4 A-Levels - worth the trouble?
Recently GCSEs results have returned and I've been ruminating on whether or not to pick 4 A-Levels instead of 3!
The cons that I would think would be worrisome is the amount of melancholic workload people would get from 4 A-Levels.
For instance I'm planning to do Fine Art, Biology, and Chem - contemplating whether or not to do Maths as well!
Anyone have any opinions or thoughts?
Also, congrats on getting results back! Hope it went well 😁🎊
The cons that I would think would be worrisome is the amount of melancholic workload people would get from 4 A-Levels.
For instance I'm planning to do Fine Art, Biology, and Chem - contemplating whether or not to do Maths as well!
Anyone have any opinions or thoughts?
Also, congrats on getting results back! Hope it went well 😁🎊
Scroll to see replies
4 A Levels are not necessary at all, honestly you will be more than okay with 3! Just make sure they’re 3 solid ones.
Original post by Byab07
Take 4 and then you can decide if you can cope with it and if you can’t drop the one your worst at
This is something I’ve heard loads of times, have you done A-levels yet?
Original post by jelllyfiiish
Recently GCSEs results have returned and I've been ruminating on whether or not to pick 4 A-Levels instead of 3!
The cons that I would think would be worrisome is the amount of melancholic workload people would get from 4 A-Levels.
For instance I'm planning to do Fine Art, Biology, and Chem - contemplating whether or not to do Maths as well!
Anyone have any opinions or thoughts?
Also, congrats on getting results back! Hope it went well 😁🎊
The cons that I would think would be worrisome is the amount of melancholic workload people would get from 4 A-Levels.
For instance I'm planning to do Fine Art, Biology, and Chem - contemplating whether or not to do Maths as well!
Anyone have any opinions or thoughts?
Also, congrats on getting results back! Hope it went well 😁🎊
You are generally best avoiding 4 A levels unless you are taking maths and further maths as two of your subjects.
In theory, bio, chem and fine art should give you access to a number of courses, but bio, chem and maths would be a much better combination- and especially for STEM degrees.
(edited 1 month ago)
Original post by Byab07
Take 4 and then you can decide if you can cope with it and if you can’t drop the one your worst at
This is also something you could do and this was a piece of advice I used to give, but I no longer believe it’s worth doing if maths+fm are not both taken.
I think the start of A levels is a very important time to get the hang of the approaches to studying all your subjects, but taking 4 subjects with 4 completely different approaches is generally best avoided imo.
My understanding is creative subjects themselves are extremely time-consuming (but rewarding nonetheless) and are not worth doing alongside STEM subjects if you are planning on studying a STEM course post-A level, as they will likely put your application at a disadvantage (many universities have preferred subjects for their courses and STEM degrees rarely - if ever - recommend creative subjects)
(edited 1 month ago)
Nope.
Original post by jelllyfiiish
Recently GCSEs results have returned and I've been ruminating on whether or not to pick 4 A-Levels instead of 3!
The cons that I would think would be worrisome is the amount of melancholic workload people would get from 4 A-Levels.
For instance I'm planning to do Fine Art, Biology, and Chem - contemplating whether or not to do Maths as well!
Anyone have any opinions or thoughts?
Also, congrats on getting results back! Hope it went well 😁🎊
The cons that I would think would be worrisome is the amount of melancholic workload people would get from 4 A-Levels.
For instance I'm planning to do Fine Art, Biology, and Chem - contemplating whether or not to do Maths as well!
Anyone have any opinions or thoughts?
Also, congrats on getting results back! Hope it went well 😁🎊
I would pursue 3 and drop the fine art, as it is not really contributing anything towards the other subjects and it'll eat most of your time when you're already choosing to do challenging subjects, you could do math, bio and chem, with an epq on something in fine arts. It's best to pour all your energy into 3 subjects and university look at the grades for 3 anyway.
Good Luck! 🙂
Original post by jelllyfiiish
This is something I’ve heard loads of times, have you done A-levels yet?
Definitely start off with 4 and then just drop the one you like the least or are worst at.
Original post by buntaklk
Definitely start off with 4 and then just drop the one you like the least or are worst at.
I started with Math, Physics, History and French and dropped Physics after the first year. Went on to study PPE at the university of Warwick.
Original post by jelllyfiiish
Recently GCSEs results have returned and I've been ruminating on whether or not to pick 4 A-Levels instead of 3!
The cons that I would think would be worrisome is the amount of melancholic workload people would get from 4 A-Levels.
For instance I'm planning to do Fine Art, Biology, and Chem - contemplating whether or not to do Maths as well!
Anyone have any opinions or thoughts?
Also, congrats on getting results back! Hope it went well 😁🎊
The cons that I would think would be worrisome is the amount of melancholic workload people would get from 4 A-Levels.
For instance I'm planning to do Fine Art, Biology, and Chem - contemplating whether or not to do Maths as well!
Anyone have any opinions or thoughts?
Also, congrats on getting results back! Hope it went well 😁🎊
4 is pointless,sorry to be blunt!!
Original post by jelllyfiiish
Recently GCSEs results have returned and I've been ruminating on whether or not to pick 4 A-Levels instead of 3!
The cons that I would think would be worrisome is the amount of melancholic workload people would get from 4 A-Levels.
For instance I'm planning to do Fine Art, Biology, and Chem - contemplating whether or not to do Maths as well!
Anyone have any opinions or thoughts?
Also, congrats on getting results back! Hope it went well 😁🎊
The cons that I would think would be worrisome is the amount of melancholic workload people would get from 4 A-Levels.
For instance I'm planning to do Fine Art, Biology, and Chem - contemplating whether or not to do Maths as well!
Anyone have any opinions or thoughts?
Also, congrats on getting results back! Hope it went well 😁🎊
Can I just ask why you want to take Maths as well?
