The Student Room Group

A-Level Choices 🫀

Hey so I'm currently a year 11 student and have finished my mocks. I have a secure place at a 6th form which is really academic but I'm a bit unsure about my a-levels.

here are my predicted grades / mock grades (if I've got it back):
maths (edexcel): 9
further maths (aqa): 8
eng lit (igcse edexcel): 8
eng lang (igcse edexcel): 8 / 8
biology (edexcel): 8 / 9
chemistry (edexcel): 8 / 8
physics (edexcel): 8 / 9
geog (aqa): 8 / 9
history (aqa): 8

so I have recently become interested in medicine but I'm slightly unsure whether I'd be competitive or motivated to do it as many people in my school have parents pushing them to med. idk if maybe im now saying med bc I want to seem 'smart' or something bc all smart ppl at my school do med 😭?? if not I would like to do something to do with biology or Oxford human sciences

here are the a-levels I have thought about and the required grades for my 6th form)

Definite
maths (require grade 8)
biology (require grade 8)

maybe
chem (require grade 8)
FM (require 9 in maths)
geog (require 7 in geography)
psychology (7 in eng and bio)
history (7 in hist)

my 6th form requires 4 subjects to begin so id really appreciate some advice on what to choose/people's experience with med maybe (good/bad!)

Thanks 💗

Reply 1

maths chem and bio have good synergy, also further maths is one that you can usually do as an AS level (just in year 12). With maths chem bio you could do medicine, optom, dentistry, pharmacy, maths etc may be good to pick one non stem subject like psychology to ease the exam workload tho.

Reply 2

Original post
by livz2
Hey so I'm currently a year 11 student and have finished my mocks. I have a secure place at a 6th form which is really academic but I'm a bit unsure about my a-levels.
here are my predicted grades / mock grades (if I've got it back):
maths (edexcel): 9
further maths (aqa): 8
eng lit (igcse edexcel): 8
eng lang (igcse edexcel): 8 / 8
biology (edexcel): 8 / 9
chemistry (edexcel): 8 / 8
physics (edexcel): 8 / 9
geog (aqa): 8 / 9
history (aqa): 8
so I have recently become interested in medicine but I'm slightly unsure whether I'd be competitive or motivated to do it as many people in my school have parents pushing them to med. idk if maybe im now saying med bc I want to seem 'smart' or something bc all smart ppl at my school do med 😭?? if not I would like to do something to do with biology or Oxford human sciences
here are the a-levels I have thought about and the required grades for my 6th form)
Definite
maths (require grade 8)
biology (require grade 8)
maybe
chem (require grade 8)
FM (require 9 in maths)
geog (require 7 in geography)
psychology (7 in eng and bio)
history (7 in hist)
my 6th form requires 4 subjects to begin so id really appreciate some advice on what to choose/people's experience with med maybe (good/bad!)
Thanks 💗

if you want to keep the med option open you've got to take chem. basically no unis will take you without chemistry and you're basically screwed at that point (if you want to to med). youll be fine with an 8, so def dont worry about your capabilities. my only suggestions is to take chem even if you're unsure, it will keep the med option open and its an impressive a level. good luck!

Reply 3

Is there a chance you will want to do Engineering or Physics in the future? If not, don’t pick Further Maths as it is an immensely time consuming subject (or so I have heard from quite a few people actually). It may be a good idea if your school does all of maths in year 12 and you are allowed to drop fm at the end of year 12. This is because then you will have all of maths done and only two other subjects to worry about.

Psychology is a good option as it seems to relate to medicine more and is deemed as lighter by most student although this does depend on your strengths but if you wish to go with history or geography to open your options that fine too.

By the way for basically any hope in med you would need chem ( I think someone has already commented this) so all of my suggestions above are aimed to help pick a fourth subject (if you are doing one). Basically I have given advice based on the fact that you will take bio and maths( as you have written above) and Chemistry if you want to do medicine, and have the option to do a fourth.

To check if med is for you, I recommend either finding someone who works in that field( try LinkedIn maybe) or get some work experience or even just research how the job is like and how the uni courses and career progression works.

Good luck!

