The Student Room Group

Alevel combination advice

I am making a combo of maths,physics,computer science and biology. Is it good enough for top universities and will it be too hard for me?
Also if i have to drop 1, i will drop biology. But also im not sure of biology as i am confused between biology and chemistry. Can anyone help plzzz....

Reply 1

do you have any idea what you may wanna do in the future because I really like the combination of Maths, physics and cs but not too sure how biology fits into that? If you want to go down the lines of something to do with computer science or maths, I think further maths would be worth considering (if it is an option). I did biology and chemistry for A-level and my thoughts are that chemistry is more interesting if you want to go down the route of understanding content whereas biology requires you to memorise larger quantities of information.

Reply 2

Original post by Ishaan_
do you have any idea what you may wanna do in the future because I really like the combination of Maths, physics and cs but not too sure how biology fits into that? If you want to go down the lines of something to do with computer science or maths, I think further maths would be worth considering (if it is an option). I did biology and chemistry for A-level and my thoughts are that chemistry is more interesting if you want to go down the route of understanding content whereas biology requires you to memorise larger quantities of information.


Tbh i wanna become a pilot or something in the aviation sector but my parents want me to go down the line of technology so i might do something related computer in future. Im not the best in maths to do further maths. Also i am thinking of 4 alevels because it might give me more options in future but idk

Reply 3

Original post by Hehehehhehe3546
Tbh i wanna become a pilot or something in the aviation sector but my parents want me to go down the line of technology so i might do something related computer in future. Im not the best in maths to do further maths. Also i am thinking of 4 alevels because it might give me more options in future but idk


Also i added biology because i enjoy biology but i heard that chem is much easier than bio so thats the reason behind my confusion

Reply 4

Have you looked at the A level 'entry requirements' for the sort of degree subject you might be interested in? They will be clearly stated on each course page on the Uni website.

Reply 5

You don’t need any A levels to become a pilot.

Reply 6

Original post by Hehehehhehe3546
I am making a combo of maths,physics,computer science and biology. Is it good enough for top universities and will it be too hard for me?
Also if i have to drop 1, i will drop biology. But also im not sure of biology as i am confused between biology and chemistry. Can anyone help plzzz....

For a technology route taking Maths and Computer science is a good choice however are you happy with this choice as it seems like it’s mostly your family pushing you in this direction? FM is often good for top unis but if you’re not confident in your ability to do well at it then that’s fine.
For becoming a pilot you dont need a levels but if you were interested in going into designing planes or something related to that physics would be very important so if that’s the case its a great option for you.
Are you sure you want to take 4 a levels? Neither of the routes your driven toward will require biology and doing 4 will give you no advantage when applying to unis because they only look at 3 of your grades. On the other hand if you’re still unsure of whether you want to continue biology in the future or not then you could start with 4 and then drop your least favourite after a few weeks or the first term or at the end of year 12- i would advise continuing with it into year 13 as it’ll put strain on your other grades which are the important ones for uni offers.
With taking 4 a levels you can think of it like this:
If you take 3 subjects you’ll have maybe 5 hours of independent study inside of school hours per week (depending on your sixth form ofc) and 15 hours of homework. So you’ll end up with around 10 hours of homework to do outside of the classroom.
If you take 4 subjects you’ll have a pretty much full timetable but 20 hours of homework so you’ll end up with 20 hours of homework to do outside of the classroom- that’s twice the amount of workload, are you up for that?
For all your subjects consider how much you’re interested in them, how confident you are you can do well in them and how much you think you’ll enjoy them as well as thinking about what you want to do in the future!
Hope this helps you out and happy to try to answer any further questions you may have. Have a great day :smile:

Reply 7

You don’t need any A levels to become a pilot.


