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URGENT HELP please on dropping subjects- Is an A/A* English literature unattainable?

Hi, I am in year twelve and I do Biology, Chemistry, Geography and English Literature (wanting to do medicine) but I want to drop one to reduce my workload, however the deadline is tomorrow.
I love both but feel more passionately about English, however, I feel like geography is much easier to get an A* than English and I have anxiety that I wont be good enough at English.
I really really don't know what to do.
Everyone says English literature is impossible and horrible, and it has killed their passion for literature whilst simultaneously being incredibly difficult to get a high grade in- is this really true? I want an A/A* and I'm not sure if I should just pick geography, to make it easier, although I prefer English and the variety it gives me.
Can anyone who does English (AQA)/ Geography(edexcel) advise me on the subjects if you do them alongside Biology and Chemistry? (especially for English as I worry I won't get the grade I need)
As a preface, I achieved all nines at GCSE, and my teacher believes I am capable, yet I know that geography is easier.
What do I do?
Thank you so so much if you reply! :smile:

Reply 1

Original post
by mollie123456789
Hi, I am in year twelve and I do Biology, Chemistry, Geography and English Literature (wanting to do medicine) but I want to drop one to reduce my workload, however the deadline is tomorrow.
I love both but feel more passionately about English, however, I feel like geography is much easier to get an A* than English and I have anxiety that I wont be good enough at English.
I really really don't know what to do.
Everyone says English literature is impossible and horrible, and it has killed their passion for literature whilst simultaneously being incredibly difficult to get a high grade in- is this really true? I want an A/A* and I'm not sure if I should just pick geography, to make it easier, although I prefer English and the variety it gives me.
Can anyone who does English (AQA)/ Geography(edexcel) advise me on the subjects if you do them alongside Biology and Chemistry? (especially for English as I worry I won't get the grade I need)
As a preface, I achieved all nines at GCSE, and my teacher believes I am capable, yet I know that geography is easier.
What do I do?
Thank you so so much if you reply! :smile:


I’d honestly saw do literature if your prefer it. Don’t listen to people around you, you are very capable of getting a good grade in it if you’re passionate. Plus, once you drop one, the workload will be less anyways. So you have more time to focus on biology,chemistry and english.

Reply 2

I do biology rn (year13 here) and I hate it more then anything I even cried last week looking at dropping out cos my predicted is so low cos of how bad I done in tests as it’s so hard… if you don’t need it and probs im talking about chemistry as well… DROP IT

Reply 3

Original post
by elishajames06
I do biology rn (year13 here) and I hate it more then anything I even cried last week looking at dropping out cos my predicted is so low cos of how bad I done in tests as it’s so hard… if you don’t need it and probs im talking about chemistry as well… DROP IT

OP wants to do medicine so this not a good idea in my opinion.

Reply 4

Original post
by Talkative Toad
OP wants to do medicine so this not a good idea in my opinion.


Oh didn’t know that

Reply 5

Original post
by elishajames06
Oh didn’t know that

It says it in the OP.

Reply 6

Original post
by Talkative Toad
It says it in the OP.


Sorry ngl I just read the first part

Reply 7

Original post
by mollie123456789
Hi, I am in year twelve and I do Biology, Chemistry, Geography and English Literature (wanting to do medicine) but I want to drop one to reduce my workload, however the deadline is tomorrow.
I love both but feel more passionately about English, however, I feel like geography is much easier to get an A* than English and I have anxiety that I wont be good enough at English.
I really really don't know what to do.
Everyone says English literature is impossible and horrible, and it has killed their passion for literature whilst simultaneously being incredibly difficult to get a high grade in- is this really true? I want an A/A* and I'm not sure if I should just pick geography, to make it easier, although I prefer English and the variety it gives me.
Can anyone who does English (AQA)/ Geography(edexcel) advise me on the subjects if you do them alongside Biology and Chemistry? (especially for English as I worry I won't get the grade I need)
As a preface, I achieved all nines at GCSE, and my teacher believes I am capable, yet I know that geography is easier.
What do I do?
Thank you so so much if you reply! :smile:

I do biology, psychology and english literature
I have just applied with A* psychology, A* english, A in biology- I would say that an A* is achievable if you are passionate and work hard to really know your texts inside out.
Also get your coursework sorted early!
I think its definitely achievable, I find it much easier than biology! However, if you have a more scientific brain you may find it harder I suppose!

