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HELP! 3 or 4 A-levels?

HELP! I am in year 11 and have NO CLUE what to do for A-levels. I am currently predicted all 8s and 9s in GCSEs and am very hard working but have had a mixture of advice on whether to choose 3 or 4 A-levels.

My choices to pick from are:
Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Maths and Further Maths

WHAT DO I DO?! Shall I choose 3 or 4? I'd love to go to Oxbridge but I don't know what to study there and I know they only require 3 but I wouldn't know which ones to choose.

Thank you! xx
Reply 1
Chemistry and Maths keep your options open - couple that with either Physics or Biology and they should be your 3 A-Levels. It's nice to see AS Further Maths too (especially for Oxbridge). So my advice: Choose 3 A-Levels including Maths and Chemistry, and then take AS Level Further Maths (It helps so much with A Level Maths)... Of course, make sure you enjoy the subjects you pick!
Do maths further maths physics and chemistry
It shouldn't make a difference. However, if you are as academically capable as you present yourself to be, I recommend you take 4. You can then, retrospectively, opt-out of one if you want to take 3 instead. The main point being taking 4 does not harm your higher education-prospects as you can always drop one if it doesn't work out for you!

I hope this helped and or gave you insight! I am in Year 11 myself.
Original post by Skuodas
HELP! I am in year 11 and have NO CLUE what to do for A-levels. I am currently predicted all 8s and 9s in GCSEs and am very hard working but have had a mixture of advice on whether to choose 3 or 4 A-levels.

My choices to pick from are:
Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Maths and Further Maths

WHAT DO I DO?! Shall I choose 3 or 4? I'd love to go to Oxbridge but I don't know what to study there and I know they only require 3 but I wouldn't know which ones to choose.

Thank you! xx


It depends on you really - A-Levels is a big step up from GCSE and will require more time and effort to do well. Some can cope well with 4 A-Levels whilst some will prefer to concentrate on 3 A-Levels. Do you have the option of selecting 4 A-Levels to start off and then dropping a subject at AS Level after a year? Either this or you could start off with 4 subjects and if you find that you are struggling with the workload, drop a subject to focus on your 3 A-Levels.
Reply 5
Further maths a level for top universities in maths, physics, engineering etc. Bio and Chem for medicine.
what do u like
I'm also in year 11. The subjects i wanted to do were same as yours. I decided I wanna do Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths. I would have loved to do futher maths but I don't want to give up one of the Sciences :redface:.
Original post by Sarah_9810
I'm also in year 11. The subjects i wanted to do were same as yours. I decided I wanna do Chemistry, Biology, Physics and Maths. I would have loved to do futher maths but I don't want to give up one of the Sciences :redface:.

Year 12 here! I would really recommend not doing 4 full A Levels - especially those choices. My friend started with those and dropped biology after a fortnight. Obviously its a lot of work so its very stressful, but also you're risking getting worse grades as you're spreading your time and effort over more subjects. I currently do further maths, maths, physics and computer science, and although its still a lot of work it's manageable and nowhere near as difficult as 4 full A Levels. I would highly recommend swapping a science for further maths, and unless you're aiming to apply for a very competitive degree (medicine, oxbridge, etc.) then any two sciences & (further) maths will let you do anything - you don't need to worry about picking the right two.

As for @Skuodas, the previous paragraph still stands. However, you also want advice on subjects. Definitely do maths, and further if you want. As for the other 2 subjects, that depends on what you enjoy. Chemistry will keep your options open for most courses, but most importantly medicine/dentistry/veterinary courses require it, so chemistry is a good choice. As for physics or biology, that really does depend on you. Pick whichever one interests you more, and if neither one does then consider careers/degrees and pick the subject that seems the most relevant. But at the end of the day, whichever you pick won't hold you back.
I'm thinking of doing the same subjects but I don't know if I really want to do computer science or take electronics which is a lot more hardware-basedI'm in year 11 btw
Original post by amazingheather7
Year 12 here! I would really recommend not doing 4 full A Levels - especially those choices. My friend started with those and dropped biology after a fortnight. Obviously its a lot of work so its very stressful, but also you're risking getting worse grades as you're spreading your time and effort over more subjects. I currently do further maths, maths, physics and computer science, and although its still a lot of work it's manageable and nowhere near as difficult as 4 full A Levels. I would highly recommend swapping a science for further maths, and unless you're aiming to apply for a very competitive degree (medicine, oxbridge, etc.) then any two sciences & (further) maths will let you do anything - you don't need to worry about picking the right two.

As for @Skuodas, the previous paragraph still stands. However, you also want advice on subjects. Definitely do maths, and further if you want. As for the other 2 subjects, that depends on what you enjoy. Chemistry will keep your options open for most courses, but most importantly medicine/dentistry/veterinary courses require it, so chemistry is a good choice. As for physics or biology, that really does depend on you. Pick whichever one interests you more, and if neither one does then consider careers/degrees and pick the subject that seems the most relevant. But at the end of the day, whichever you pick won't hold you back.

I'm thinking of doing the same subjects but I don't know if I really want to do computer science or take electronics which is a lot more hardware-basedI'm in year 11 btw(I probably want to go into something like robotics or mechatronics or aerospace engineering)

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