I know but im taking the technology path in uni cuz my parents want me to

Reply 8

Original post by DerDracologe
For a technology route taking Maths and Computer science is a good choice however are you happy with this choice as it seems like it’s mostly your family pushing you in this direction? FM is often good for top unis but if you’re not confident in your ability to do well at it then that’s fine.
For becoming a pilot you dont need a levels but if you were interested in going into designing planes or something related to that physics would be very important so if that’s the case its a great option for you.
Are you sure you want to take 4 a levels? Neither of the routes your driven toward will require biology and doing 4 will give you no advantage when applying to unis because they only look at 3 of your grades. On the other hand if you’re still unsure of whether you want to continue biology in the future or not then you could start with 4 and then drop your least favourite after a few weeks or the first term or at the end of year 12- i would advise continuing with it into year 13 as it’ll put strain on your other grades which are the important ones for uni offers.
With taking 4 a levels you can think of it like this:
If you take 3 subjects you’ll have maybe 5 hours of independent study inside of school hours per week (depending on your sixth form ofc) and 15 hours of homework. So you’ll end up with around 10 hours of homework to do outside of the classroom.
If you take 4 subjects you’ll have a pretty much full timetable but 20 hours of homework so you’ll end up with 20 hours of homework to do outside of the classroom- that’s twice the amount of workload, are you up for that?
For all your subjects consider how much you’re interested in them, how confident you are you can do well in them and how much you think you’ll enjoy them as well as thinking about what you want to do in the future!
Hope this helps you out and happy to try to answer any further questions you may have. Have a great day :smile:


Thank you sooo muchh for the advice.and yh Im happy and confident in doing maths,physics, and computer science at alevels but i did not have much idea about doing 3alevels or 4 bec i thought that doing 4 will help me more for bigger unis but now ik.

Reply 9

Original post by DerDracologe
For a technology route taking Maths and Computer science is a good choice however are you happy with this choice as it seems like it’s mostly your family pushing you in this direction? FM is often good for top unis but if you’re not confident in your ability to do well at it then that’s fine.
For becoming a pilot you dont need a levels but if you were interested in going into designing planes or something related to that physics would be very important so if that’s the case its a great option for you.
Are you sure you want to take 4 a levels? Neither of the routes your driven toward will require biology and doing 4 will give you no advantage when applying to unis because they only look at 3 of your grades. On the other hand if you’re still unsure of whether you want to continue biology in the future or not then you could start with 4 and then drop your least favourite after a few weeks or the first term or at the end of year 12- i would advise continuing with it into year 13 as it’ll put strain on your other grades which are the important ones for uni offers.
With taking 4 a levels you can think of it like this:
If you take 3 subjects you’ll have maybe 5 hours of independent study inside of school hours per week (depending on your sixth form ofc) and 15 hours of homework. So you’ll end up with around 10 hours of homework to do outside of the classroom.
If you take 4 subjects you’ll have a pretty much full timetable but 20 hours of homework so you’ll end up with 20 hours of homework to do outside of the classroom- that’s twice the amount of workload, are you up for that?
For all your subjects consider how much you’re interested in them, how confident you are you can do well in them and how much you think you’ll enjoy them as well as thinking about what you want to do in the future!
Hope this helps you out and happy to try to answer any further questions you may have. Have a great day :smile:


Im at grade 7 at Aslevel,do u think i should do further maths?bec idk if i can do it. I mean is fm that hard?

Reply 10

Original post by Hehehehhehe3546
I know but im taking the technology path in uni cuz my parents want me to

Which one of them is going to Uni.

Reply 11

Original post by Hehehehhehe3546
Im at grade 7 at Aslevel,do u think i should do further maths?bec idk if i can do it. I mean is fm that hard?

Usually sixth forms require a 7 or 8 to study fm in gcse maths. I'm assuming you've said you've got a 7 in a gcse fm qualitative, or am I just going mad? Lol. If you've got a 7 in gcse fm then you'll be able to do well in a level and you could definitely have a go at taking fm if you want to take 4 and think you'll enjoy the maths content! I don't have personal experience of fm but I know a kid who got a 9 in his gcse for maths and fm gcse and he got an e in fm a level alongside his other 3 subjects which were all at a or a*. It really depends on how much work you put in and how much you enjoy the subject.

Reply 12

Original post by Hehehehhehe3546
I know but im taking the technology path in uni cuz my parents want me to

What do you mean by “the technology path”? That’s not a degree subject that’s common at university. Do you have any specific university courses or universities in mind?

Quick Reply