Need help choosing my 4th A Level for Economics at Oxbridge/LSE

Hi, I’m currently deciding on my A Levels and could use some advice. I’m planning to take: Maths, Further Maths, Economics, One science (can’t decide which!)
I really enjoy science in general ( biology, chemistry, and physics ), more than other subjects such as English literature and history, but I’m not sure which one would fit best with my goal of studying Economics at university (ideally at Oxbridge or LSE).
Some people say Physics goes best with Maths, but it’s actually the one I enjoy the least, but I still like it. Chemistry and Biology just interest me a bit more, but I’m worried they might not be as relevant and I don’t know if they’ll be useful later on if I don’t go into a science-related career, especially Chemistry where you study things about particles and reactions which aren’t really applicable to everyday life or economics.
I’ve heard from many people that Chemistry at A level is extremely hard and requires a lot of skills and memorization and biology also requires so much memorization. Physics also is very hard.
How manageable is the workload for 4 A Levels, especially for this combo? Would it be too much, or is it doable if I’m strong in Maths?
Please share any thoughts or personal experiences! It would be really helpful. If you think I should do a different combination then please share your reasons as well.

One word...Chemistry.

You literally don’t need another subject and the sciences are very hard at A-Level. If you must take one just simply pick the one you like most, none of them will give you an edge or is directly relevant to economics. However, chemistry is the most versatile in case you change your mind about what to study. The workload will be a lot either way cause it’s alevels but if your sitting maths in year 12 it’s probably best to do 4.

Thanks for your suggestion, do you have any reason for saying chemistryy

thanks for commenting, I’ll be sitting my maths in y12 so i think i should pick 4

Hi, I’m currently deciding on my A Levels and could use some advice. I’m planning to take: Maths, Further Maths, Economics, One science (can’t decide which!)
I really enjoy science in general ( biology, chemistry, and physics ), more than other subjects such as English literature and history, but I’m not sure which one would fit best with my goal of studying Economics at university (ideally at Oxbridge or LSE).
Some people say Physics goes best with Maths, but it’s actually the one I enjoy the least, but I still like it. Chemistry and Biology just interest me a bit more, but I’m worried they might not be as relevant and I don’t know if they’ll be useful later on if I don’t go into a science-related career, especially Chemistry where you study things about particles and reactions which aren’t really applicable to everyday life or economics.
I’ve heard from many people that Chemistry at A level is extremely hard and requires a lot of skills and memorization and biology also requires so much memorization. Physics also is very hard.
How manageable is the workload for 4 A Levels, especially for this combo? Would it be too much, or is it doable if I’m strong in Maths?
Please share any thoughts or personal experiences! It would be really helpful. If you think I should do a different combination then please share your reasons as well.

Unis only take into account your top 3 A-Level grades. No point in doing 4, you’ll just over-stretch for nothing.

Hi, I’m currently deciding on my A Levels and could use some advice. I’m planning to take: Maths, Further Maths, Economics, One science (can’t decide which!)
I really enjoy science in general ( biology, chemistry, and physics ), more than other subjects such as English literature and history, but I’m not sure which one would fit best with my goal of studying Economics at university (ideally at Oxbridge or LSE).
Some people say Physics goes best with Maths, but it’s actually the one I enjoy the least, but I still like it. Chemistry and Biology just interest me a bit more, but I’m worried they might not be as relevant and I don’t know if they’ll be useful later on if I don’t go into a science-related career, especially Chemistry where you study things about particles and reactions which aren’t really applicable to everyday life or economics.
I’ve heard from many people that Chemistry at A level is extremely hard and requires a lot of skills and memorization and biology also requires so much memorization. Physics also is very hard.
How manageable is the workload for 4 A Levels, especially for this combo? Would it be too much, or is it doable if I’m strong in Maths?
Please share any thoughts or personal experiences! It would be really helpful. If you think I should do a different combination then please share your reasons as well.

