The Student Room Group

What A-Levels should I do?

As someone who has just started Year 11 and likes to have their life conpletely sorted out, I’ve been really stressee as I’m not exactly sure what to do, so I was hoping for some advice?

I was oeiginally planning on doong Biology, Chemistry and Maths, however, these were my Year 10 Mock Resukts at the end of the year:

Maths - 6
Chemistry - 6
Sociology - 6
French - 6
History - 6
Further Maths - 7
Biology - 7
English Language - 7
English Literature - 8
Physics - 9

I predict that in the actual GCSE exams, I’ll most likely get these grades (if I’m lucky 😭):

Maths - 7
Chemistry - 7
Sociology - 7
French - 5
History - 8
Further Maths - 7
Biology - 8
English Language - 8
English Literature - 8
Physics - 8

Do you think it’s worth considering different options if 2/3 of my chosen A-Level subjects are my weakest according to these mocks? If so, what ones would you suggest that could take me down a STEM root? Thank you!
Reply 1
Original post by Alexis1200
As someone who has just started Year 11 and likes to have their life conpletely sorted out, I’ve been really stressee as I’m not exactly sure what to do, so I was hoping for some advice?
I was oeiginally planning on doong Biology, Chemistry and Maths, however, these were my Year 10 Mock Resukts at the end of the year:
Maths - 6
Chemistry - 6
Sociology - 6
French - 6
History - 6
Further Maths - 7
Biology - 7
English Language - 7
English Literature - 8
Physics - 9
I predict that in the actual GCSE exams, I’ll most likely get these grades (if I’m lucky 😭):
Maths - 7
Chemistry - 7
Sociology - 7
French - 5
History - 8
Further Maths - 7
Biology - 8
English Language - 8
English Literature - 8
Physics - 8
Do you think it’s worth considering different options if 2/3 of my chosen A-Level subjects are my weakest according to these mocks? If so, what ones would you suggest that could take me down a STEM root? Thank you!


Sorry for spelling errors 😭. Forgot to proofread. Ignore them.
Do you know why these grades were lower? Is it because you didnt have as good teachers, you didn’t know how to revise or do you find these subjects challenging. If it’s exam technique rather than knowledge as well then you’ll improve that over year 11.
Any ideas on what career you’d like to do or anything uni related? It’s absolutely fine to have no idea but if you do then it can help guide what kind of subjects you’d need to pick.
Which subjects do you enjoy the most- and not just because you like the class/teacher? As in which subjects do you read the content or learn something and find it genuinely interesting?
Whilst it is helpful to get an idea of what you’d like to do for your a levels now, especially as some places you apply to sixth forms before Xmas, a lot of people change what they want to do by results day so try not to stress too much. That being said I also started thinking about my choice early so id be happy to help you if you have any questions about what to choose (obviously i dont know everything about all courses but if you’ve got questions about choosing i can try help 🙂 ). Hope you have a great day!
Reply 3
Original post by DerDracologe
Do you know why these grades were lower? Is it because you didnt have as good teachers, you didn’t know how to revise or do you find these subjects challenging. If it’s exam technique rather than knowledge as well then you’ll improve that over year 11.
Any ideas on what career you’d like to do or anything uni related? It’s absolutely fine to have no idea but if you do then it can help guide what kind of subjects you’d need to pick.
Which subjects do you enjoy the most- and not just because you like the class/teacher? As in which subjects do you read the content or learn something and find it genuinely interesting?
Whilst it is helpful to get an idea of what you’d like to do for your a levels now, especially as some places you apply to sixth forms before Xmas, a lot of people change what they want to do by results day so try not to stress too much. That being said I also started thinking about my choice early so id be happy to help you if you have any questions about what to choose (obviously i dont know everything about all courses but if you’ve got questions about choosing i can try help 🙂 ). Hope you have a great day!


I think some of these grades were lower because I find it really hard to find the motivation to revise. I'm also extremely hesitant to use past papers for maths, chemistry etc, because I know that the school I go to recycles past mock papers for us to use. I'd like my genuine progression rather than having accidentally seen the paper beforehand, you know? But everyone says that I need to be doing past papers. Do you know if that would affect it at all? I wanted to a degree in STEM (specifically medicine). I'm still quite keen on the idea, but I don't think I'd be a very good doctor 😅.
Reply 4
Original post by DerDracologe
Do you know why these grades were lower? Is it because you didnt have as good teachers, you didn’t know how to revise or do you find these subjects challenging. If it’s exam technique rather than knowledge as well then you’ll improve that over year 11.
Any ideas on what career you’d like to do or anything uni related? It’s absolutely fine to have no idea but if you do then it can help guide what kind of subjects you’d need to pick.
Which subjects do you enjoy the most- and not just because you like the class/teacher? As in which subjects do you read the content or learn something and find it genuinely interesting?
Whilst it is helpful to get an idea of what you’d like to do for your a levels now, especially as some places you apply to sixth forms before Xmas, a lot of people change what they want to do by results day so try not to stress too much. That being said I also started thinking about my choice early so id be happy to help you if you have any questions about what to choose (obviously i dont know everything about all courses but if you’ve got questions about choosing i can try help 🙂 ). Hope you have a great day!


I've considered degrees such as biochemistry and microbiology, as well as nanotechnology and Al (but I have no knowledge of computer science or anything of the sort, so that seems pretty unlikely tbh). If you'd have any similar suggestions, l'd be happy to hear them as it would be incredibly useful, but if you don't, don’t worry. No one's all-knowing 😄! I really don't like French and I don't wish to continue further maths either. However, I quite like biology, history, english literature and physics.

Thank you for the reply!
Original post by Alexis1200
I think some of these grades were lower because I find it really hard to find the motivation to revise. I'm also extremely hesitant to use past papers for maths, chemistry etc, because I know that the school I go to recycles past mock papers for us to use. I'd like my genuine progression rather than having accidentally seen the paper beforehand, you know? But everyone says that I need to be doing past papers. Do you know if that would affect it at all? I wanted to a degree in STEM (specifically medicine). I'm still quite keen on the idea, but I don't think I'd be a very good doctor 😅.

That’s completely fair and understandable. Have you tried Cognito? They have lots of questions written by them plus videos which really helped me with revision.
Original post by Alexis1200
I've considered degrees such as biochemistry and microbiology, as well as nanotechnology and Al (but I have no knowledge of computer science or anything of the sort, so that seems pretty unlikely tbh). If you'd have any similar suggestions, l'd be happy to hear them as it would be incredibly useful, but if you don't, don’t worry. No one's all-knowing 😄! I really don't like French and I don't wish to continue further maths either. However, I quite like biology, history, english literature and physics.
Thank you for the reply!

From your ambitions it sounds like bio chem and maths would be the best option in terms of uni requirements. I would say you should keep that as your aim for now, and see if you can improve your grades. Then later if you interests change or you feel like you’re more academically able in different subjects you can always reconsider!
Reply 7
Original post by DerDracologe
From your ambitions it sounds like bio chem and maths would be the best option in terms of uni requirements. I would say you should keep that as your aim for now, and see if you can improve your grades. Then later if you interests change or you feel like you’re more academically able in different subjects you can always reconsider!


Thank you so much for your help! I needed the reassurance that I’m not messing up 😅. Hope you’re doing well and good luck with anything you wish to accomplish!

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