Reply 4

Original post
by bekah1.23
if you want to keep the med option open you've got to take chem. basically no unis will take you without chemistry and you're basically screwed at that point (if you want to to med). youll be fine with an 8, so def dont worry about your capabilities. my only suggestions is to take chem even if you're unsure, it will keep the med option open and its an impressive a level. good luck!


Thanks for the replies!
My concern with chem is that I don't really understand it and for this mock I got 64% which is literally the grade boundary for an 8. but my teacher is really old fashioned and teaches things in her 'own way' so I'll probably give chem a go hoping the teachers will be a bit more interactive instead of completely ignoring the spec and textbook.

Reply 5

Original post
by A_P_ME
Is there a chance you will want to do Engineering or Physics in the future? If not, don’t pick Further Maths as it is an immensely time consuming subject (or so I have heard from quite a few people actually). It may be a good idea if your school does all of maths in year 12 and you are allowed to drop fm at the end of year 12. This is because then you will have all of maths done and only two other subjects to worry about.
Psychology is a good option as it seems to relate to medicine more and is deemed as lighter by most student although this does depend on your strengths but if you wish to go with history or geography to open your options that fine too.
By the way for basically any hope in med you would need chem ( I think someone has already commented this) so all of my suggestions above are aimed to help pick a fourth subject (if you are doing one). Basically I have given advice based on the fact that you will take bio and maths( as you have written above) and Chemistry if you want to do medicine, and have the option to do a fourth.
To check if med is for you, I recommend either finding someone who works in that field( try LinkedIn maybe) or get some work experience or even just research how the job is like and how the uni courses and career progression works.
Good luck!


To be honest I have no intention of ever doing physics again after GCSE😭. for my last mock I got a 6 so ik I have improved but after shadowing a physics A-level class ik I won't be doing it

as I said about chem, I know it's key to med careers so I'll probably do it at least in year 12 (we don't do AS 💔) and if it's too hard I'll drop. probably why I'm leaning more towards geography as a 4th since I know I'll be able to keep it up if I drop chem but I am also okay with dropping geo for chem..

part of me wants to do FM but also the other part of me really doesn't. my FM teacher now says (like you said) doing maths in year 12 and FM in year 13 was really good for her when she did A-level as she dropped FM and had only 2 subjects to learn but sadly none of the schools I have seen do it like that and since I don't really have anything in mind required FM it would be more of a pain than anything

does anyone know about chem (ocr-a), bio (ocr-a), geo (Edexcel), and maths (OCR)?
are these common exam boards and do ppl find the geo content interesting (I really love human geo - is there a lot of that in A-level)?

Thanks again for all of the replies! they've been super helpful :smile:

Reply 6

Original post
by livz2
Thanks for the replies!
My concern with chem is that I don't really understand it and for this mock I got 64% which is literally the grade boundary for an 8. but my teacher is really old fashioned and teaches things in her 'own way' so I'll probably give chem a go hoping the teachers will be a bit more interactive instead of completely ignoring the spec and textbook.
for chem - physicsandmathstutor questions, on youtube some good teachers also
Original post
by livz2
Hey so I'm currently a year 11 student and have finished my mocks. I have a secure place at a 6th form which is really academic but I'm a bit unsure about my a-levels.
here are my predicted grades / mock grades (if I've got it back):
maths (edexcel): 9
further maths (aqa): 8
eng lit (igcse edexcel): 8
eng lang (igcse edexcel): 8 / 8
biology (edexcel): 8 / 9
chemistry (edexcel): 8 / 8
physics (edexcel): 8 / 9
geog (aqa): 8 / 9
history (aqa): 8
so I have recently become interested in medicine but I'm slightly unsure whether I'd be competitive or motivated to do it as many people in my school have parents pushing them to med. idk if maybe im now saying med bc I want to seem 'smart' or something bc all smart ppl at my school do med 😭?? if not I would like to do something to do with biology or Oxford human sciences
here are the a-levels I have thought about and the required grades for my 6th form)
Definite
maths (require grade 8)
biology (require grade 8)
maybe
chem (require grade 8)
FM (require 9 in maths)
geog (require 7 in geography)
psychology (7 in eng and bio)
history (7 in hist)
my 6th form requires 4 subjects to begin so id really appreciate some advice on what to choose/people's experience with med maybe (good/bad!)
Thanks 💗
I do Geography (AQA) and History (Edexcel) A-levels. They're both really enjoyable subjects but history essays are harder
Original post
by livz2
To be honest I have no intention of ever doing physics again after GCSE😭. for my last mock I got a 6 so ik I have improved but after shadowing a physics A-level class ik I won't be doing it
as I said about chem, I know it's key to med careers so I'll probably do it at least in year 12 (we don't do AS 💔) and if it's too hard I'll drop. probably why I'm leaning more towards geography as a 4th since I know I'll be able to keep it up if I drop chem but I am also okay with dropping geo for chem..
part of me wants to do FM but also the other part of me really doesn't. my FM teacher now says (like you said) doing maths in year 12 and FM in year 13 was really good for her when she did A-level as she dropped FM and had only 2 subjects to learn but sadly none of the schools I have seen do it like that and since I don't really have anything in mind required FM it would be more of a pain than anything
does anyone know about chem (ocr-a), bio (ocr-a), geo (Edexcel), and maths (OCR)?
are these common exam boards and do ppl find the geo content interesting (I really love human geo - is there a lot of that in A-level)?
Thanks again for all of the replies! they've been super helpful :smile:
I do AQA but Geography content is similar for all exam boards. I find the content so far very interesting and enjoyable. For advice for Edexcel A-Level Geography I recommend @agent_duck343 and for Biology OCR A A-Level I recommend @DerDracologe and @Trickia