hi, i'm in year 13 and take maths, further maths, physics and chem 🙂 i think it's definitely manageable to do four a levels as long as you manage your time well, and considering you'll be sitting maths in year 12, i think it would be better for you to sit 3 a levels in year 13
to be honest, both physics and chemistry are difficult but in different ways, and there are advantages to both (i can talk about bio a little from what my friends have told me). i don't think that there would be much of a university preference between the sciences for the course that you're planning to study since you're not aiming for a super science-y course - so choose the one you think you will enjoy the most and do best in
physics has the greatest overlap with your other subjects so reduces your content load in that way. if you take further mechanics as one or both of your further maths options, this is even more relevant and you will find that you cover the same topics in normal, further maths, and physics, which means you end up with really solid practice in these topics and have less content to learn. physics is hugely different from gcse imo - i actually found it quite boring at gcse but the topics you learn become so much more interesting at a level. it's really cool how in exams you actually apply your knowledge to very real scenarios, so it feels like you're doing 'proper' science. it's a great subject if you have a curiosity for how things around you work as they do, and becomes really great as you move into year 13 and start to see all of your knowledge coming together. that being said, it had the largest step up from gcse of any of my subjects (i didn't even take further maths gcse, and i found further maths as to be less of a step up from normal gcse maths than physics was) so you do have to be very committed to do well in it. it's notorious for being hard for a reason, but completely worth it if you're passionate about it
chemistry has a little overlap with maths but nothing at all like physics. the first half of as chemistry is mostly taking your gcse knowledge and expanding on it - that being said, a lot of people did struggle. the second ~ half of year 12 is organic, which is probably the biggest difference from gcse as you just do so much organic. i found it really fun and my favourite part of the course in year 12. out of my subjects, there was the largest jump from year 12 to 13 in chemistry imo, because suddenly you're doing completely new topics, and it became really, really maths-y. but, considering you'll be doing double maths, this should be alright for you. the biggest problem i can think of for chem is the grade boundaries. for context, to get an A* in physics you need ~75% (aqa) but for chem, you need ~90% (ocr a). that being said, this does reflect that chemistry papers do tend to be quite repetitive whereas physics papers require more problem-solving. i wouldn't say it's been that heavy on memorisation - more content than physics, but completely manageable
i can tell you a little about biology based on anecdote from friends. it's significantly harder than anyone in my year expected, so don't take it because you think it's the 'easy' science. the grade boundaries are similar to physics (ocr a) and this is reflected in that the papers are more application-based than chemistry are. there is a huge amount of content, and some of it is hard, some less so. there's a significant proportion of chemistry, especially when you learn about biological molecules so it's quite different from gcse in that respect.
sorry for the really long reply but i hope some of it is useful

So many topics are the same in past papers with different words and numbers. Also, it is one of the most respected A-Levels too. 🙂

thanks so much for your very detailed reply i found this really useful!!! I really like chemistry and physics (I’m leaning to them more than bio) but idk which one i should choose. Like it depends on the topics sometimes i like chemistry more sometimes i like physics more but i find both really interesting. if you had to choose one which one would you choose , which do you think is more useful or more interesting for you, also would you mind telling me what you want to study in university . thank you so much again

reallly!! I heard it’s really difficult and requires lots of application so I’m scared, which exam board do you take? my six form offers edexcel

thanks for commenting, I’ll be sitting my maths in y12 so i think i should pick 4

I do AQA and it is similar to Edexcel and OCR too.
Chemistry is much easier than Physics and Biology. Because the topics have not changed much at all since the 1980s. So, questions are very similar to past papers. Also, the practical paper 3 is just based on practical done for the practical assessment which is a pass or fail. 🙂 Unlike in Physics and Biology where they're much more applied. ☹️
I recommend YouTube videos and Chemguide as well Chemrevise.
3. Edexcel Revision Guides | chemrevise

Chemistry has changed massively since the 1980s in the content and style of papers.

That's Physics and Biology but not Chemistry. Because topics such as Atomic structure, isotopes, ionisation energies, carbon chemistry, group 1, group 2 and group 7 chemistry is still very much so the same. Also, the harder topics were removed from the modern A-Level in Chemistry. No wonder it is in the top 5 of most popular A-Levels in the country.
Biology has had the most removal and inclusion of topics. Physics has had Mechanics topics still left in the specifications in the 90s and 00s and even now.