Alevel Choices Help- Physics degree

I want to pursue a physics degree, maybe in the astro branch i’m not really sure. I chose physics and maths alevels and was very unsure of my third and had a very hard time choosing, i thought chemistry as it ties well along the two but didn’t like it so thought would i really enjoy the next two years?
My next decision was further maths alevel, which is arguably the best choice for pursuing a physics degree, however i was discouraged. I got 988887777 at GCSE, with the 8 being in maths but i was stuck on 6/7s throughout year11 maths for a LONG time, and barely scraped an 8 at GCSE by 3 marks despite it being my most revised subject, meaning i didn’t feel too strong with the subject, i like maths ofcourse but i was worried that by doing further maths alevel i would also spend too much time on it that it would distract my focus from the two subjects that mattered, physics and maths. Because of this i felt it would be risky to take the subject as i’m not as “mathematically inclined’ as others even tho i know physics is a very mathsy degree. I thought getting A*A*A*(lol for example..) would be better than A*AB if i DID do fm alevel for this reason. So i thought what was a third subject i enjoyed enough to get a good third grade and meet entry requirements which also wasn’t as time consuming, and i chose geography. I was pretty chill with the decision until now realising how important and useful further maths alevel is, i’m worried at being at a disadvantage when applying to universities even though i’m not heading for oxbridge/imperial but i know i do want to go to a Russel group.
I don’t know if i made a bad decision or not, all i’m worried about is being at a disadvantage when applying to unis. I can’t change my subjects now as the deadline was more than a month ago and basically i’m stuck with Physics, Maths and Geography. I don’t mind geography, i like it honestly, but i’m just worried about my applications and if i’ll struggle first year because a lot of people said i will and to not bother applying for a physics degree if i wasn’t capable of doing another maths alevel. I don’t know what to do as i probably won’t stand out compared to other applicants.Can i please have advice? Are people over exaggerating to me?, because i don’t know what to do and i’m feeling regret for my choices based on what other people have said is kinda annoying me, but again i don’t know if i made the right choice as i probably would get a good grade in further realistically…
I’ve been trying to do supercurricular that would boost my application, for example i’ve already read 3 books: Brief History of Time, Brief answers to brief questions and the Quantum Universe, i plan to read black holes by brian cox next, i also joined a few programmes. Does anyone have advice on what other supercurriculars i can do? Thankyou

I want to pursue a physics degree, maybe in the astro branch i’m not really sure. I chose physics and maths alevels and was very unsure of my third and had a very hard time choosing, i thought chemistry as it ties well along the two but didn’t like it so thought would i really enjoy the next two years?
My next decision was further maths alevel, which is arguably the best choice for pursuing a physics degree, however i was discouraged. I got 988887777 at GCSE, with the 8 being in maths but i was stuck on 6/7s throughout year11 maths for a LONG time, and barely scraped an 8 at GCSE by 3 marks despite it being my most revised subject, meaning i didn’t feel too strong with the subject, i like maths ofcourse but i was worried that by doing further maths alevel i would also spend too much time on it that it would distract my focus from the two subjects that mattered, physics and maths. Because of this i felt it would be risky to take the subject as i’m not as “mathematically inclined’ as others even tho i know physics is a very mathsy degree. I thought getting A*A*A*(lol for example..) would be better than A*AB if i DID do fm alevel for this reason. So i thought what was a third subject i enjoyed enough to get a good third grade and meet entry requirements which also wasn’t as time consuming, and i chose geography. I was pretty chill with the decision until now realising how important and useful further maths alevel is, i’m worried at being at a disadvantage when applying to universities even though i’m not heading for oxbridge/imperial but i know i do want to go to a Russel group.
I don’t know if i made a bad decision or not, all i’m worried about is being at a disadvantage when applying to unis. I can’t change my subjects now as the deadline was more than a month ago and basically i’m stuck with Physics, Maths and Geography. I don’t mind geography, i like it honestly, but i’m just worried about my applications and if i’ll struggle first year because a lot of people said i will and to not bother applying for a physics degree if i wasn’t capable of doing another maths alevel. I don’t know what to do as i probably won’t stand out compared to other applicants.Can i please have advice? Are people over exaggerating to me?, because i don’t know what to do and i’m feeling regret for my choices based on what other people have said is kinda annoying me, but again i don’t know if i made the right choice as i probably would get a good grade in further realistically…
I’ve been trying to do supercurricular that would boost my application, for example i’ve already read 3 books: Brief History of Time, Brief answers to brief questions and the Quantum Universe, i plan to read black holes by brian cox next, i also joined a few programmes. Does anyone have advice on what other supercurriculars i can do? Thankyou

Usually only maths and physics are required, as you’re not aiming for a top uni then you’ll have lots of options without fm 🙂 Geography could also prove really useful for areas like planetary science! I think you’ve made a good choice for yourself based on your strengths and interests, so good luck! You will need to work on your maths though if you’re heading towards astrophysics- it’s an extremely maths-y degree so watch out for that. You could always take a gap year and do fm in that time if it ever became an issue btw. Best of luck with your a levels, im also in year 12 and doing maths and physics so if you ever wanna chat about that kinda stuff like revision and stuff then id be happy to!

