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How hard is alevel chemistry and biology?

Hi,
I have just finished my GCSE and want to do alevel chemistry and biology. I am predicted b's in my dual award science but have been getting higher grades in all sciences in past papers. I am predicted a 4 (equivalent to c) in maths, which I will retake in order to get a 6 (B) as I know I will definitely won't get that this year, anyway I was wondering would I cope with the maths that is involved in both subjects and the subjects itself and still stand a good chance to get a good grade???
Hope you can help.
You would definitely struggle in chemistry honestly although if you did lots of practice you could probably work past that. If you got an A in core and additional science then you would definitely be suitable to study bio and chemistry at alevel and if you worked hard you will definitely do quite well.
There is quite a lot of maths content in the science a-levels. The students who study A-level maths as well cope much better. There is more maths in chemistry than biology, however I have noticed that those with less than an A in GCSE maths struggle with the science A-levels. Some people in my year with A* in GCSE maths still break out in a sweat at the maths involved. The content for biology A-level is massive and you will need to put a lot of work in, GCSE is really the basics and A-level biology is in a lot more depth. So you must really be getting A/A* in GCSE biology before doing A-level, same goes for chemistry. A friend of mine got a B in GCSE chemistry and took it at A-level...she got an E in the mock exam.

That's just my experience, A-levels are much harder and therefore if you do not secure high GCSE grades you will probably struggle with A-level.
Original post by Chgeorge123
Hi,
I have just finished my GCSE and want to do alevel chemistry and biology. I am predicted b's in my dual award science but have been getting higher grades in all sciences in past papers. I am predicted a 4 (equivalent to c) in maths, which I will retake in order to get a 6 (B) as I know I will definitely won't get that this year, anyway I was wondering would I cope with the maths that is involved in both subjects and the subjects itself and still stand a good chance to get a good grade???
Hope you can help.


Original post by OwlOfFire
There is quite a lot of maths content in the science a-levels. The students who study A-level maths as well cope much better. There is more maths in chemistry than biology, however I have noticed that those with less than an A in GCSE maths struggle with the science A-levels. Some people in my year with A* in GCSE maths still break out in a sweat at the maths involved. The content for biology A-level is massive and you will need to put a lot of work in, GCSE is really the basics and A-level biology is in a lot more depth. So you must really be getting A/A* in GCSE biology before doing A-level, same goes for chemistry. A friend of mine got a B in GCSE chemistry and took it at A-level...she got an E in the mock exam.

That's just my experience, A-levels are much harder and therefore if you do not secure high GCSE grades you will probably struggle with A-level.


100% agree with OwlofFire. You really do need an a or a* at gcse, because otherwise the gap will just be too much. Of course, it depends on what grades you want at A level. If you just want to pass or get an A or B, you should still be able to do so with hard work.
If ur getting a 4 in maths then I wouldn't do chemistry.
Reply 5
Original post by OwlOfFire
There is quite a lot of maths content in the science a-levels. The students who study A-level maths as well cope much better. There is more maths in chemistry than biology, however I have noticed that those with less than an A in GCSE maths struggle with the science A-levels. Some people in my year with A* in GCSE maths still break out in a sweat at the maths involved. The content for biology A-level is massive and you will need to put a lot of work in, GCSE is really the basics and A-level biology is in a lot more depth. So you must really be getting A/A* in GCSE biology before doing A-level, same goes for chemistry. A friend of mine got a B in GCSE chemistry and took it at A-level...she got an E in the mock exam.

That's just my experience, A-levels are much harder and therefore if you do not secure high GCSE grades you will probably struggle with A-level.

Thank you so much for the reply. I will just have to wait until my results and see where I stand than. Thanks again.
Reply 6
Original post by Chgeorge123
Hi,
I have just finished my GCSE and want to do alevel chemistry and biology. I am predicted b's in my dual award science but have been getting higher grades in all sciences in past papers. I am predicted a 4 (equivalent to c) in maths, which I will retake in order to get a 6 (B) as I know I will definitely won't get that this year, anyway I was wondering would I cope with the maths that is involved in both subjects and the subjects itself and still stand a good chance to get a good grade???
Hope you can help.


