A level choices
I’m really struggling on what to pick for my a levels. I’ve picked two subjects so far that at the moment I enjoy and I am interested in. These are:
Maths
Chemistry
However I don’t know what to do for my other options. I was thinking maybe I should have a widespread so maybe do English lit. Or keep my options quite science based and chose either physics or biology.
Can someone give me pros and cons of either of these and suggest any others that you think I might like?
Maths
Chemistry
However I don’t know what to do for my other options. I was thinking maybe I should have a widespread so maybe do English lit. Or keep my options quite science based and chose either physics or biology.
Can someone give me pros and cons of either of these and suggest any others that you think I might like?
I just completed my master in aerospace engineering. I will advice you to seat down and picture yourself in the future. what do you see yourself doing as a professional ? what do you need to study to get there ? do not think of how difficult your study in the next few year will be, just be determined to achieve what you want in life. But most importantly chose what you enjoy and good at. some of my university mates dropped out because they lost interest in what they were studying not because they cant do it.
Original post by Nataliee_cotts
I’m really struggling on what to pick for my a levels. I’ve picked two subjects so far that at the moment I enjoy and I am interested in. These are:
Maths
Chemistry
However I don’t know what to do for my other options. I was thinking maybe I should have a widespread so maybe do English lit. Or keep my options quite science based and chose either physics or biology.
Can someone give me pros and cons of either of these and suggest any others that you think I might like?
Maths
Chemistry
However I don’t know what to do for my other options. I was thinking maybe I should have a widespread so maybe do English lit. Or keep my options quite science based and chose either physics or biology.
Can someone give me pros and cons of either of these and suggest any others that you think I might like?
Original post by Nataliee_cotts
I’m really struggling on what to pick for my a levels. I’ve picked two subjects so far that at the moment I enjoy and I am interested in. These are:
Maths
Chemistry
However I don’t know what to do for my other options. I was thinking maybe I should have a widespread so maybe do English lit. Or keep my options quite science based and chose either physics or biology.
Can someone give me pros and cons of either of these and suggest any others that you think I might like?
Maths
Chemistry
However I don’t know what to do for my other options. I was thinking maybe I should have a widespread so maybe do English lit. Or keep my options quite science based and chose either physics or biology.
Can someone give me pros and cons of either of these and suggest any others that you think I might like?
Physics goes well with Maths for things like Physics or Engineering courses.
Biology goes well with Chemistry for BioChem related courses.
If you either arent good at or arent interested in either of those two, then pick the subject you enjoy and c=an get a good grade in.
Grades get you into better unis, subjects get you onto certain courses.
Which A levels?
https://www.informedchoices.ac.uk/
https://university.which.co.uk/advice/a-level-choices/six-things-you-need-to-know-before-making-your-a-level-choices
Which course?
https://sacu-student.com/?page_id=5203
https://university.which.co.uk/a-level-explorer
Hi,
Thanks for your post, it’s great you’re looking for advice about your A-Level options!
First things first – it’s completely normal to be unsure about your choices so don’t worry if you feel like you’re the only one – I can guarantee there are thousands of students in the exact same situation!
There’s two common ways that students pick their subjects at A-Level; 1) they pick subjects which they enjoy and feel they are good at or 2) they pick subjects which allows them to move onto a particular career path, or gives them access to a particular subject at university or other higher education.
It appears you’ve got the first couple of subjects picked based on what you enjoy and are good at (which is brilliant), so it may be an idea to think about whether there are any careers or next steps which require you to have a background in a certain subjects to make the third choice.
It may be that you haven’t really thought that far ahead (again, which is fine) so taking something you enjoy is just as good a way of choosing the third subject as anything! It’s true with what you’ve said that English might offer a wider balance of subjects overall, but on the other side of that coin, taking a science will mean that if you are applying for science based courses or jobs in the future, your application may look stronger with physics or biology.
The good thing about the subjects which you’ve listed are that they are all ‘academically sound’ subjects – basically meaning that a lot of universities and employers will accept them as entry qualifications for a variety of different jobs in a way that a subject like Art or Drama might not be as widely accepted
It’s difficult to offer specifics without knowing more about you but I would recommend opening out the question to your teachers, particularly your English and science teachers – they likely know your strengths and weaknesses pretty well by now and can offer their thoughts about whether their subjects would be a good fit for you?
I hope this makes sense as a starting point but if there is anything else we can help with, please feel free to get back in touch.
Good luck!
Tom.
Thanks for your post, it’s great you’re looking for advice about your A-Level options!
First things first – it’s completely normal to be unsure about your choices so don’t worry if you feel like you’re the only one – I can guarantee there are thousands of students in the exact same situation!
There’s two common ways that students pick their subjects at A-Level; 1) they pick subjects which they enjoy and feel they are good at or 2) they pick subjects which allows them to move onto a particular career path, or gives them access to a particular subject at university or other higher education.
