Best Combination of A-Levels for Engineering

Hello!

I have recently got my GCSE results and I'm happy to say I have achieved all 9s and 8s apart from English Language and Graphics which I got a 6/B in.

So I'm interested in engineering and I'm wondering if my current combination of A-Levels are good. I'm specifically interested in these 3 branches: Aerospace, Electrical/Electronics and Mechanical.

My current A-Level selections : Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science

Should I switch Computer Science with Chemistry or should it stay the same as it is?

Thank you all very much for helping! I really appreciate it!

Hello!

I have recently got my GCSE results and I'm happy to say I have achieved all 9s and 8s apart from English Language and Graphics which I got a 6/B in.

So I'm interested in engineering and I'm wondering if my current combination of A-Levels are good. I'm specifically interested in these 3 branches: Aerospace, Electrical/Electronics and Mechanical.

My current A-Level selections : Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science

Should I switch Computer Science with Chemistry or should it stay the same as it is?

Thank you all very much for helping! I really appreciate it!

Hello!

I have recently got my GCSE results and I'm happy to say I have achieved all 9s and 8s apart from English Language and Graphics which I got a 6/B in.

So I'm interested in engineering and I'm wondering if my current combination of A-Levels are good. I'm specifically interested in these 3 branches: Aerospace, Electrical/Electronics and Mechanical.

My current A-Level selections : Maths, Further Maths, Physics and Computer Science

Should I switch Computer Science with Chemistry or should it stay the same as it is?

Thank you all very much for helping! I really appreciate it!

You could consider Graphics if you want to get into the design side of Engineering?

Thank you very much for replying!

Yes I am really interested in R&D side of Engineering and I did look at the Graphics course in my college. It was mostly leaning towards the “art” side of things.

So I decided to learn programs like OnShape and Simscale to get used to CAD. I used these programs for my school’s Greenpower car project and I am going to continue on using these programs to get a grasp of the design side of engineering.

Is there anything else that I can do to improve my skills in CAD?

Thank you very much!

You thought about studying electronics?

Yeah I had a look into it and I would love to study Electronical Engineering. It is just that I can’t really make up my mind on which branch that I love the most.

I find it fascinating how aircrafts that weigh tons can fly in the sky and I love the idea of designing rockets that will send satellites into space

However, I really love tinkering with electronics and had some of own experience in building the circuitry and the coding of a little Arduino autonomous robot car which I plan to carry on further during college. I find it frustrating when my circuit or code doesn’t work but when I solve the problem, it really does make me proud! The only thing I am kind of scared of is my minimal experience in coding so far. I haven’t taken CS GCSE so all I have learnt is from Youtube videos about Arduino.

And Mechanical Engineering is the other option simply because of how diverse it is.

So, any sort of guidance on what I should do? Thank you very much helping I really appreciate it!

Do they offer any other sort of Technology e.g. electronics or RM? The main programs used are Solidworks although some use CATIA [expensive]. You might want to consider a uni that offers Formula Student and/or a year in industry? Look beyond RG unis - Oxford Brookes has the most successful hostory in FS.

No I mean electronics a level

Oh 😁 The college that I decided to enrol with does not have Electronics A-Level.

Unfortunately they don’t have either of those subjects.

I have looked into Formula Student and I absolutely want to be a part of it. My current college participates in Greenpower, which I managed to be a part of in my previous school (I did the Aerodynamic design of the car using Onshape and Simscale!!) however I was unable to attend the race as I had two exams the day after :/

I have heard of Solidworks quite a lot but have only seen a few mentions of CATIA. I would love to learn them but my current college also uses OnShape for their Greenpower car, so I’ll have to carry on with using Onshape.

Is there any way I can learn and experience these programs without waiting until university??

Thank you very much!!

I think you can find demo versions of Solidworks. I know some students got free copies of CREO design elements [or something like that] from an Edixation show in Birmingham - they happened to be in my Maths teaching group.

CATIA is a bit specialist but you might like to look into CFD [computational fluid dynamics] software - seems to be some demos out there.

Thank you!

I have another question. How do I select between the branches that I have specified in the original post?

I like Aerospace Engineering, because I find the science behind the concept of lift fascinating and the idea of designing rockets that could go into space seems really interesting. Also Aerodynamics of F1 cars really interest me as well.

However, I am also really interested in Electrical/Electronical Engineering because I just love tinkering with electronics. I had my own experience with building the circuitry and the coding of a small Arduino autonomous robot car, which I plan to carry on further in college. The only thing is my little experience in coding ( I have only managed to work with servos, DC motors and Ultrasonic Distance Sensors to tell the robot to stop when it finds an obstacle closer than 30cm). I have only learnt some coding through YouTube as I haven’t taken CS GCSE.

And there’s Mechanical Engineering as my third choice simply because of how diverse it is.

So how can I make my choice? I strive to learn and improve my skills in CAD,CFD and coding but I really want to select a branch so I can focus on that aspect of the projects that I will be a part of in college.

Thank you!