Reply 8

Original post
by mollie123456789
Hi, I am in year twelve and I do Biology, Chemistry, Geography and English Literature (wanting to do medicine) but I want to drop one to reduce my workload, however the deadline is tomorrow.
I love both but feel more passionately about English, however, I feel like geography is much easier to get an A* than English and I have anxiety that I wont be good enough at English.
I really really don't know what to do.
Everyone says English literature is impossible and horrible, and it has killed their passion for literature whilst simultaneously being incredibly difficult to get a high grade in- is this really true? I want an A/A* and I'm not sure if I should just pick geography, to make it easier, although I prefer English and the variety it gives me.
Can anyone who does English (AQA)/ Geography(edexcel) advise me on the subjects if you do them alongside Biology and Chemistry? (especially for English as I worry I won't get the grade I need)
As a preface, I achieved all nines at GCSE, and my teacher believes I am capable, yet I know that geography is easier.
What do I do?
Thank you so so much if you reply! :smile:

Hi there,

This might sound like a bit of an unhelpful reply, but bear with me :-).

Really you are the only person who knows how you feel about your subjects. Only you know what you experience as being easier or harder to get the grade you need in.

Your teachers can help to some extent, because they will have experience of your past work / attainment.

I have been a university lecturer in the past (not medicine). I did A-levels in closing English (A) and Geography (B) albeit many, many years ago now.

The advice I (and many colleagues) give to students is to pick the subjects you have a genuine interest in, because that way studying them will usually naturally seem ‘easier’.

Another consideration is that Geography can be considered a science qualification in some circumstances - which is not true for English. This may be relevant to medicine? Worth a check of any particular universities entry requirements before making the final decision.

A final thought - not all deadlines at school are always absolute. Might be worth a chat with your teachers to see if they can give you a little extra time to make this important decision.

Good luck with your A-levels and your future

Reply 9

Original post
by MumR
Hi there,
This might sound like a bit of an unhelpful reply, but bear with me :-).
Really you are the only person who knows how you feel about your subjects. Only you know what you experience as being easier or harder to get the grade you need in.
Your teachers can help to some extent, because they will have experience of your past work / attainment.
I have been a university lecturer in the past (not medicine). I did A-levels in closing English (A) and Geography (B) albeit many, many years ago now.
The advice I (and many colleagues) give to students is to pick the subjects you have a genuine interest in, because that way studying them will usually naturally seem ‘easier’.
Another consideration is that Geography can be considered a science qualification in some circumstances - which is not true for English. This may be relevant to medicine? Worth a check of any particular universities entry requirements before making the final decision.
A final thought - not all deadlines at school are always absolute. Might be worth a chat with your teachers to see if they can give you a little extra time to make this important decision.
Good luck with your A-levels and your future

Thank you for the response!! I’m still undecided unfortunately but the extended deadline is only until tomorrow. ☹️
Do you (having studied both) have any insight as which might be more useful as a medicine applicant in terms of transferable skills?

Reply 10

Original post
by mollie123456789
Thank you for the response!! I’m still undecided unfortunately but the extended deadline is only until tomorrow. ☹️
Do you (having studied both) have any insight as which might be more useful as a medicine applicant in terms of transferable skills?

My pleasure,

As I haven’t studied (or applied) for medicine I don’t think that’s really for me to judge. You really would need to look at what subjects are preferred is by each med school.

Doing a quick search of A-levels required for medicine Biology, Chemistry and either (or both) maths and physics are common.

