Taking 5 A-Levels

Hi everyone! I'm in year 11 and am considering taking 5 a-levels, as the title makes evident, namely Chemistry, Biology, Maths, Geography and Economics. I would take Economics at AS at the end of year 12. I know that it doesn't give you an advantage when applying for uni, but the I find Economics quite interesting even though it's not relevant to what I want to apply for (medicine) and don't really want to drop what I've picked already. Essentially, I'm asking if its manageable amongst the volunteering, sports, EPQ and fingers-crossed leadership I want to do next year.

Hi everyone! I'm in year 11 and am considering taking 5 a-levels, as the title makes evident, namely Chemistry, Biology, Maths, Geography and Economics. I would take Economics at AS at the end of year 12. I know that it doesn't give you an advantage when applying for uni, but the I find Economics quite interesting even though it's not relevant to what I want to apply for (medicine) and don't really want to drop what I've picked already. Essentially, I'm asking if its manageable amongst the volunteering, sports, EPQ and fingers-crossed leadership I want to do next year.

Thank you all very much for your advice, I’ll take it into careful consideration. Another thing I was wondering, is there really no overlap between the subjects?

I am not sure how much overlap there is between chem, bio and maths (i dont do them) although obviously they go together and your knowledge of in one subject is going to help another. However, geog and economics has no overlap with any of your subjects.

I meant between geography and economics, sorry for not making that clear! But thank you for your input

Hi everyone! I'm in year 11 and am considering taking 5 a-levels, as the title makes evident, namely Chemistry, Biology, Maths, Geography and Economics. I would take Economics at AS at the end of year 12. I know that it doesn't give you an advantage when applying for uni, but the I find Economics quite interesting even though it's not relevant to what I want to apply for (medicine) and don't really want to drop what I've picked already. Essentially, I'm asking if its manageable amongst the volunteering, sports, EPQ and fingers-crossed leadership I want to do next year.

5 A levels is way too much for your typical a level student, but if you're considering it in the first place then I suspect you're probably academically gifted. I know people who have done 5 a levels and they were all insanely clever, getting straight A*/9 grades in 13+ subjects at GCSE. Really the only time people should consider 4+ full a levels is if they need to keep their options open or think that 3 a levels won't be challenging enough. Your offer is based on 3 grades so A*A*A* should be the primary aim before thinking about going above and beyond.

I applied to medicine doing 4 a levels (chemistry, biology, maths as well as further maths to keep options open) and I've found it manageable, but this is definitely the most I could have done without it being counterproductive. I've still been able to do sports, volunteering, hold a leadership role and have free time to relax, but if I added anything else to this something would have given way. The medicine application process becomes very time consuming once you are preparing for entrance exams and interviews and your a levels will probably suffer at least a bit during these extremely busy times, and if you're doing 5 + an EPQ catching up will be a nightmare. Remember, during your a-levels you still want to have extra time to take care of your mental wellbeing, spend time with your friends and family and just be able to completely chill out once in a while.

To answer your question directly: unless you're incredibly academically gifted - and I don't say this lightly - don't take 5 A levels and an EPQ. If you really think you can manage it? Go for it, but be prepared to drop at least one of geography or economics (or even your EPQ) during year 12 if it looks like it could become too much. You also have to think ahead, because once you send off your application at the beginning of year 13 you are essentially tied to the subjects that you are doing, and everything becomes so much more taxing in year 13. Even if you can just about manage it, remember that the subjects won't make your medicine application any better!