It appears you’ve got the first couple of subjects picked based on what you enjoy and are good at (which is brilliant), so it may be an idea to think about whether there are any careers or next steps which require you to have a background in a certain subjects to make the third choice.
It may be that you haven’t really thought that far ahead (again, which is fine) so taking something you enjoy is just as good a way of choosing the third subject as anything! It’s true with what you’ve said that English might offer a wider balance of subjects overall, but on the other side of that coin, taking a science will mean that if you are applying for science based courses or jobs in the future, your application may look stronger with physics or biology.
The good thing about the subjects which you’ve listed are that they are all ‘academically sound’ subjects – basically meaning that a lot of universities and employers will accept them as entry qualifications for a variety of different jobs in a way that a subject like Art or Drama might not be as widely accepted
It’s difficult to offer specifics without knowing more about you but I would recommend opening out the question to your teachers, particularly your English and science teachers – they likely know your strengths and weaknesses pretty well by now and can offer their thoughts about whether their subjects would be a good fit for you?
I hope this makes sense as a starting point but if there is anything else we can help with, please feel free to get back in touch.
Good luck!
Tom.
Original post by Nataliee_cotts
I’m really struggling on what to pick for my a levels. I’ve picked two subjects so far that at the moment I enjoy and I am interested in. These are:
Maths
Chemistry
However I don’t know what to do for my other options. I was thinking maybe I should have a widespread so maybe do English lit. Or keep my options quite science based and chose either physics or biology.
Can someone give me pros and cons of either of these and suggest any others that you think I might like?
Maths
Chemistry
However I don’t know what to do for my other options. I was thinking maybe I should have a widespread so maybe do English lit. Or keep my options quite science based and chose either physics or biology.
Can someone give me pros and cons of either of these and suggest any others that you think I might like?
Thank you all for the help, I’m more drawn towards physics but because I’m a girl I feel like I’m not really welcomed and I feel like I’m being pushed towards subjects like biology. I still really enjoy English though and because I don’t know what I really want to do in the future, I just thought I would pick what I thought is more interesting and what I enjoy. So what advice would you give: pick 4 alevels or change the alevels I have
Maths, chem and bio/physics
Pros:
(I did Chem and Bio)- Bio and Chem go together really well, doing maths may help with the statistics you do in biology.
Will get you onto a vast number of STEM courses, particularly environmental, medical, biochemical stuff etc.
Physics equally goes very well with Maths and does cross over with Chem. Great if you wanted to go down the more technological side of STEM later on.
Cons:
Maths and Chemistry are, by themselves, incredibly challenging. Out of the three I did (History, Chem, Bio), Chem was the hardest by far. I found Biology intense because of the sheer amount of content. I found History pretty chill.
May not prepare you for essay-writing and in-depth independent research as much.
Maths, chem and art subject (e.g. English/History)
Pros:
English is challenging at A-Level but from people I know who did STEM subjects with English, they found English easier. I also, as aforementioned, found History a lot easier.
Gives you a spread- English and History really helps you learn to write properly and appropriately.
Also gives you experience with having to do *a lot* of independent reading.
Cons:
May limit the scope of what you can study in the STEM field
Have to really enjoy English/History as you study the same topics for long periods of time. In my A-Level History, 40% of the course was Witchcraft, 15% Cold War in Asia, 25% Modern Britain, 25% Personal Study.
By comparison, there were 8 Biology topics, all counting equally: 1- Lifestyle Health and Risk; 2- Genes and Health; 3- Voice of the Genome; 4- Biodiversity and Natural Resources; 5- On The Wild Side; 6- Immunity, Infection and Forensics; 7- Run For Your Life; 8- Grey Matter.
This is great if you like to focus on one area rather than lots, but it can get VERY boring if you (like me) don't particularly love medieval history.
Pros:
(I did Chem and Bio)- Bio and Chem go together really well, doing maths may help with the statistics you do in biology.
Will get you onto a vast number of STEM courses, particularly environmental, medical, biochemical stuff etc.
Physics equally goes very well with Maths and does cross over with Chem. Great if you wanted to go down the more technological side of STEM later on.
Cons:
Maths and Chemistry are, by themselves, incredibly challenging. Out of the three I did (History, Chem, Bio), Chem was the hardest by far. I found Biology intense because of the sheer amount of content. I found History pretty chill.
May not prepare you for essay-writing and in-depth independent research as much.
Maths, chem and art subject (e.g. English/History)
Pros:
English is challenging at A-Level but from people I know who did STEM subjects with English, they found English easier. I also, as aforementioned, found History a lot easier.
Gives you a spread- English and History really helps you learn to write properly and appropriately.
Also gives you experience with having to do *a lot* of independent reading.