There are lots of transferable skills from Geography and English - my guess (and it is a guess - not advice) is that Geography with its scientific emphasis on things like analysing data would be easier to demonstrate transferable skills. It is going to come down to what each university will / won’t accept in a competitive process.

English would have potential to show transferable skills of interest and empathy for stories of others, but this would not be relevant if the course require different subjects.

Reply 11

Original post
by MumR
My pleasure,
As I haven’t studied (or applied) for medicine I don’t think that’s really for me to judge. You really would need to look at what subjects are preferred is by each med school.
Doing a quick search of A-levels required for medicine Biology, Chemistry and either (or both) maths and physics are common.
There are lots of transferable skills from Geography and English - my guess (and it is a guess - not advice) is that Geography with its scientific emphasis on things like analysing data would be easier to demonstrate transferable skills. It is going to come down to what each university will / won’t accept in a competitive process.
English would have potential to show transferable skills of interest and empathy for stories of others, but this would not be relevant if the course require different subjects.


I agree with this, but, saying that I do know someone who studied Biology,Chemistry and History and got into medicine. So, doing medicine by taking bio,chem and then a humanities is still doable.

Also, I do know teachers at my school who studied stem degrees, but took English literature at uni. For instance, I know a maths teacher who took maths,further maths and English lit, and still got onto his degree, as well as a chem teacher who did maths,chemistry and English lit. What they told me is that the universities actually liked the fact that they did lit, since it showed they had other interests and good writing skills, which would come in useful for coursework at university and or just the workplace.

So, I think it’s really up to OP. But, they need to take into account that medicine is very competitive, and if they’re interested in TOP TOP unis like oxbridge, they might need to take geography since it is slightly more relevant. But, I still think it’s possible to get into a good uni for medicine with bio,chem, English lit with a good personal statement, work experience etc-

Reply 12

Original post
by mollie123456789
Thank you for the response!! I’m still undecided unfortunately but the extended deadline is only until tomorrow. ☹️
Do you (having studied both) have any insight as which might be more useful as a medicine applicant in terms of transferable skills?

I think biology would be more useful but honestly there is not that much human biology in my syllabus (AQA) so i think both could potentially be useful although neither directly link!

Reply 13

Top unis may expect 2 traditional subjects minimum, I think Leeds does (?) So you already have that with Bio and Chem. You're clearly capable BTW if you have the work ethic to get full 9s. If you want to keep your options open for a humanities subject at Uni then I would keep English (I know law can expect an a level in english) and get rid of geography because the science necessities if you want to go down that course are already there with bio and chem. If you know you want to do science and think you'll enjoy geography then go for it.

I've not looked at many humanities courses really so you might want to check if you know what area of humanities you'd want to do if you continued to degree level with that because some won't expect that at a level.

Reply 14

Original post
by mollie123456789
Hi, I am in year twelve and I do Biology, Chemistry, Geography and English Literature (wanting to do medicine) but I want to drop one to reduce my workload, however the deadline is tomorrow.
I love both but feel more passionately about English, however, I feel like geography is much easier to get an A* than English and I have anxiety that I wont be good enough at English.
I really really don't know what to do.
Everyone says English literature is impossible and horrible, and it has killed their passion for literature whilst simultaneously being incredibly difficult to get a high grade in- is this really true? I want an A/A* and I'm not sure if I should just pick geography, to make it easier, although I prefer English and the variety it gives me.
Can anyone who does English (AQA)/ Geography(edexcel) advise me on the subjects if you do them alongside Biology and Chemistry? (especially for English as I worry I won't get the grade I need)
As a preface, I achieved all nines at GCSE, and my teacher believes I am capable, yet I know that geography is easier.
What do I do?
Thank you so so much if you reply! :smile:


I personally would drop English, although you love English I don’t feel it pairs well with biology and chemistry. I do geography and biology and there is quite a bit of overlap which makes things slightly easier. English doesn’t have anything to do with medicine whereas geography has more to do with it, for example access to healthcare etc. Obviously do what you feel is best for you but I feel Geography is definitely a better fit as a medicine applicant.

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