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Im in big trouble. What should I do?

Im in year 12. I do maths, physics and economics. I want to go and study something finance related at uni. The thing is i suck at physics. Im absolutely dreadful at it. What should i do? Im thinking of picking up A level business as its useful for finance related careers. If i pick up a level business i would have to complete it in one year which i think is not too difficult since i already do economics which is slightly related to business. Would universities look down on me after seeing that i have dropped physics at the end of year 12 and picked up another subject? I honestly have no idea what to do. Can someone give me an idea. Feel free to ask me any questions

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Reply 1

Original post
by 4m1r
Im in year 12. I do maths, physics and economics. I want to go and study something finance related at uni. The thing is i suck at physics. Im absolutely dreadful at it. What should i do? Im thinking of picking up A level business as its useful for finance related careers. If i pick up a level business i would have to complete it in one year which i think is not too difficult since i already do economics which is slightly related to business. Would universities look down on me after seeing that i have dropped physics at the end of year 12 and picked up another subject? I honestly have no idea what to do. Can someone give me an idea. Feel free to ask me any questions

I mean its better to not fail one of your subjects. They wouldn't necessarily 'look down upon you.' Top unis don't really like business A level - but obviously it's better to get 3 a levels vs 2 (if you failed physics). What would you do for your predicted grades though because if you drop physics you'll only have 2? Would you take a gap year so you get actual grades? I think you need to have a talk with your school

Reply 2

Original post
by 4m1r
Im in year 12. I do maths, physics and economics. I want to go and study something finance related at uni. The thing is i suck at physics. Im absolutely dreadful at it. What should i do? Im thinking of picking up A level business as its useful for finance related careers. If i pick up a level business i would have to complete it in one year which i think is not too difficult since i already do economics which is slightly related to business. Would universities look down on me after seeing that i have dropped physics at the end of year 12 and picked up another subject? I honestly have no idea what to do. Can someone give me an idea. Feel free to ask me any questions

Not sure if it's changed over the years, but my dad dropped A level physics and then went on to go to study medicine at uni and is now a GP, so 🤷🏼*♀️

Reply 3

Original post
by Jellybean_1
Not sure if it's changed over the years, but my dad dropped A level physics and then went on to go to study medicine at uni and is now a GP, so 🤷🏼*♀️

Yeah but you can't do almost all degrees with 2 A levels lol, your dad was probably doing 4 because you certainly can't do medicine with 2 a levels

Reply 4

Original post
by isaac123444566
I mean its better to not fail one of your subjects. They wouldn't necessarily 'look down upon you.' Top unis don't really like business A level - but obviously it's better to get 3 a levels vs 2 (if you failed physics). What would you do for your predicted grades though because if you drop physics you'll only have 2? Would you take a gap year so you get actual grades? I think you need to have a talk with your school


I would 100% take a gap year

Reply 5

Original post
by isaac123444566
I mean its better to not fail one of your subjects. They wouldn't necessarily 'look down upon you.' Top unis don't really like business A level - but obviously it's better to get 3 a levels vs 2 (if you failed physics). What would you do for your predicted grades though because if you drop physics you'll only have 2? Would you take a gap year so you get actual grades? I think you need to have a talk with your school


Do u reckon i can get into a russel group uni with 3 really good grades in maths, business and economics and maybe an E in physics

Reply 6

Original post
by 4m1r
Do u reckon i can get into a russel group uni with 3 really good grades in maths, business and economics and maybe an E in physics

I don't think russell group unis like the combo maths econ business, especially top unis probably won't accept both because of the subject overlap

Reply 7

Original post
by isaac123444566
I don't think russell group unis like the combo maths econ business, especially top unis probably won't accept both because of the subject overlap


What subject do you think i should take instead of business?

Reply 8

Original post
by 4m1r
What subject do you think i should take instead of business?

You can't just really take up a new subject now I'll be real - surely sticking with physics would be better considering you've learnt it for a year. you can't just learn an A level in like 8 months

Reply 9

Original post
by isaac123444566
You can't just really take up a new subject now I'll be real - surely sticking with physics would be better considering you've learnt it for a year. you can't just learn an A level in like 8 months

i dont think it would be extremely difficult if i put my head down. Dont forget i also have the whole of the summer holidays to revise

Reply 10

Original post
by 4m1r
i dont think it would be extremely difficult if i put my head down. Dont forget i also have the whole of the summer holidays to revise