Thankyou yeah i was worried geography would be completely useless but it does help in some aspects i guess for astro, yes ahah im working on maths, joined some maths programmes and maths alevel has been fairly straight forward so far! Goodluck to you too! What do you plan to do after alevels?

If a Uni only specifies Physics and Maths as 'required' subjects, and does not mention the 3rd subject within the entry requirements, it can literally be any subject and all they are interested in os the grade. So. it makes sense to pick something you will enjoy studying and where you feel confident of a good grade. Beyond University, no-one is going to care which A Level subjects you have, all employers will be interested in is your degree.
Useful Moocs (free short online Uni courses) -
Solving Societal Problems with Modern Physics - Online Course - FutureLearn
The Discovery of the Higgs Boson - Online Course
Observing Earth From Space - Online Course - FutureLearn
Life on Earth and Beyond: Life on Mars - Online Course - FutureLearn

Glad it’s going well for you!
Im planning to do a degree in something like zoology, ecology or animal behaviour 🙂 I used to be torn between astro and that though so the interest is still there in physics and space- just dont want it for a career really!

I want to pursue a physics degree, maybe in the astro branch i’m not really sure. I chose physics and maths alevels and was very unsure of my third and had a very hard time choosing, i thought chemistry as it ties well along the two but didn’t like it so thought would i really enjoy the next two years?
My next decision was further maths alevel, which is arguably the best choice for pursuing a physics degree, however i was discouraged. I got 988887777 at GCSE, with the 8 being in maths but i was stuck on 6/7s throughout year11 maths for a LONG time, and barely scraped an 8 at GCSE by 3 marks despite it being my most revised subject, meaning i didn’t feel too strong with the subject, i like maths ofcourse but i was worried that by doing further maths alevel i would also spend too much time on it that it would distract my focus from the two subjects that mattered, physics and maths. Because of this i felt it would be risky to take the subject as i’m not as “mathematically inclined’ as others even tho i know physics is a very mathsy degree. I thought getting A*A*A*(lol for example..) would be better than A*AB if i DID do fm alevel for this reason. So i thought what was a third subject i enjoyed enough to get a good third grade and meet entry requirements which also wasn’t as time consuming, and i chose geography. I was pretty chill with the decision until now realising how important and useful further maths alevel is, i’m worried at being at a disadvantage when applying to universities even though i’m not heading for oxbridge/imperial but i know i do want to go to a Russel group.
I don’t know if i made a bad decision or not, all i’m worried about is being at a disadvantage when applying to unis. I can’t change my subjects now as the deadline was more than a month ago and basically i’m stuck with Physics, Maths and Geography. I don’t mind geography, i like it honestly, but i’m just worried about my applications and if i’ll struggle first year because a lot of people said i will and to not bother applying for a physics degree if i wasn’t capable of doing another maths alevel. I don’t know what to do as i probably won’t stand out compared to other applicants.Can i please have advice? Are people over exaggerating to me?, because i don’t know what to do and i’m feeling regret for my choices based on what other people have said is kinda annoying me, but again i don’t know if i made the right choice as i probably would get a good grade in further realistically…
I’ve been trying to do supercurricular that would boost my application, for example i’ve already read 3 books: Brief History of Time, Brief answers to brief questions and the Quantum Universe, i plan to read black holes by brian cox next, i also joined a few programmes. Does anyone have advice on what other supercurriculars i can do? Thankyou

Glad it’s going well for you!
Im planning to do a degree in something like zoology, ecology or animal behaviour 🙂 I used to be torn between astro and that though so the interest is still there in physics and space- just dont want it for a career really!

I came here as I popped in Lancaster in the searches, as daughter did a physics degree at Lancaster (and you dont need FM as you get to learn it in year one, without the topics of things like network flow being involved lol), but then I saw your post on Zoology, ecology and animal behaviour because thats what my youngest daughter went for and is studying 🙂
Youngest chose, Lincoln - zoology, Bangor - Animal behaviour, Chester - animal behaviour, Lancaster - Zoology, and Reading - Zoology. She went to Reading and she loved the uni, and made good friends, but she felt too far away from us and was very homesick. So, she took a gap year, and now studies at Nottingham Trent uni for Zoo Biology which is based on brackenhurst campus which is pretty rural, but is 60 mins away from us and three buses. So she lives in the city at uni halls and has the best of both worlds as she can see us as often as she likes. But, shes been that busy shes not really missed us lol. Campus has animals on site, so shes being doing a volunteering program and so far shes handled ferrets, lizards, turles, rabbits, cats and kittens, ducks. Conservation society sets out camera traps and so far she got a fox, a badger and a mouse. They do zoology there and there isnt much difference between the two. They do animal husbandry where they get to assess at white post farm health and saftey issues and if the enclosure is appropriate. So far so good, shes having a blast and I get to see her about once a fortnight, so shes got a happy medium which works for her. But yeah, any of the above uni's are very good. Apart from trent, id have to say I was impressed with Chester, and Reading.