A-level options: languages or science?

I was in a similar situation to you, I'm currently in Year 13 and I take Biology, Chemistry and English language.
I've always loved sciences but really wanted to do an English subject as well. Like you, I wanted to keep my options open as I kept changing my mind what I may want to do as a degree/career. It's an odd mix lots of people say, but I personally think it's a good balance, I enjoy writing essays and I like doing the practical's for science, it's a good mix of both worlds.

In my experience, language subjects are highly regarded as are science subjects. I guess for language degrees, some may be based on literature but surely that subject to the particular university?

There's no doubt A-levels are super hard. So, I think it's extremely important to choose subjects you have passion for, I mean it's different if you don't know what you like but for you, you know you enjoy science and French so I would always choose those options over options that MAY benefit you at university. I think it's also important to realise that keeping your science options doesn't just keep science careers open, science subjects are so highly regarded, especially chemistry, it opens LOADS of pathways not even science related ones!

My only warning...chemistry is super hard! I've recently come to the realisation I no longer want a career or degree in science, well kind of, I'm going to explore medical journalism. Which makes me feel like my battle with a-level chemistry has all been for nothing, but bear in mind I only took chemistry because I enjoyed it not because I was particularly good at it! Biology on the other hand, I love and if you love science I'm sure you will too. For chemistry you need to have a STRONG passion for it to thoroughly enjoy it and do well.

Hope this helps a bit

have you got any ideas of a career path you'd like to go into?

if not, i'd say to stick with the combo you've got right now because if you'd like to go into sciences, for most unis theyd require at least two sciences/maths, but for languages i think most only require you to have taken a language. they may prefer english lit to be taken, but its not a requirement so you should be fine if you get good grades in your a levels. plus, at a-level, a language a level includes a lot of literature too, so that would be great to show your skills in that area

good luck, hope it goes well!

Thank you for your reply!

Your A-level combination looks really strong . Yeah I think mine is a bit of an odd mix as well, but I really do want the best of both worlds and this is the perfect opportunity to try it.

I guess how intense the Literature part of the Language degree does depend on the University, but as a whole I do love Literature and reading so I hope that would at least compensate a little if I don't take English to A-level.

Thank you very much, the last part reassured me quite a lot! I think I'm probably going to stick with Biology, Chemistry and French- I have heard that Chemistry is a massive step up, however I'm willing to work hard.

Best of luck with your aspirations (medical journalism sounds really cool )!

Hello everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to help me. I'm currently in Year 11, and I'm interested in both languages and science. I've currently applied for A-level options in Biology, Chemistry and French.

However, my intention has always been to keep both career paths open, for science and languages, so that when the time comes and when I feel ready I can decide between the two areas. I was looking at some resources this morning, and I read that for language degrees, particularly in more traditional universities, the course is heavily based on literature. There were also suggestions to continue with English Literature beyond GCSE.

Now this has made me slightly concerned, not because I hate English Literature (on the contrary, I do enjoy it), but because if I take French and English Literature it would mean giving up a science (and most STEM degrees require at least 2 science / a maths subject).

I was thinking maybe French, English Literature and Maths, but then my career paths to science are completely closed off. My question I suppose is, would I be extremely disadvantaged if I chose Bio, Chem and French, and later decided to study Modern Languages at University? I also don't know whether I'm just taking the sciences to try and keep my career paths open, because I do genuinely enjoy them however I don't know if I can see myself in a science career or not.

Thank you once again for your help.