Yeah so do physics

Reply 11

Original post
by 4m1r
Im in year 12. I do maths, physics and economics. I want to go and study something finance related at uni. The thing is i suck at physics. Im absolutely dreadful at it. What should i do? Im thinking of picking up A level business as its useful for finance related careers. If i pick up a level business i would have to complete it in one year which i think is not too difficult since i already do economics which is slightly related to business. Would universities look down on me after seeing that i have dropped physics at the end of year 12 and picked up another subject? I honestly have no idea what to do. Can someone give me an idea. Feel free to ask me any questions

personally, if you hate the subject its going to be even harder to succeed in it and so if you like business and have a similar background or are even just willing to put in the extra effort i dont think it would be a problem, especialliy if you then got a good grade to reflect that

Reply 12

Original post
by daisy.ch2
personally, if you hate the subject its going to be even harder to succeed in it and so if you like business and have a similar background or are even just willing to put in the extra effort i dont think it would be a problem, especialliy if you then got a good grade to reflect that


Well he wants to go to a RG uni, which you can’t with maths economics business

Reply 13

Original post
by isaac123444566
Well he wants to go to a RG uni, which you can’t with maths economics business

oh i was unaware
why do rg unis frown on those a levels then?

Reply 14

Original post
by daisy.ch2
oh i was unaware
why do rg unis frown on those a levels then?


They’re seen as too similar (economics and business)

Reply 15

Original post
by isaac123444566
They’re seen as too similar (economics and business)

ohh fair enough

Reply 16

Original post
by 4m1r
Im in year 12. I do maths, physics and economics. I want to go and study something finance related at uni. The thing is i suck at physics. Im absolutely dreadful at it. What should i do? Im thinking of picking up A level business as its useful for finance related careers. If i pick up a level business i would have to complete it in one year which i think is not too difficult since i already do economics which is slightly related to business. Would universities look down on me after seeing that i have dropped physics at the end of year 12 and picked up another subject? I honestly have no idea what to do. Can someone give me an idea. Feel free to ask me any questions

Let me know if you would like some help as to how you 'could' study physics better and make progress. I say could because at the end of the day revision is relative. What works for some won't always work for others. I have a wealth of resources which would be of use to you including a bank of ALL the AQA (Exampro) questions ever asked , organised by topic along with the markscheme. This also includes the optional modules. PM me as this is a Google folder which I have to share. Best of luck with whatever you do!

Reply 17

Original post
by 4m1r
Im in year 12. I do maths, physics and economics. I want to go and study something finance related at uni. The thing is i suck at physics. Im absolutely dreadful at it. What should i do? Im thinking of picking up A level business as its useful for finance related careers. If i pick up a level business i would have to complete it in one year which i think is not too difficult since i already do economics which is slightly related to business. Would universities look down on me after seeing that i have dropped physics at the end of year 12 and picked up another subject? I honestly have no idea what to do. Can someone give me an idea. Feel free to ask me any questions

:wavey:Here’s the things i think would be worth looking into/considering:

carrying on as you are and requesting help from your school with physics or paying for tutoring etc outside of school

Asking your school if you can repeat year 12 or similar and do a different subject. I would be a little careful with doing business with econ as some top unis have an issue with this, make sure to check a range of degrees before you commit to this decision! The best option for finance would be further maths but only if youre passionate about maths and do well at it.

Take the subjects you currently do or drop to 2 and then self study business on a gap year and take the a level out of your own pocket then


Just some ideas, not an exhaustive list! Happy to answer questions 🙂

Reply 18

Original post
by DerDracologe
:wavey:Here’s the things i think would be worth looking into/considering:

carrying on as you are and requesting help from your school with physics or paying for tutoring etc outside of school

Asking your school if you can repeat year 12 or similar and do a different subject. I would be a little careful with doing business with econ as some top unis have an issue with this, make sure to check a range of degrees before you commit to this decision! The best option for finance would be further maths but only if youre passionate about maths and do well at it.

Take the subjects you currently do or drop to 2 and then self study business on a gap year and take the a level out of your own pocket then


Just some ideas, not an exhaustive list! Happy to answer questions 🙂


If i fail my as level for physics they make me pick another subject anyways. Also onto your other point. You said top unis dont accept business and economics combo. Do you mean oxbridge type unis or Russell group unis. Also what about apprenticeship?

Reply 19

Original post
by 4m1r
If i fail my as level for physics they make me pick another subject anyways. Also onto your other point. You said top unis dont accept business and economics combo. Do you mean oxbridge type unis or Russell group unis. Also what about apprenticeship?

russell groups unis don't usually accept econ + business
you can check all of this information online - the internet has it all
it vastly depends on what type of apprenticeship you want mate - but yes generally A levels are less important
(edited 8 months ago)

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