I need help deciding my fourth A-Level subject

My school's Sixth Form application deadline is on Friday and so far I've only made up my mind on three subjects (my school requires four).
They are:

Maths
Physics
German

Although I'm unsure what job or University degree I'd like to pursue, I am interested in the language, science, football and astronomy industries.

If anyone can help me I'd be very grateful!

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

Lia22

chemistry perhaps, if you want to go into the science industry

Reply 2

A_Winter

Original post by Lia22

chemistry perhaps, if you want to go into the science industry

I'd happily do Chemistry if it weren't for the fact that I despise practicals (I'm awful at them)

Reply 3

UCAS and Chill

Original post by A_Winter

I'd happily do Chemistry if it weren't for the fact that I despise practicals (I'm awful at them)

Depends on your exam board tho. I'm OCR and for practicals, you just get a pass or fail at the end of the year. I remember being told roughly 98% of people pass, so even if you're hopeless at them (like me), you can copy the people around you and ask them for help if you get stuck. Plus all practicals are in pairs or threes.

Economics?

But if you're doing both maths and physics, I'm guessing you're quite good at maths, so perhaps you should consider further maths?

Reply 6

A_Winter

Original post by yusufhussain

Plus all practicals are in pairs or threes.

Seriously? This would make life so much easier!

Reply 7

A_Winter

Original post by yusufhussain

But if you're doing both maths and physics, I'm guessing you're quite good at maths, so perhaps you should consider further maths?

I was considering it, but my school put me off when they said I should only do FM if I'm looking to do a maths degree (which I'm not)

Reply 8

UCAS and Chill

Original post by A_Winter

Seriously? This would make life so much easier!

Yeah trust, practicals are nothing to worry about if you're OCR. Check with your teacher to ask your exam board and whether you do proper practicals or PAGs (the easy one).

Reply 9

UCAS and Chill

Original post by A_Winter

I was considering it, but my school put me off when they said I should only do FM if I'm looking to do a maths degree (which I'm not)

That's not true at all. My brother took it and ended up doing languages at Cambridge. Plus if you take it, maths becomes a walk in the park in comparison so it would be a lower workload than chemistry imo.

Reply 10

bones-mccoy

Chemistry sounds like the logical answer here, but Further Maths is also a good shout

Reply 11

A_Winter

Original post by yusufhussain

Yeah trust, practicals are nothing to worry about if you're OCR. Check with your teacher to ask your exam board and whether you do proper practicals or PAGs (the easy one).

My school's exam board for Chemistry is AQA

Reply 12

stoyfan

Original post by A_Winter

I was considering it, but my school put me off when they said I should only do FM if I'm looking to do a maths degree (which I'm not)

You should do FM if you want to do a maths degree, physics degree or an Engineering degree (although chem, phys and maths is another way of getting into engineering).

Reply 13

A_Winter

Original post by yusufhussain

That's not true at all. My brother took it and ended up doing languages at Cambridge.

How much harder is FM than maths at A-Level? Also, well done to your brother!

Reply 14

UCAS and Chill

Original post by A_Winter

How much harder is FM than maths at A-Level? Also, well done to your brother!

I'm doing the old specification so I don't really know what it will be like for you. But for us, in the first year it was just as easy in maths and then in second year, everybody other than the top few students struggled. But for my further maths sets standards, struggling is getting a B lol.

Reply 15

lou2471

Economics could be good if you don't mind answering longer questions

Reply 16

A_Winter

Original post by lou2471

Economics could be good if you don't mind answering longer questions

Is it a respected subject? Obviously it complements maths but is it worth doing?

Reply 17

lou2471

Original post by A_Winter

Is it a respected subject? Obviously it complements maths but is it worth doing?

yes I believe it is pretty well respected, maybe not as much as chemistry (that seems like another good option) but then again it is much easier in my opinion (I take both)

Reply 18

A_Winter

I spoke with my school's head of Sixth Form today and now I'm leaning towards a career in languages. Should I, therefore, even bother taking Physics? And what should my 4th subject be?!

Reply 19

username3480226

Maybe you would want to go into something like computer science or engineering? In which case, FM can be a real help, and might be worth trying (you can always drop it).