People who are good at maths will struggle less because they are more comfortable using numbers, not because they know "more maths" so to speak. This is why A-Level maths is not a requirement to do A-Level chemistry. The methods you use at A-Level essentially come down to weather or not you can rearrange formula and/or substitute numbers correctly, and how good you are with units and standard form. Indices are important too. There is a lot of stuff in GCSE maths which isn't really necessary for AS/A2 chemistry.

In other words, the calculations side (definitely AS imo) is not the part to worry about. Its one of those things where you can just practice and practice and eventually be good with, regardless of how good you are at maths.
(edited 6 years ago)
Reply 7
I do a level bio. Just sitting my last exams for it now. Honest opinion - I struggle bad with it. At GCSE I achieve an A* in Maths, 9As and a C in Drama, all my sciences were an A. Biology is just so content heavy and the paper s 70% application, 10% maths and 20% content recall. The maths I cannot do at all and I got an A* at GCSE, its completely different applying it to another subject. If you really need biology to do your chosen career then go for it, work hard and honestly do not leave revision to last minute, keep going throughout the year because thats the only way you will pass biology. My grades vary from an A* in a level bio to a U... its very difficult.
Reply 8
Original post by TajwarC
People who are good at maths will struggle less because they are more comfortable using numbers, not because they know "more maths" so to speak. This is why A-Level maths is not a requirement to do A-Level chemistry. The methods you use at A-Level essentially come down to weather or not you can rearrange formula and/or substitute numbers correctly, and how good you are with units and standard form. Indices are important too. There is a lot of stuff in GCSE maths which isn't really necessary for AS/A2 chemistry.

In other words, the calculations side (definitely AS imo) is not the part to worry about. Its one of those things where you can just practice and practice and eventually be good with, regardless of how good you are at maths.


Thank you that's given me a lot of confidence knowing it's still possible even with my low level of maths skills. Thanks
Well I got an A (1 mark off an A*) in GCSE Biology an got a C in A Level Biology mock. So yeah I'd say it's quite a big step up.
(edited 6 years ago)
Hard and doubly hard if you struggle through both
(your soul will be sucked from your body)
I got a B in additional and C in core as well as a B in Maths I am doing really well in my A Levels. TBH no matter how good or bad your grades are for GCSE you'll still have to work hard to get a reasonable grade. I know people who aced there GCSEs with at least 7 or more A* and done really bad in A Levels and others who got Cs and Bs who did really well. It all comes down to hard work for A Levels and keeping up with revision from day one.
Reply 12
I got a B in additional and C in core as well as a B in Maths I am doing really well in my A Levels. TBH no matter how good or bad your grades are for GCSE you'll still have to work hard to get a reasonable grade. I know people who aced there GCSEs with at least 7 or more A* and done really bad in A Levels and others who got Cs and Bs who did really well. It all comes down to hard work for A Levels and keeping up with revision from day one.
Chemistry isn't that hard, most of it is logical whereas bio requires a lot of remembering. Maths is also very logical, so if u can't do GCSE maths then I highly doubt u can do A level chem.
Reply 14
Original post by Chgeorge123
Hi,
I have just finished my GCSE and want to do alevel chemistry and biology. I am predicted b's in my dual award science but have been getting higher grades in all sciences in past papers. I am predicted a 4 (equivalent to c) in maths, which I will retake in order to get a 6 (B) as I know I will definitely won't get that this year, anyway I was wondering would I cope with the maths that is involved in both subjects and the subjects itself and still stand a good chance to get a good grade???
Hope you can help.


I got AA in science at gcse so i thought i would pick bio as it was so easy and chem however now having done my alevel exams chemistry is hard however with practice it come to you but biology by far way harder than chemistry and maths at alevel in terms of the content is too much them disgusting exam technique. My biggest regret is doing alevel biology honest opinion
Original post by Chgeorge123
Thank you that's given me a lot of confidence knowing it's still possible even with my low level of maths skills. Thanks


I disagree with what they've said. Chemistry is very maths heavy. And while it is quite simple at AS, it's a huge step up at A2, especially with the new spec for AQA.

The calculations are extremely difficult and the style of questions are so completely different to what you learn in past papers in the old spec, and you need to have a very good understanding of maths and how to apply it in a chemical context, with loads of wordy questions.

For example, in the recent paper I sat last week, there were unstructured 5, 6, and 8 mark questions that give you all the info at the start and tell you to just answer it.
Ocr Science is harddddd :*( Not recommended
does it matter if I get a 4 in maths if I get a A I'm additional and a A In core

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