Reply 9

Original post
by livz2
Hey so I'm currently a year 11 student and have finished my mocks. I have a secure place at a 6th form which is really academic but I'm a bit unsure about my a-levels.
here are my predicted grades / mock grades (if I've got it back):
maths (edexcel): 9
further maths (aqa): 8
eng lit (igcse edexcel): 8
eng lang (igcse edexcel): 8 / 8
biology (edexcel): 8 / 9
chemistry (edexcel): 8 / 8
physics (edexcel): 8 / 9
geog (aqa): 8 / 9
history (aqa): 8
so I have recently become interested in medicine but I'm slightly unsure whether I'd be competitive or motivated to do it as many people in my school have parents pushing them to med. idk if maybe im now saying med bc I want to seem 'smart' or something bc all smart ppl at my school do med 😭?? if not I would like to do something to do with biology or Oxford human sciences
here are the a-levels I have thought about and the required grades for my 6th form)
Definite
maths (require grade 8)
biology (require grade 8)
maybe
chem (require grade 8)
FM (require 9 in maths)
geog (require 7 in geography)
psychology (7 in eng and bio)
history (7 in hist)
my 6th form requires 4 subjects to begin so id really appreciate some advice on what to choose/people's experience with med maybe (good/bad!)
Thanks 💗

The most strategic choice would be chemistry to open up as many options in biosciences as possible. That being said, if its not a subject that suits you then dont take it- degree subjects which require chem require it for a reason and if you dont like the required subjects you probably wont like the degree subject or you’ll struggle with it because its so much harder to learn a subject you dislike.
I want to study something in biosciences after a levels but i wasn’t a big fan of chem at gcse so i didnt pick it for a level- make sure youre picking subjects you like! That way you’ll have a range of options in the future which appeal to your strengths and interests 🙂
My advice would be to pick the 2 subjects of the listed that you think you’ll enjoy the most!

Reply 10

Original post
by Geo Lover 7
I do AQA but Geography content is similar for all exam boards. I find the content so far very interesting and enjoyable. For advice for Edexcel A-Level Geography I recommend @agent_duck343 and for Biology OCR A A-Level I recommend @DerDracologe and @Trickia

Yes, happy to answers questions about a level Biology 🙂

Reply 11

Original post
by Geo Lover 7
I do AQA but Geography content is similar for all exam boards. I find the content so far very interesting and enjoyable. For advice for Edexcel A-Level Geography I recommend @agent_duck343 and for Biology OCR A A-Level I recommend @DerDracologe and @Trickia

