Take our quiz to find out what your revision personality is! >>

What A levels to pick with biology and psychology?

Hey guys, I applied for 3 A-levels - Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology but I’m not sure if i’ll be able to do chemistry as I was 1 mark off the grade that I needed 😬 What other subject would fit biology and psychology? Also please do not say maths or physics because I hate them both 😭

Reply 1

EssexStudentRep

Official Rep

Original post by honeysarahh

Hey @honeysarahh 👋

What are you thinking you might want to study at uni after A Levels?

Your options of biology and psychology gives you two sciences which is enough for a lot of STEM subjects. Unless you're trying to study medicine or some engineering/computing degrees, then maths isn't essential if you don't enjoy it.

It's more important to choose a subject that you can excel in, as a higher grade in any subject is better than a low grade in a subject you think you need. Have a look at entry requirements for some degrees you find interesting

Check out this thread where I gave some options for STEM subjects you could study at Essex with a biology and psychology A Level where A Level maths is not required:
https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7391578#post98757160

Good luck in whatever you choose for your third subject 😊

Best wishes
Essex Student Rep - Hayley

Reply 2

Can'tDecideAName

Hmmm, it very much depends on what you want to do after College to be honest. I'd personally recommend mathematics even though you said not to as it helps with a fair amount of biology and from what I've heard Psychology has a decent bit of statistics.

If you truly aren't a fan of maths or physics though you could diversify and enter sociology as that could help you understand human interaction better for psychology, it also has very little in the way of STEM qualities since you seem to not be too keen on that

Reply 3

username6164978

Original post by honeysarahh

I took Biology, Psychology, History and EPQ at A-level. Obviously this may not be for you, as I’m a bit of a History nerd , and enjoy writing essays (this is why I also took Psychology). I was going to pursue a degree in Psychology, but am applying to do a degree in History!

I think my A-levels went pretty well together. Biology and Psychology facilitated each other well, due to the Biological approach and Biopsych in Psychology, and History taught me the ability to write good essays, which helped me with Psychology. This way, I found that Psychology was “easier for me” due to taking History. Moreover, if you study any sort of Fascism in History, this can facilitate some of the studies you do in Psychology and help with your evaluation points.

For me personally, Biology and History were more challenging than Psychology was, both in terms of content, and exam technique (also history coursework). So Psychology for me was a good “softer” A-level if you’re naturally good at essays, but I understand a lot of people find Psychology challenging.

In my opinion, for the most part Psychology can be viewed as both a humanity and a science, so it’s a bit of a half and half A-level, mid-way between Bio and History so to speak. But I felt Bio was also a nice break from all the essay writing.

Biology is hard (just a word of warning)

I feel like I’m well rounded in my knowledge from taking this combination of A-levels, not purely science and not purely humanities, so I would recommend this combo. It also leaves you with open choices if you change your career plans as I did!