The Student Room Group

Chemistry or Latin A level?

I’m picking my A level subjects currently. I’ve already decided on Spanish, History and Maths, but I can’t decide whether I should do Chemistry or Latin. I then have the option in year 13 to either continue with all 4 subjects or drop 1 at the end of year 12.

I’m pretty confident I could get good grades in either but I don’t know which would be better in terms of both future uni/careers and enjoyment.

My current thoughts are...

Chemistry: allows the option of sciences and potentially medicine in case I change my mind. It’s one of my favourite subjects right now though that might be as I have a great teacher and class.

However - I might dislike all the practicals and could get a bad teacher. It doesn’t support an essay-based or language degree.

Latin: supports something more languages or essay-based, and also includes some historical and literature analysis elements. I love Latin language and the teachers are good.

However - there might be too much literature which I won’t enjoy and it pretty firmly closes off the option of sciences.

I don’t yet know what I might want to do at uni - to be honest A levels has been hard enough since I enjoy so many subjects. I’ve been considering something combining languages and history/politics/economics but that’s a very vague idea. Although I was seriously thinking about science and medicine, I think it’s less likely now but it’s possible I’ll change my mind (which doesn’t really help much).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Chemistry can get a bit boring and heavy, and a lot of people do it

I reckon Latin would be class though! From my GCSE days it helped me understand English from both a technical and poetic perspective. Not to mention its just a wonder to learn more about, and will give you another historical perspective.

But yeah if you want to do medicine or a science course, then it'd be chemistry. For just about anything else, I think Latin.
Chemistry-I really enjoy it!It opens up a lot of doors and there are lots of online resources to help you if you're struggling!If you have any specific questions about chemistry please ask.
Reply 3
Original post by elilast
and potentially medicine in case I change my mind.


You would need three sciences to study medicine. Just chemistry = no hope.
To add to my point above, the fact I do further maths (and physics I suppose) means I am constantly in a position to get better at maths and math-related pursuits. I feel sorry for anyone who develops a love of maths without further maths because you miss out on so many opportunities to improve.

Doing latin will compliment your range of A-levels because all your essays will require subtly different skills which all tie in together, given you'll be practising them a lot.
Original post by Pigster
You would need three sciences to study medicine. Just chemistry = no hope.


not true, not 3 sciences but chemistry and normally biology (some places will allow chem and maths)
Reply 6
Original post by Pigster
You would need three sciences to study medicine. Just chemistry = no hope.


No you don’t?
Unfortunately you also need bio to study medicine I believe :tongue: And for most science courses you need 2 sciences or science and maths. If you like languages I would strongly recommend Latin although by no means is it essential. If you don't enjoy literature then you should probably think twice though - I'm pretty sure Latin A-Level has lots (definitely for the spec I'm doing next year hehe)
Reply 8
I stand corrected.

Long standing assumption.
Reply 9
Thanks all for your replies, it’s really good to hear some other opinions!

I don’t *think* I’ll be doing medicine unless I do have a massive change of heart. I might be wrong but I believe some places accept chemistry and maths although that’s obviously not ideal.
Original post by Anonymous1502
Chemistry-I really enjoy it!It opens up a lot of doors and there are lots of online resources to help you if you're struggling!If you have any specific questions about chemistry please ask.
Good to hear about the online resources! How similar do you find it to GCSE - are you assessed with similar styles of questions?
Original post by mundosinfin
Unfortunately you also need bio to study medicine I believe And for most science courses you need 2 sciences or science and maths. If you like languages I would strongly recommend Latin although by no means is it essential. If you don't enjoy literature then you should probably think twice though - I'm pretty sure Latin A-Level has lots (definitely for the spec I'm doing next year hehe)

Yes I really should check out the Latin spec I’d be doing again to see the literature component.
(edited 6 years ago)
I find doing triple chemistry does help a lot.It's harder but I find it do able if you take the time to understand the content by practicing questions.Lots of people say they find chemistry really hard,but personally I find maths and biology harder.It's different then GCSE as some of the things you learn at GCSE are not actually true and are quite simplified.Organic chemistry is hard though.But I find chemistry enjoyable.In a level chemistry we do calorimetey,titrations,mole calculations,testing for ions,La Chatteliers pprincipal and some other things that you learn at GCSE. Let me know if you have anymore questions.
Original post by elilast
Thanks all for your replies, it’s really good to hear some other opinions! I don’t *think* I’ll be doing medicine unless I do have a massive change of heart. I might be wrong but I believe some places accept chemistry and maths although that’s obviously not ideal. Good to hear about the online resources! How similar do you find it to GCSE - are you assessed with similar styles of questions?

Yes I really should check out the Latin spec I’d be doing again to see the literature component.
OCR latin is 50:50 lit and Lang if that helps x
I was really hesitant about doing Latin A level bc of the literature but it is really v different to GCSE. I was also trying to decide between Chemistry and Latin!
I currently do Latin and Spanish (with English and Art) and I can honestly say that, by doing both, it has made doing the other one so much easier (in terms of grammar and analysis of texts etc).
If you have any specific questions just ask! xx
I’m currently in Year 12 studying both Latin and Chemistry.

I find the Latin quite tricky because there is a lot of literature and essay writing, which doesn’t come naturally to me as a slow writer and a more science-minded person. However, it really interests me and I enjoy the variety, as it means I’m not doing all science and maths (in your case this may be an argument for chemistry, as there is plenty of essay work in history and plenty of language in Spanish :tongue:). Also, I’ve found you can approach the literature from a language point of view and still pick up a lot of style points.

