The Student Room Group

Help... A-level combinations

THe things i deffo wanna do are:
Chemistry, Maths, FM (As-level)
I dont wanna do biology anymore and I dont know what to do in the future

The thing I am up for consideration are:
Physics, EPQ, Graphic communication and Spanish

What subject would fit into these three or maybe any advice to give me would be helpful abt the three subjects
Tyy in advance
if its aqa physics and you need just a B, then go for it - if you want an A then dont pick it. if its ocr, go for it regardless, A in ocr physics is very much doable but ofc will consume many hours.

if youre applying to a russell group, then do not pick something that isnt a 'preferred subject'.

As for the epq, only do so if you think you are dedicated enough as it will consume many of your IS hours.

But its worth considering, its ultimately down to where youre applying for uni and what course you plan on doing.

for reference i do FM (Edexcel), Physics (Aqa), Maths (Edexcel) and CompSci (OCR), so if you have any questions ask away :smile:
Original post by koolkhad
THe things i deffo wanna do are:
Chemistry, Maths, FM (As-level)
I dont wanna do biology anymore and I dont know what to do in the future
The thing I am up for consideration are:
Physics, EPQ, Graphic communication and Spanish
What subject would fit into these three or maybe any advice to give me would be helpful abt the three subjects
Tyy in advance


I’m not sure if I’ve understood you correctly but if you’re only going to do AS in further maths then I wouldn’t suggest doing EPQ as it counts as another AS so you would only have 2 actual A levels which may limit your uni options for top unis. I do A level Spanish and it’s similar to GCSE other than the fact you have to write 2 essays in Spanish about a book and a film so it depends how you feel about analysing texts. I understand that physics is very maths heavy so if you’re good at maths then maybe this is a good option for you. I do chemistry and a lot of people say that chemistry and physics are very complementary and they have some overlap. Hope that helps!
Reply 3
Original post by koolkhad
THe things i deffo wanna do are:
Chemistry, Maths, FM (As-level)
I dont wanna do biology anymore and I dont know what to do in the future
The thing I am up for consideration are:
Physics, EPQ, Graphic communication and Spanish
What subject would fit into these three or maybe any advice to give me would be helpful abt the three subjects
Tyy in advance

physics is the most logical option, it'll keep your options as open as they possibly can be (unless you were to take further maths a-level, that could make your stem options somewhat limitless)

please don't take an epq though for the reasons mentioned earlier in this thread
Reply 4
Original post by klafow
physics is the most logical option, it'll keep your options as open as they possibly can be (unless you were to take further maths a-level, that could make your stem options somewhat limitless)
please don't take an epq though for the reasons mentioned earlier in this thread



Original post by LittleFire10
I’m not sure if I’ve understood you correctly but if you’re only going to do AS in further maths then I wouldn’t suggest doing EPQ as it counts as another AS so you would only have 2 actual A levels which may limit your uni options for top unis. I do A level Spanish and it’s similar to GCSE other than the fact you have to write 2 essays in Spanish about a book and a film so it depends how you feel about analysing texts. I understand that physics is very maths heavy so if you’re good at maths then maybe this is a good option for you. I do chemistry and a lot of people say that chemistry and physics are very complementary and they have some overlap. Hope that helps!


Original post by catolinani
if its aqa physics and you need just a B, then go for it - if you want an A then dont pick it. if its ocr, go for it regardless, A in ocr physics is very much doable but ofc will consume many hours.
if youre applying to a russell group, then do not pick something that isnt a 'preferred subject'.
As for the epq, only do so if you think you are dedicated enough as it will consume many of your IS hours.
But its worth considering, its ultimately down to where youre applying for uni and what course you plan on doing.
for reference i do FM (Edexcel), Physics (Aqa), Maths (Edexcel) and CompSci (OCR), so if you have any questions ask away :smile:

Thank you for you replies!! I rly appreciate it .What I wanted to ask is how do you find doing further maths and physics?
Reply 5
Original post by LittleFire10
I’m not sure if I’ve understood you correctly but if you’re only going to do AS in further maths then I wouldn’t suggest doing EPQ as it counts as another AS so you would only have 2 actual A levels which may limit your uni options for top unis. I do A level Spanish and it’s similar to GCSE other than the fact you have to write 2 essays in Spanish about a book and a film so it depends how you feel about analysing texts. I understand that physics is very maths heavy so if you’re good at maths then maybe this is a good option for you. I do chemistry and a lot of people say that chemistry and physics are very complementary and they have some overlap. Hope that helps!

Thanks x. For Spanish is it like analysing in English?
Reply 6
Original post by koolkhad
Thank you for you replies!! I rly appreciate it .What I wanted to ask is how do you find doing further maths and physics?

i don't do either so i can't help with that sorry :frown:
hopefully some of the people who replied previously will come back
Reply 7
Original post by klafow
i don't do either so i can't help with that sorry :frown:
hopefully some of the people who replied previously will come back

kk.. do you do any a-levels subjects? (sorry, i'm just assuming if you do it)
Original post by koolkhad
Thanks x. For Spanish is it like analysing in English?


I can’t tell if you mean you analyse it in the language of English or if you mean the analysis is similar to what you do in the subject English 😂
Reply 9
Original post by LittleFire10
I can’t tell if you mean you analyse it in the language of English or if you mean the analysis is similar to what you do in the subject English 😂

no is it like the subject english lol 😅
Original post by koolkhad
no is it like the subject english lol 😅


Yes. I’m only in year 12 so have only done the film but I’d say it is actually easier than gcse English literature for the film as you don’t have to learn quotes and it’s not as detailed. But I imagine for the book it’s more similar to English as you learn quotes etc.
Reply 11
hi im doing my gcses and i want to do maths alevel and i need a 7, if i dont get a 7 is it impossible to do alevel maths because i need to do it to follow the engineering pathway
Original post by koolkhad
no is it like the subject english lol 😅


The questions are usually like “write about how the author’s uses *theme* in the film” or “*character* has many relationships in the film, analyse these”.
Reply 13
Original post by koolkhad
kk.. do you do any a-levels subjects? (sorry, i'm just assuming if you do it)

yeah i do a levels
biology, chemistry, maths and as economics
current year 12, aspiring med applicant
if you have any questions related to the subjects i do i'm happy to answer them 😄
Reply 14
Original post by Cooked-.-
hi im doing my gcses and i want to do maths alevel and i need a 7, if i dont get a 7 is it impossible to do alevel maths because i need to do it to follow the engineering pathway

depends on your sixth form's requirements. but you might find a-level maths difficult if you don't get a 7. i got a 9 and i'm finding it quite difficult
engineering? its very mathsy, and they might want further maths too. they won't let you do further maths without at least a 7 i'd imagine. make sure to check course requirements 🙂

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