Will I be able to do well with these A-level choices?

I’ve just finished year 12 and do bio, Chem and maths. A lot of people who don’t do maths with chemistry struggle a lot due to the amount of maths in a level chemistry. There is also quite a bit of maths on bio but it’s very little compared to chemistry. Physics and maths are a must have together. I was considering doing bio, chem and physics and they said do maths and physics together. There is so much overlap between the two from what I’ve heard so it might be useful. Think about future career options before making your choice and maybe do all 4 to start with and drop the one which you find the least interesting or the hardest. But I would definitely recommend talking maths.

It might depend on your GCSE results as well. Of you get 8s and 9s (and maybe a 7) in these subjects and maths then you might be able to handle it, otherwise it will be tough.

It helps to be good at maths, because there's a lot of rearranging of equations and there is a slight overlap between physics and A-level maths, which is most evident in the topics about fields, capacitance and radioactive decay. But you can just learn the maths you need, I remember the AQA textbook has sections on maths skills in physics.
It's not really a question of whether maths A-level is necessary, but whether you're already good at math and can learn a few more advanced topics.
Are you planning on applying to uni? If so, which course? Physical science courses are quite likely to require maths.

I think doing physics and chemistry would be hard without maths however not impossible, if you’re physics teacher was supportive you could ask them to teach you a bit of maths that would be useful in physics, although not sure how well this would work. Have you considered doing 4 a levels including maths although this would be hard it may help you if your school lets you even if it’s just for year 12 as it will help you in physics, if you don’t want to do this it is definitely possible to do physics without maths as long as you already have a good understanding of it (at least grade 7 GCSE) then you should be ok. Good luck

I know people that do Bio, Chem and Physics without Maths and they are fine, I know someone that does Bio, Chem, Physics, and Maths and they are also fine. They are both doing equally well. As long as you put the work in and have a good maths background you should be fine!

A-levels are tough, so don't worry if you aren't getting A's straight away! I love Biology, Chemistry not so much. It is my weakest. If you ever need any Bio/Chem help though, just give me a message!

All the best,

Millie

Hi guys. So basically, I’ve been thinking a lot, recently, about which subjects I’d like to study at college. I’ve known for a few years now that I want to do biology and chemistry, but I’ve always struggled with what to take as a third subject. However, one of the subjects I enjoyed most during high school (especially during GCSE’s) was physics, and so I’m starting to like the idea of studying it further. As much as I’d like to study it, I’ve seen a lot of people saying I’ll struggle if I do not take maths with it ☹️, so I’m not 100% sure. Do you think I’d be ok studying physics without maths? Have any of you done it in the past? Any advice would be super useful. Thanks for your help!

you will NOT struggle A level physics without maths. the A level is specifically designed to avoid overlap with A level maths and is therefore 'fake' physics in relation to degree physics.

however... A level maths is far more useful so do that instead please.

Thanks for the advice! I have though about trying 4 a-levels but both my parents are really against the idea. They say that it’ll mean I’ll just have less time to study the three that’ll actually matter in the end