The Student Room Group

A level sciences without maths?

I have submitted philosophy, English lit, biology and maths as my a level choices looking at anthropology, law or biology at university. However I do not have a huge passion in maths and think I may not want to put in the required work for the A-level. Would it be better for me to drop maths for chemistry or would it close a lot of doors? I have never loved chemistry at GCSE but feel as though a level chemistry would be a lot more interesting. Also would the sciences be a lot harder without maths?

Which route would I be better taking (and personal experiences appreciated)

Thanks
You wouldn't need maths for anthropology and/or law.

For biology it's not essential although bear in mind any science degree including life sciences degrees are necessarily mathematical to a point so you do need to be happy to spend 3-4 years of your degree doing a fair bit of numerate work involving at least minimally stats and related topics in any science degree.

However there are plenty of degrees involving scientific concepts that don't necessarily rely on scientific methodology which inherently involves mathematical elements. For example anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, history and/or philosophy of science, science and technology policy/studies, etc. These may be a better fit for your strengths and interests potentially if you aren't so keen on maths!

Taking chemistry when you aren't keen on it either is probably not a much better option though. Since you only need 3 A-levels I'd suggest just sticking with your first three choices if you're enjoy those and are confident in them.
Reply 2
The A-level chemistry syllabus does look really interesting and I think I would enjoy it. Is A-level chemistry better than GCSE?

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