The Student Room Group

One too many A Levels

How do you manage to study for four A levels? (Physics,Maths,Comp Science and ICT).

One of my friends advised me to drop Computer Science since I got a C in my AS (due to not so fun anxiety issues). But it is the A level I love and I will most probably study at Uni next year. Plus I did worse in my maths exams so this advice doesn't make sense to me.
CS and ICT seems like something of a redundancy - while they aren't the same subject, the concepts of ICT follow from the most fundamental material covered in CS. However if you are struggling with CS, it may be worth considering dropping that. Neither subject is required to study Computing in virtually any form offered by the vast majority of universities.

Maths is however a necessary prerequisite for the vast majority of CS courses, so it would be advisable to drop one subject in order to focus more on doing well in this subject. If you are primarily looking at more "applied" computing courses which don't require Maths, then it's probably worth dropping though. This may limit you somewhat if you change your mind however.
Reply 2
I'm definitely qualified to give advice here. I started A-levels doing Physics, Maths, Computing and Chemistry. Chemistry proved not to sit well with my brain, causing me lots of issues both academically and mentally, so I eventually ended up dropping it. Ever since then, all of my grades have improved, with maths improving drastically (B's up to CONSISTENT A*s). Dropping chemistry was one of the best decisions I've ever made for my academic career, and I'm sure dropping a subject would be good for you too.

Personally, I'd say drop ICT. You love computer science, so that's already a no-no to drop. Maths is a very well looked upon A-level, and can get you many places regardless of the other subjects you take. Physics is basically applied maths with a tiny bit of theory, so if you take maths its a no brainer to take physics. ICT only really ties in with CompSci, so its the safest to drop to ease the workload and improve your grades.

Don't stop doing an A-level you love because of bad grades. If you love it enough, use that motivation to really nail down those grades and go on to study what you want at Uni.

Just my opinion tho lmao
Original post by artful_lounger
CS and ICT seems like something of a redundancy - while they aren't the same subject, the concepts of ICT follow from the most fundamental material covered in CS. However if you are struggling with CS, it may be worth considering dropping that. Neither subject is required to study Computing in virtually any form offered by the vast majority of universities.

Maths is however a necessary prerequisite for the vast majority of CS courses, so it would be advisable to drop one subject in order to focus more on doing well in this subject. If you are primarily looking at more "applied" computing courses which don't require Maths, then it's probably worth dropping though. This may limit you somewhat if you change your mind however.


Computer Science is a complicated subject but I like it so much dammit... I do not want to give up on it so easily. My main issue though is that since I take it as a subject out of school since they don't offer it in school, I don't have the time I would like to spend studying for it due to school and my extra lessons of Maths
Original post by JVR12
I'm definitely qualified to give advice here. I started A-levels doing Physics, Maths, Computing and Chemistry. Chemistry proved not to sit well with my brain, causing me lots of issues both academically and mentally, so I eventually ended up dropping it. Ever since then, all of my grades have improved, with maths improving drastically (B's up to CONSISTENT A*s). Dropping chemistry was one of the best decisions I've ever made for my academic career, and I'm sure dropping a subject would be good for you too.

Personally, I'd say drop ICT. You love computer science, so that's already a no-no to drop. Maths is a very well looked upon A-level, and can get you many places regardless of the other subjects you take. Physics is basically applied maths with a tiny bit of theory, so if you take maths its a no brainer to take physics. ICT only really ties in with CompSci, so its the safest to drop to ease the workload and improve your grades.

Don't stop doing an A-level you love because of bad grades. If you love it enough, use that motivation to really nail down those grades and go on to study what you want at Uni.

Just my opinion tho lmao


Liked your feedback and I agree for the most part. Applied ICT though is a project and I also kind of enjoy it (no tests for it :smile: ). The subject that's making me "suffer" is Physics (highest grade 66%). But even if I drop it I will still have to do an exam because it's required by my leaving certificate (Apolytirion) to have studied 4 modules.

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