it.
It’s mainly because I thought I was good at remembering stuff but I’ve realised I’m not I’m better at numbers and it’s too late now to change to maths and also I hated my psychology at first but now I’m beginning to like it. I think the reason why I’m finding biology boring so far is because of my teacher who basically just sends us a power point for us to copy and doesn’t teach anything he’s teaching us the second section - compared to the teacher I have who teaches the first section of biology who is really helpful and nice and I’m enjoying the first section so far
I think that those 3 would be good subjects, Geography and Biology in particular go well together. What I would reccommend though, is that if your sixth form/college is going to run a Core Maths course, I highly reccommend you do it. Biology isn't as Maths intensive as the other sciences, but you are still expected to perform certain calculations. If you want to study Biology at University they often ask for two sciences (usually Chemistry, but Maths is also accepted). But if you have Geography and Core Maths, then Universites would be much more open to letting you on the course than if you only had Geography.
I do Biology, Chemistry, French and Core Maths. I find Core Maths somewhat boring, but I know it will be worth it for when I apply to University as I did not want to take A Level Maths at all (I got a 5 at GCSE). Plus, at my sixth form we only have 2 lessons of it a week compared to 5 for our other options, so it wouldn't be a massive time commitment.
Hope I helped and good luck
I do Biology, Chemistry, French and Core Maths. I find Core Maths somewhat boring, but I know it will be worth it for when I apply to University as I did not want to take A Level Maths at all (I got a 5 at GCSE). Plus, at my sixth form we only have 2 lessons of it a week compared to 5 for our other options, so it wouldn't be a massive time commitment.
Hope I helped and good luck
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