Cons:
May limit the scope of what you can study in the STEM field
Have to really enjoy English/History as you study the same topics for long periods of time. In my A-Level History, 40% of the course was Witchcraft, 15% Cold War in Asia, 25% Modern Britain, 25% Personal Study.
By comparison, there were 8 Biology topics, all counting equally: 1- Lifestyle Health and Risk; 2- Genes and Health; 3- Voice of the Genome; 4- Biodiversity and Natural Resources; 5- On The Wild Side; 6- Immunity, Infection and Forensics; 7- Run For Your Life; 8- Grey Matter.
This is great if you like to focus on one area rather than lots, but it can get VERY boring if you (like me) don't particularly love medieval history.
Original post by Nataliee_cotts
Thank you all for the help, I’m more drawn towards physics but because I’m a girl I feel like I’m not really welcomed and I feel like I’m being pushed towards subjects like biology. I still really enjoy English though and because I don’t know what I really want to do in the future, I just thought I would pick what I thought is more interesting and what I enjoy. So what advice would you give: pick 4 alevels or change the alevels I have
All the more reason you go for it! Prove those sexists wrong!!!
Would it be worth doing 4 or will that be a slap in the face of stress? If I was doing 4 it would probably be English, maths, chemistry and physics.
Hi,
As @p_helena mentions, you should never be put off taking a subject for those sorts of reasons so if you feel like you would enjoy Physics, that's all the reason you need to go for it!
If in doubt, it's always a good idea to choose subjects which you will enjoy - the fact is, you are the one who will be studying them for the next 2 years so you might as well enjoy your time there rather than struggling through a subject which doesn't interest you.
Another good thing is that if you are enjoying the subject, it's more likely that you will be more successful in it. Better grades leads to more choices when it comes to next steps so it's a win-win!
Good luck!
As @p_helena mentions, you should never be put off taking a subject for those sorts of reasons so if you feel like you would enjoy Physics, that's all the reason you need to go for it!
If in doubt, it's always a good idea to choose subjects which you will enjoy - the fact is, you are the one who will be studying them for the next 2 years so you might as well enjoy your time there rather than struggling through a subject which doesn't interest you.
Another good thing is that if you are enjoying the subject, it's more likely that you will be more successful in it. Better grades leads to more choices when it comes to next steps so it's a win-win!
Good luck!
Original post by Nataliee_cotts
Thank you all for the help, I’m more drawn towards physics but because I’m a girl I feel like I’m not really welcomed and I feel like I’m being pushed towards subjects like biology. I still really enjoy English though and because I don’t know what I really want to do in the future, I just thought I would pick what I thought is more interesting and what I enjoy. So what advice would you give: pick 4 alevels or change the alevels I have
That would be highly stressful. I do know people who did 4 A-Levels, but (if you plan to go to Uni) universities don't require any more than 3 A-Levels and you won't be prioritised over someone who did 3. There's also the risk that doing 4 would lower your overall success because so much time has to be devoted to each subject, and self-care is very important during A-Levels!
My advice would be to start off with those four to see what you think. If you feel comfortable then by all means do 4! If not, there is absolutely no shame in dropping the one you like least. I dropped A-Level French within 3 weeks because I couldn't handle the pressure.
My advice would be to start off with those four to see what you think. If you feel comfortable then by all means do 4! If not, there is absolutely no shame in dropping the one you like least. I dropped A-Level French within 3 weeks because I couldn't handle the pressure.
Original post by Nataliee_cotts
Would it be worth doing 4 or will that be a slap in the face of stress? If I was doing 4 it would probably be English, maths, chemistry and physics.
Thank you so much for all the help, you lot are amazing!!!
Not at all! Best of luck to you 
Original post by Nataliee_cotts
Thank you so much for all the help, you lot are amazing!!!
Original post by Nataliee_cotts
I’m really struggling on what to pick for my a levels. I’ve picked two subjects so far that at the moment I enjoy and I am interested in. These are:
Maths
Chemistry
However I don’t know what to do for my other options. I was thinking maybe I should have a widespread so maybe do English lit. Or keep my options quite science based and chose either physics or biology.
Can someone give me pros and cons of either of these and suggest any others that you think I might like?
Maths
Chemistry
However I don’t know what to do for my other options. I was thinking maybe I should have a widespread so maybe do English lit. Or keep my options quite science based and chose either physics or biology.
Can someone give me pros and cons of either of these and suggest any others that you think I might like?
No-one can possibly know what subjects you are or aren't good at. What subjects do you enjoy?
What careers and/or degrees are you interesting in pursuing?
I honestly don’t know what I want to do anymore and each time that someone speaks or tries to get me to talk about it I get really stressed out. Sometimes I feel like you need to get your whole life planned out at the young age of 16
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