Chemistry hasn’t proved too challenging for me yet, but I know a lot of people really struggle with the step up from GCSE. It sounds like you enjoy it, but I’d think carefully about your workload if you don’t find it reasonably easy now - the amount of work involved in your other subject choices may mean you’d struggle to keep on top of all the new content and ideas. I wouldn’t worry about practicals - I loathe them but they don’t take up too much time, so you just get them done and move on!
You do not need either Physics or Biology to do medicine but Chemistry is a must, with it being preferable to have a second science. Maths is also preferable above all but Chemistry.
Reply 15
Thanks very much to all of you for your replies! I've actually had to submit my options by now -- I'm currently doing Chemistry (although I can still potentially switch).

Original post by Interea
I’m currently in Year 12 studying both Latin and Chemistry.

I find the Latin quite tricky because there is a lot of literature and essay writing, which doesn’t come naturally to me as a slow writer and a more science-minded person. However, it really interests me and I enjoy the variety, as it means I’m not doing all science and maths (in your case this may be an argument for chemistry, as there is plenty of essay work in history and plenty of language in Spanish :tongue:). Also, I’ve found you can approach the literature from a language point of view and still pick up a lot of style points.

Chemistry hasn’t proved too challenging for me yet, but I know a lot of people really struggle with the step up from GCSE. It sounds like you enjoy it, but I’d think carefully about your workload if you don’t find it reasonably easy now - the amount of work involved in your other subject choices may mean you’d struggle to keep on top of all the new content and ideas. I wouldn’t worry about practicals - I loathe them but they don’t take up too much time, so you just get them done and move on!


Thanks, it's good to hear from someone who's doing both! Yes, I don't want to be overrun with essays so in that respect Chemistry might be easier. We've just finished organic chemistry at GCSE though and it's difficult to get my head around.

Original post by maddieacpope
I was really hesitant about doing Latin A level bc of the literature but it is really v different to GCSE. I was also trying to decide between Chemistry and Latin!
I currently do Latin and Spanish (with English and Art) and I can honestly say that, by doing both, it has made doing the other one so much easier (in terms of grammar and analysis of texts etc).
If you have any specific questions just ask! xx


You said A level is really different to GCSE -- in what respect?
I did History, Maths, Further Maths, Latin, Physics in year 12, did the FM AS and dropped Physics so was in quite a similar situ to you. Personaly I wasnt sure about dong latin at first because its a bit 'weird' andthought physics would be more useful as initially i was considering doing engineering.

I REALLY REALLY ADVOCATE DOING LATIN! It quickly became my fave a level and if you drop it the skills you learn are really useful- I dont know too much about Chemistry except that its really hard work and the only people who actually enjoy it are 100% science nerds- I have 2 friends that started out doing chem then dropped it because they just didnt have a passion for science, same with me for Physics. It's also a bit different and will make your ucas application stand out a bit (it does make you sound smart and interesting although a little weird)

If you're mathsy like me then you'll also prob find the lang sectiion a little easier than other people- my brain is really good at spotting patterns and stuff which means I can remember grammar tables pretty easily. You learn quite a bit about Roman politics and history- although that's not the focus and you can skimp on that section if you really hate it- which although it doesnt directly correlate to your history course is really interesting in terms of political structures and I really enjoyed it because I love history anyway (I'm doing it at uni). The essays you write for lit are a different style to history and it doesn't feel like an 'essay subject' if you're worried about that, I definitely never fely overloaded with essays like people doing English.

Alllso i wasnt too keen on the literature at first but you really do fall in love with the set text, especially if you choose to study just 2 texts over the two years. the lit section is quite similar to english skills in terms of picking out exciting/dramatic parts of a passage. I would say its so much more engaging and varied that chem- it's not so much about learning facts as developing skillswhich I would say will be far more useful to you long term... sorry for rambling, I just love latin so much lol (and im procrastinating revising) feel free to message me :smile:
I do both and am about to the final exams for yr13.
Both are interesting and boring, this depends somewhat on your teachers but coursematerial isn't amazing.
Chem is a lot of basic maths and a lot of content but doable. You do have a learn some specifics that are not sequential but after you get the nack of it it's fine. And there's a lot of past papers to practise on which is extremely helpful.
Latin is split half and half lit to Lang. Lit it about 4000 words of verse which are actually quite good and the commentary notes are interesting as well. About 10000 words of prose which i found incredibly boring as it's all political talk and rumours and the author subtly moaning about random stuff with factual basis, commentary is understandable but boring. Lang is hard coz there's no a2 set text and they are really hard. Espically coz prose translation is boring and verse can go in any direction, very weird and disturbing things occur, for example the text where Ovid teaches men to have more than one women and then his very active afternoon with corinna and her white dress which features briefly at the beginning before being lost to the world. Not particularly fun to translate one on one with a teacher 😂😂😂.
It's your choice and please choose the one you like the best, I think I would've chosen differently if I had the chance again
Reply 18
Thanks so much both of you, it's great to hear your experience and sorry for the late reply! I think I'm going to wait until results day to make the final decision to be honest -- and both do depend a lot on the teacher I get so I might try and switch if my teacher's really bad haha. Good luck with your exams, or I hope they went well if you've already done them.

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