Will A Level maths be a bad idea if I get (borderline) grade 7?

Hi, I need a bit of advice on deciding if A level maths is a good choice for me or not...

I really love physics and would like to study it at A level with the intention of taking a physics degree at university in the future. But despite all the work I've been putting in to maths, I'm still getting a grade 6/ borderline 7 in all the practise papers I've been doing.

Ideally I'd like to study maths, physics, Japanese and philosophy at A level (Japanese is outside of school), but I'm wondering if this would be too much if I have to work EXTRA hard to compensate for only getting a 7 to get on the maths course? Also I'm worried it might lower my average grade if I get stuck halfway through the maths course with absolutely no idea what I'm doing!

If I get below 7 in maths, my alternatives are the Digital Media level 3 diploma (a Cambridge Technical, don't know that much about it) , philosophy and Japanese. Is it a concern that I'd only have two A levels if I chose this, and would it be enough for universities to accept?
It's just a shame because I'm so desperate to study A level physics...

Anything that gets you down the path of concept art and the film industry might be a useful alternative.

Thank you for reading, please leave any advice you think might be helpful (I'm so confused right now, any help would be appreciated!)

I think with subjects like maths it's all a matter of practice. If you're borderline 7 but you're committed to studying physics in the future and you don't mind continuously working on your maths and improving it, then you should be fine. Do you enjoy maths? Would you mind spending a lot of your time in the next 2 years improving on your maths?

Also, as an aside - are you doing Japanese A level? How are you managing to study it unless you're a native speaker? What's your current level of it?

I've studied Japanese as well.

I don't see any reason why A-level Maths wouldn't be possible. However I wouldn't recommend taking four subjects, especially such a wide spread of maths, a science, a humanities subject, and a language. That is an enormous amount of work, compounded by the fact all the subjects will have very different learning strategies required. The only minimal overlap in how you will be preparing for the subjects will be between maths and physics. I would strong suggest dropping one of the four.

Remember, you don't get "bonus points" for taking extra A-levels when you apply to universities, and they much prefer you do excellently in three, relevant subjects than less well in larger numbers and/or less cohesive groupings of subjects.

Thank you for the encouragement! Haha well I enjoy maths when I can do it. Which means yes, if I keep going I will start to find it a lot more fun

Right now I’m doing GCSE Japanese, however my school doesn’t allow us to take it for A level anymore so I’ve had to find a tutor. Oh, and I’m not a native speaker.

Thank you for the suggestion, this is very helpful
However, I don’t think there is any way for me to avoid taking four... I need to take the A Level Japanese privately, and all the sixth forms I have applied to requires me to take three A Levels at the school. I think my only option would be to take four subjects because the sixth forms won’t allow me to only study two. Also I know that Japanese is a subject that I definitely want to continue.

I see. How's your Japanese tutor and what textbooks are you using?

I did a Japanese degree at Edinburgh uni and I've also lived in Japan.

Let me know if there's anything you'd like to know.

Not OP, but I have a few questions if you don't mind me asking. 1) How much did the degree cost? 2) If you get a job during the year abroad, how is the pay like? And finally 3) By the end of the degree, how much did your Japanese improve? Thanks so much!

I do maths and I was in the same situation as you. I really wanted to do economics at university and I was so persistent to do maths, so my sixth form let me despite getting a 6. I was very close to a 7. The content itself wasnt hugely difficult but the workload and pace was horrible. Everyone else in my class were on 8s and 9s so I felt the odd one out and barely asked for help in school, I got help outside of school instead (not tutoring).

Maths is also split in two, statistics and mechanics. It felt like I was doing 5 subjects. You can be excellent in statistics and mechanics (because mechanics is basically physics), but not so well in pure maths. It can leave you with a lower average grade than you would have hoped. I do a humanities, a language and a creative subject so it was hard juggling everything. I work so hard in maths but I’m only at a C. I regret it a lot, because I neglected my other subjects. Every time I opened my textbook I felt discouraged.

I should have just picked something I really enjoy, because I knew I wasn’t going to keep all my 4 subjects. Then again, that was just my experience. You might really enjoy the maths course. You situation is also tricky because you’re doing a subject outside of school so your school would expect you to do at least 3. If you really don’t need maths, I would say save yourself hassle, it takes a lot of dedication and determination, which ran out quickly for me. I’m definitely dropping it. Just do something you enjoy and you will do fine, good luck 😊

I see. How's your Japanese tutor and what textbooks are you using?

I did a Japanese degree at Edinburgh uni and I've also lived in Japan.

Let me know if there's anything you'd like to know.

Is there a reason you are required to take an A-level in Japanese, rather than just continuing your language study independently? That might be a better idea, to allow you to focus on your core academics when necessary while also continuing to develop your language skills. Unless you specifically need a language qualification in Japanese (which seems unlikely, as most degrees involving Japanese don't require you to have taken any qualifications in it before, and indeed some have difficulties accepting students who have taken study to that level as they don't have sufficient resources to continue developing your language ability signifcantly beyond that) it's not really a great benefit to have.

If you feel like you're struggling with Maths now I wouldn't advise taking it on at A-level. The jump from GCSE maths and A-level maths is huge (I took it at A-level and only 4 people in my class passed, despite some of them getting a really high grade at GCSE) I'm not saying it's impossible but you have to be extremely dedicated as it's a difficult subject.

Hi, I need a bit of advice on deciding if A level maths is a good choice for me or not...

I really love physics and would like to study it at A level with the intention of taking a physics degree at university in the future. But despite all the work I've been putting in to maths, I'm still getting a grade 6/ borderline 7 in all the practise papers I've been doing.

Ideally I'd like to study maths, physics, Japanese and philosophy at A level (Japanese is outside of school), but I'm wondering if this would be too much if I have to work EXTRA hard to compensate for only getting a 7 to get on the maths course? Also I'm worried it might lower my average grade if I get stuck halfway through the maths course with absolutely no idea what I'm doing!

If I get below 7 in maths, my alternatives are the Digital Media level 3 diploma (a Cambridge Technical, don't know that much about it) , philosophy and Japanese. Is it a concern that I'd only have two A levels if I chose this, and would it be enough for universities to accept?
It's just a shame because I'm so desperate to study A level physics...

Anything that gets you down the path of concept art and the film industry might be a useful alternative.

Thank you for reading, please leave any advice you think might be helpful (I'm so confused right now, any help would be appreciated!)

I’m doing maths and f maths so currently at the end of my first year I’ve already completed all maths spec. I found it quite a large step up from GCSE maths (even FSMQ Add Maths didn’t really narrow the gap much) but as long as you’re dedicated and work hard it should be possible.
If you want to study physics at uni I’m pretty sure you need at least maths a level. Personally I find physics much harder than maths now. I’m doing 4 A levels at the moment (4th is econ) and I definitely spend less time doing maths than econ+phys together.