A-Levels 👾

Hey so I'm currently in year 11 and have accepted my place as a really good 6th form. I have just done January mocks and here are my grades (predicted in brackets):
maths 9 (9)
English lit 9 (8)
biology 9 (8)
physics 9 (8)
geography 9 (8)
history 9 (8)
chemistry 8 (8)
English language 8 (8)
further maths 7 (8)

art coursework 8 - almost 9 (8)

so I'm a little confused now about what I want to do. Some ideas of mine are here...
• Vet med (I hate chem)
• natural science - bio/phys (chem is sometimes needed and I hate chem)
• engineering (don't know if A-level Phys will be too hard)
• human science - prob my best chance at ox (wouldn't know what to do after)
• law (extremely competitive and idk if it would be boring)
• architecture (extremely competitive and may not be able to complete)

so here are the a-levels I am considering... (I have to start with 4)... (required grades in brackets)

maths (8)
+ I love maths
+ always done well
+ do FM which will help
+ helpful in all careers

biology (8)
+ loved bio since yr10
+ useful for many careers
+ consistently getting 8/9s
+ teacher is really happy I'm doing A-level
+ excited to learn more
- most people doing bio are doing med so idk if they will look down
- could be difficult and not needed if I'm not doing anything bio-related

chemistry (8)
+ lowkey like content
- been doing awful since yr10 but somehow did well this time
- risky since I may do badly at a-level
- my current teacher has a weird way of doing everything which could confuse me at a new school with more difficult concepts

physics (8)
+ physics has always been up there in my subjects
+ like my teacher now and have been improving a lot
+ shadowed an A-level class and understood what was going on
+ makes me seen smart
- last year's mock I got a 6 even though I had been getting 8/9s all year
- may humble me

geography (7)
+ love love love human geography
+ physical is okay (I hate tropical storms)
- don't really love writing coursework essays
- bit boring
- everyone was hating me when I said I might do geog😞

history (7)
+ love ww2 and cold war
+ got 3 grade 9s on the papers we have done in mocks before
+ course at a-level is okay but I'm not that keen on some bits
+ important for law
- not a fan of Elizabeth atm
- coursework again

art (7)
+ love hate relationship
+ my teacher's favourite
+ 2 marks off of a 9 in coursework
+ can probably push for a 9
- takes up so much time
- not relevant for most options (can still do architecture w/o)
- can still do art at 6th form with the clubs and stuff (preserve my sanity)

so far I submitted bio chem maths geog but I can still change
I definitely want to do maths and probably bio (my fav)
probably would take physics over chem
probably do geog over history for the 4th (will drop in yr12)

sorry for the ramble😭 if anyone has any advice or experience of any of the ocr-a sciences it would be appreciated and also history (idk what board)

Reply 1

cactus11235813

Original post

by livz2

Hey so I'm currently in year 11 and have accepted my place as a really good 6th form. I have just done January mocks and here are my grades (predicted in brackets):
maths 9 (9)
English lit 9 (8)
biology 9 (8)
physics 9 (8)
geography 9 (8)
history 9 (8)
chemistry 8 (8)
English language 8 (8)
further maths 7 (8)
art coursework 8 - almost 9 (8)
so I'm a little confused now about what I want to do. Some ideas of mine are here...
• Vet med (I hate chem)
• natural science - bio/phys (chem is sometimes needed and I hate chem)
• engineering (don't know if A-level Phys will be too hard)
• human science - prob my best chance at ox (wouldn't know what to do after)
• law (extremely competitive and idk if it would be boring)
• architecture (extremely competitive and may not be able to complete)
so here are the a-levels I am considering... (I have to start with 4)... (required grades in brackets)
maths (8)
+ I love maths
+ always done well
+ do FM which will help
+ helpful in all careers
biology (8)
+ loved bio since yr10
+ useful for many careers
+ consistently getting 8/9s
+ teacher is really happy I'm doing A-level
+ excited to learn more
- most people doing bio are doing med so idk if they will look down
- could be difficult and not needed if I'm not doing anything bio-related
chemistry (8)
+ lowkey like content
- been doing awful since yr10 but somehow did well this time
- risky since I may do badly at a-level
- my current teacher has a weird way of doing everything which could confuse me at a new school with more difficult concepts
physics (8)
+ physics has always been up there in my subjects
+ like my teacher now and have been improving a lot
+ shadowed an A-level class and understood what was going on
+ makes me seen smart
- last year's mock I got a 6 even though I had been getting 8/9s all year
- may humble me
geography (7)
+ love love love human geography
+ physical is okay (I hate tropical storms)
- don't really love writing coursework essays
- bit boring
- everyone was hating me when I said I might do geog😞
history (7)
+ love ww2 and cold war
+ got 3 grade 9s on the papers we have done in mocks before
+ course at a-level is okay but I'm not that keen on some bits
+ important for law
- not a fan of Elizabeth atm
- coursework again
art (7)
+ love hate relationship
+ my teacher's favourite
+ 2 marks off of a 9 in coursework
+ can probably push for a 9
- takes up so much time
- not relevant for most options (can still do architecture w/o)
- can still do art at 6th form with the clubs and stuff (preserve my sanity)
so far I submitted bio chem maths geog but I can still change
I definitely want to do maths and probably bio (my fav)
probably would take physics over chem
probably do geog over history for the 4th (will drop in yr12)
sorry for the ramble😭 if anyone has any advice or experience of any of the ocr-a sciences it would be appreciated and also history (idk what board)