Thanks for the tag geo xx

Original post
by livz2
To be honest I have no intention of ever doing physics again after GCSE😭. for my last mock I got a 6 so ik I have improved but after shadowing a physics A-level class ik I won't be doing it
as I said about chem, I know it's key to med careers so I'll probably do it at least in year 12 (we don't do AS 💔) and if it's too hard I'll drop. probably why I'm leaning more towards geography as a 4th since I know I'll be able to keep it up if I drop chem but I am also okay with dropping geo for chem..
part of me wants to do FM but also the other part of me really doesn't. my FM teacher now says (like you said) doing maths in year 12 and FM in year 13 was really good for her when she did A-level as she dropped FM and had only 2 subjects to learn but sadly none of the schools I have seen do it like that and since I don't really have anything in mind required FM it would be more of a pain than anything
does anyone know about chem (ocr-a), bio (ocr-a), geo (Edexcel), and maths (OCR)?
are these common exam boards and do ppl find the geo content interesting (I really love human geo - is there a lot of that in A-level)?
Thanks again for all of the replies! they've been super helpful :smile:

I do both chemistry and biology (OCR A) so I'm happy to answer any questions regarding that aspect! For maths I don't do OCR but if I'm not mistaken it has several "examboards" like ocr mei?

Both chemistry and biology (OCR A) are common examboards for the 2 subjects - so finding resources wise if is fairly easy. I recommend using physics and maths tutor, revisely, cognito and Seneca. These are all websites. For YouTube there are a few like - Miss Estruch(be careful she mainly does AQA but she does cover OCR A), Biorach etc but find one that works for you! By the way there is a new spec for biology so make sure you look at the right one when viewing its course content!

Good luck with picking your 4 a levels :smile:

Reply 12

Original post
by livz2
To be honest I have no intention of ever doing physics again after GCSE😭. for my last mock I got a 6 so ik I have improved but after shadowing a physics A-level class ik I won't be doing it
as I said about chem, I know it's key to med careers so I'll probably do it at least in year 12 (we don't do AS 💔) and if it's too hard I'll drop. probably why I'm leaning more towards geography as a 4th since I know I'll be able to keep it up if I drop chem but I am also okay with dropping geo for chem..
part of me wants to do FM but also the other part of me really doesn't. my FM teacher now says (like you said) doing maths in year 12 and FM in year 13 was really good for her when she did A-level as she dropped FM and had only 2 subjects to learn but sadly none of the schools I have seen do it like that and since I don't really have anything in mind required FM it would be more of a pain than anything
does anyone know about chem (ocr-a), bio (ocr-a), geo (Edexcel), and maths (OCR)?
are these common exam boards and do ppl find the geo content interesting (I really love human geo - is there a lot of that in A-level)?
Thanks again for all of the replies! they've been super helpful :smile:

I do OCR A for maths and haven’t had issues finding resources. Most exam boards do roughly the same content so i often use edexcel videos or whatever.

Reply 13

Original post
by livz2
Hey so I'm currently a year 11 student and have finished my mocks. I have a secure place at a 6th form which is really academic but I'm a bit unsure about my a-levels.
here are my predicted grades / mock grades (if I've got it back):
maths (edexcel): 9
further maths (aqa): 8
eng lit (igcse edexcel): 8
eng lang (igcse edexcel): 8 / 8
biology (edexcel): 8 / 9
chemistry (edexcel): 8 / 8
physics (edexcel): 8 / 9
geog (aqa): 8 / 9
history (aqa): 8
so I have recently become interested in medicine but I'm slightly unsure whether I'd be competitive or motivated to do it as many people in my school have parents pushing them to med. idk if maybe im now saying med bc I want to seem 'smart' or something bc all smart ppl at my school do med 😭?? if not I would like to do something to do with biology or Oxford human sciences
here are the a-levels I have thought about and the required grades for my 6th form)
Definite
maths (require grade 8)
biology (require grade 8)
maybe
chem (require grade 8)
FM (require 9 in maths)
geog (require 7 in geography)
psychology (7 in eng and bio)
history (7 in hist)
my 6th form requires 4 subjects to begin so id really appreciate some advice on what to choose/people's experience with med maybe (good/bad!)
Thanks 💗


Can I just say, don't do med if you don't think you'll enjoy it in the long run. I don't do it personally but I have friends who found the subjects or the workload too hard and they have pretty much switched their goals or future aspirations because of it

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