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A level options

Hi,
I am a yr 11 student currently going to yr 12. My a level options are physics, maths, history and economics. I either want to do finance or engineering. However I have had an interest in biology but I do not have an interest in chemistry so unfortunately I can’t do medicine. I was considering switching history for biology but I am confused as to whether it is better or not and if so, can I still go into the same fields? I would like to know if it is better switching biology out for history or keeping my options the same.

Reply 1

lolo1196

if you want to do engineering, i think that quite a few unis ask for further maths? so maybe maths, further maths, physics and econ is good. if you want to go into finance also, further maths could help as well :smile:

however, if you don't want to do further maths, history or bio is a good subject. just pick the one you prefer/better at.

Reply 2

drs.vud.192

Original post by dh33r4j_d

Both biology and history would be fine. History can keep you available for almost every humanity/social science, with the exception of geography. Biology may help you applying to engineering as it is a natural science, and will keep your options open for things like biology, biomedical science, etc.
If you can, then further maths would be fantastic to have as it works well for finance and engineering. However FM is a very hard subject and I would only recommend it if you really love maths and believe you can handle it.
I hope this helped :smile:

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 3

dh33r4j_d

Original post by lolo1196

however, if you don't want to do further maths, history or bio is a good subject. just pick the one you prefer/better at.

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately my school didn’t allow me to take fm at a level even though I wanted to because they only allow you to take the subjects based on the results on tests we do at school. However I was allowed to do an AS further maths course which I am doing so hopefully that is good for finance?

Reply 4

drs.vud.192

Original post by dh33r4j_d

If you explain that your school didn't let you do FM but you did do an AS further maths course, then they will treat you the same way as an applicant who did take FM.

Reply 5

dh33r4j_d

Original post by drs.vud.192

Hi,
Thanks for replying. Unfortunately I can’t do fm as an a level but I am doing it as AS. I also aspire for top universities so I don’t really think I would get an a star at further maths. I honestly like biology more but many people say universities usually prefer Chem with it. So it it ok if I take biology without chem?

Reply 6

username54

Swap out economics for further maths

Reply 7

drs.vud.192

Original post by dh33r4j_d

Yes, biology without chemistry will be absolutely fine, required you're not applying for biochemistry or medicine. People really overexaggerate how much universities actually care about what subjects you do.

Reply 8

dh33r4j_d

Original post by drs.vud.192

Thanks. This clarifies a lot for me. I’ll probably be taking biology then instead of history.

Reply 9

dh33r4j_d

Original post by drs.vud.192

If you explain that your school didn't let you do FM but you did do an AS further maths course, then they will treat you the same way as an applicant who did take FM.

Thanks. This should be fine then. I was mainly concerned not taking fm as an a level would be a big hindrance for engineering/finance.

Reply 10

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

A-level Chemistry isn't required for medicine. I believe about 1/3 of medical schools (maybe even up to half) don't require it; see this thread: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5611422

Note that many biosciences courses do in fact require A-level Chemistry even outside of biochemistry; most "biomolecular" courses e.g. biomedical sciences, pharmacology, microbiology, physiology, etc, do typically require A-level Chemistry. It's not always required for more organismal/ecologically oriented courses (e.g. zoology, ecology, biological sciences, sometimes plant sciences and genetics) although note that usually if you haven't done A-level Chemistry you'll take a module in first year to "catch you up" with that content as you will inevitably study some topics which require a bit of chemistry background. So if you want to study biosciences to degree level sooner or later you're going to study at least some of the A-level Chemistry topics.

You can go into a career in finance with any first degree in general, although a few particular roles might require a numerate degree (e.g. maths, physics, CS, engineering, some economics/finance/accounting type degrees may also be acceptable). However for e.g. investment banking you will usually be expected to be going to a target uni; no matter what your work experience background from internships etc done during your degree will be the most important thing though. Also note that A-level Economics isn't require to study any subject at uni and economics degrees do not presuppose any background in the subject. A-level History is only required for history degrees (and not even all history courses require it explicitly, although the vast majority do).