I did OCR A Biology (and Edexcel for all the rest) - it was a lot of content, and I think took up more time than the others, but also wasn't particularly difficult (there was just a lot of it). Markscheme stuff was also annoying for past papers, but once I had looked at enough, I knew what to put to get full marks etc.

You seem to love bio - do that. I wasn't planning on doing medicine, and it was fine.

For pretty much all of the options you've put except law, maths is a requirement, and you clearly enjoy it, so do that too. You could also try further maths if it seems interesting to you? It's a good A level!

You say you hate chem - do you really? Would you be happy studying a subject that kind of relied on it at university? Or is it just that you don't like the GCSE?

Bio chem maths geog seems like a good combination, and should let you do any bio-ish degrees you like! A lot of them require chem (not physics), so it's a solid option. Physics as an A level isn't always very useful without further maths (for mathsy courses), whereas chem is.

Reply 2

rika_

Original post

by livz2

Hey so I'm currently in year 11 and have accepted my place as a really good 6th form. I have just done January mocks and here are my grades (predicted in brackets):
maths 9 (9)
English lit 9 (8)
biology 9 (8)
physics 9 (8)
geography 9 (8)
history 9 (8)
chemistry 8 (8)
English language 8 (8)
further maths 7 (8)
art coursework 8 - almost 9 (8)
so I'm a little confused now about what I want to do. Some ideas of mine are here...
• Vet med (I hate chem)
• natural science - bio/phys (chem is sometimes needed and I hate chem)
• engineering (don't know if A-level Phys will be too hard)
• human science - prob my best chance at ox (wouldn't know what to do after)
• law (extremely competitive and idk if it would be boring)
• architecture (extremely competitive and may not be able to complete)
so here are the a-levels I am considering... (I have to start with 4)... (required grades in brackets)
maths (8)
+ I love maths
+ always done well
+ do FM which will help
+ helpful in all careers
biology (8)
+ loved bio since yr10
+ useful for many careers
+ consistently getting 8/9s
+ teacher is really happy I'm doing A-level
+ excited to learn more
- most people doing bio are doing med so idk if they will look down
- could be difficult and not needed if I'm not doing anything bio-related
chemistry (8)
+ lowkey like content
- been doing awful since yr10 but somehow did well this time
- risky since I may do badly at a-level
- my current teacher has a weird way of doing everything which could confuse me at a new school with more difficult concepts
physics (8)
+ physics has always been up there in my subjects
+ like my teacher now and have been improving a lot
+ shadowed an A-level class and understood what was going on
+ makes me seen smart
- last year's mock I got a 6 even though I had been getting 8/9s all year
- may humble me
geography (7)
+ love love love human geography
+ physical is okay (I hate tropical storms)
- don't really love writing coursework essays
- bit boring
- everyone was hating me when I said I might do geog😞
history (7)
+ love ww2 and cold war
+ got 3 grade 9s on the papers we have done in mocks before
+ course at a-level is okay but I'm not that keen on some bits
+ important for law
- not a fan of Elizabeth atm
- coursework again
art (7)
+ love hate relationship
+ my teacher's favourite
+ 2 marks off of a 9 in coursework
+ can probably push for a 9
- takes up so much time
- not relevant for most options (can still do architecture w/o)
- can still do art at 6th form with the clubs and stuff (preserve my sanity)
so far I submitted bio chem maths geog but I can still change
I definitely want to do maths and probably bio (my fav)
probably would take physics over chem
probably do geog over history for the 4th (will drop in yr12)
sorry for the ramble😭 if anyone has any advice or experience of any of the ocr-a sciences it would be appreciated and also history (idk what board)

i'll start by saying a-levels are HELL no matter what subject you pick! however, once you get into the rhythm and settle in you can build a system for yourself that makes things easier for you. when picking your a-levels it does depend on your career choice. i would say def pick bio and maths as those open a lot of doors for you in the careers you like and think carefully about what it is you definitely want to do. remember you still have time so focus on your gcses for now and in year 12 if you change your mind you can still switch around in the beginning. good luck!!!!