Unis only look at 3 grades and taking an arts subject is very time consuming so I would suggest that you stick with your original choice but if you’ve got a good reason to want to take maths as well then that might change my view
Original post by UtterlyUseless69
You are generally best avoiding 4 A levels unless you are taking maths and further maths as two of your subjects.
In theory, bio, chem and fine art should give you access to a number of courses, but bio, chem and maths would be a much better combination- and especially for STEM degrees.
In theory, bio, chem and fine art should give you access to a number of courses, but bio, chem and maths would be a much better combination- and especially for STEM degrees.
Great advice, thank you!
Original post by Bean_cat
I would pursue 3 and drop the fine art, as it is not really contributing anything towards the other subjects and it'll eat most of your time when you're already choosing to do challenging subjects, you could do math, bio and chem, with an epq on something in fine arts. It's best to pour all your energy into 3 subjects and university look at the grades for 3 anyway.
Good Luck! 🙂
Good Luck! 🙂
Makes sense, I'll take this into account.
Original post by DerDracologe
Can I just ask why you want to take Maths as well?
Unis only look at 3 grades and taking an arts subject is very time consuming so I would suggest that you stick with your original choice but if you’ve got a good reason to want to take maths as well then that might change my view
Unis only look at 3 grades and taking an arts subject is very time consuming so I would suggest that you stick with your original choice but if you’ve got a good reason to want to take maths as well then that might change my view
Maths is a subject that opens a lot of options during Uni - I'm great at Maths; However, it isn't something I would enjoy studying.
Given that my parents hope that I will pursue an A-level in Maths, I'd rather fulfil their request than aim for my own options.
Anyway, thanks for the advice! This is helpful.
Original post by jelllyfiiish
Maths is a subject that opens a lot of options during Uni - I'm great at Maths; However, it isn't something I would enjoy studying.
Given that my parents hope that I will pursue an A-level in Maths, I'd rather fulfil their request than aim for my own options.
Anyway, thanks for the advice! This is helpful.
Given that my parents hope that I will pursue an A-level in Maths, I'd rather fulfil their request than aim for my own options.
Anyway, thanks for the advice! This is helpful.
I wouldn't suggest taking it if you won't enjoy it. It's a tricky subject and you're better off sticking with the 3 you've got as they open a lot of doors as it is. Best of luck with year 12.
Original post by jelllyfiiish
Maths is a subject that opens a lot of options during Uni - I'm great at Maths; However, it isn't something I would enjoy studying.
Given that my parents hope that I will pursue an A-level in Maths, I'd rather fulfil their request than aim for my own options.
Anyway, thanks for the advice! This is helpful.
Given that my parents hope that I will pursue an A-level in Maths, I'd rather fulfil their request than aim for my own options.
Anyway, thanks for the advice! This is helpful.
Taking an A level because your parents want you to isn’t a good reason to.
Good reasons for taking a subject would be if you feel you could do well and would enjoy it, or that it would be necessary for the degree/post A level plans you have to actually come to fruition.
(edited 1 month ago)
Hi I am currently taking Chem, Bio, Maths and French (looking to study Chem at uni) and in my opinion, 4 A-Levels is absolutely worth it if and only if you enjoy all 4 and are prepared to put the work in. For me french almost doesn't count as a fourth a-level because I am good at it and I really enjoy it, and it's so different to my other 3, so gives me a bit of break.
Art will eat up all your time. That's unavoidable.
I actually have friend who took Art, Bio and Chem and now she is wanting to study Chem at uni, she is really struggling to find unis that will accept these subjects without maths, so if you want to study chem, you will probably need maths.
If you want to study biology further, then just having chemistry as well is probably enough.
But if you want to take the science route later on then maths will be a huge asset. From replies further up though, I've seen that you're considering it due to your parents wanting you to do it, which will cause you more grief in the long run if you don't enjoy it yourself. A-level maths is hard, so enjoying it will mean it doesn't feel so bad.
An ideal solution would be to take all 4 to start and then drop one once you know a bit more about what you want to do, however idk if your school/ college would let you do this as some are stricter than others.
Whatever you choose, good luck from me!
Art will eat up all your time. That's unavoidable.
I actually have friend who took Art, Bio and Chem and now she is wanting to study Chem at uni, she is really struggling to find unis that will accept these subjects without maths, so if you want to study chem, you will probably need maths.
If you want to study biology further, then just having chemistry as well is probably enough.
But if you want to take the science route later on then maths will be a huge asset. From replies further up though, I've seen that you're considering it due to your parents wanting you to do it, which will cause you more grief in the long run if you don't enjoy it yourself. A-level maths is hard, so enjoying it will mean it doesn't feel so bad.
An ideal solution would be to take all 4 to start and then drop one once you know a bit more about what you want to do, however idk if your school/ college would let you do this as some are stricter than others.
Whatever you choose, good luck from me!
Thank you for all the replies, this helped me make my final decision of 3 A-levels in the end. 
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- A-level STEM subjects
- What a levels should I pick
- choosing sixthform
- Math at Cambridge- offer likelihood
- 3+EPQ or 4 A levels?
- Space Missions and Lagrangian Points
- Foundation course application
- Do I leave college to focus on distance learning?
- Was this unfair and will my Alevels reduce my chance at top law firms?
- AQA GCSE History Paper 1 (8145/1) - 18th May 2023 [Exam Chat]
- A-Level Psychology
- Is it worth applying to LSE?
- Failed the Chemistry test for joining the alevel
- Year 12 forum 2024-2025
- Is it safe to travel to rude UK right now ?
- OCR GCSE Economics
- English Literature help
- Student Finance Complications Please if anyone can help
- Is 4 a levels worth it?
- Revision Plan for A levels
Latest
Trending
