Need help with a level choices pleaseee

Hi! i'm a yr11 student about to choose a-levels and i'm stuck on a few options as someone who has no clue what field they want to go in
at first i considered on having 4 a-levels and then got talked out of it as I was told here was heaps of work (still not completely sure if i should 4 or not as my fourth will have to be further maths cos my school only offers that as fourth level option)
but for 3 a-levels i thought maths chemistry and isn’t so sure on my third which is between physics and biology- I know that I don’t want to do medicine and after browsing a few university websites like oxbridge ones I figured physics will be better in terms of engineering and etc. and further maths is good for like oxbridge and stuff but idk if I should take it or not as it has lots of work and I am quite a lazy person - maybe just locking in will do???
i personally am aiming for all 9s ( but still have a few 7 lots of 8s and few 9s but I will get thereee! It’s my mock period so I hope to improve) so entry into the subject is not an issue, i just need to choose soon and am still stuck
would love your help from anyone who did those subjects or just 4 a levels in general!!

Hi, I did not pick 4 a-levels but I am in year 12.
But most sixth forms have a period where you can switch your subjects during the first term, or drop them if you'd like (if you do 4).
im not sure if this is much help, but it might help a little bit

Hey @Blue tulip,
If you've looked at universities and are primarily interested in STEM courses, most combinations of Maths + Bio/Chem/Physics will suit you just fine and meet the majority of entry requirements. If you're interested more in the engineering side of things rather than the lab/biological side, Physics is a good choice to keep your options open.
It's going to be much easier to revise for A-Levels you actually enjoy - what are your favourite subjects at GCSE? Have you looked at the A-Level specifications in Bio/Chem/Physics to see if any topics interest you more than others? I studied Chemistry at A-Level and found it fascinating, but I know people in my class who really struggled as they had no interest in organic chemistry and that was the majority of the course at the time.
In terms of Further Maths: you could always start with four A-Levels and drop one if you feel like the workload is too much. It's not uncommon for students to start studying four and then move to three within the first year.
Best of luck with your choices,
Eve (Kingston Rep).

Hi! i'm a yr11 student about to choose a-levels and i'm stuck on a few options as someone who has no clue what field they want to go in
at first i considered on having 4 a-levels and then got talked out of it as I was told here was heaps of work (still not completely sure if i should 4 or not as my fourth will have to be further maths cos my school only offers that as fourth level option)
but for 3 a-levels i thought maths chemistry and isn’t so sure on my third which is between physics and biology- I know that I don’t want to do medicine and after browsing a few university websites like oxbridge ones I figured physics will be better in terms of engineering and etc. and further maths is good for like oxbridge and stuff but idk if I should take it or not as it has lots of work and I am quite a lazy person - maybe just locking in will do???
i personally am aiming for all 9s ( but still have a few 7 lots of 8s and few 9s but I will get thereee! It’s my mock period so I hope to improve) so entry into the subject is not an issue, i just need to choose soon and am still stuck
would love your help from anyone who did those subjects or just 4 a levels in general!!

Hi! i'm a yr11 student about to choose a-levels and i'm stuck on a few options as someone who has no clue what field they want to go in
at first i considered on having 4 a-levels and then got talked out of it as I was told here was heaps of work (still not completely sure if i should 4 or not as my fourth will have to be further maths cos my school only offers that as fourth level option)
but for 3 a-levels i thought maths chemistry and isn’t so sure on my third which is between physics and biology- I know that I don’t want to do medicine and after browsing a few university websites like oxbridge ones I figured physics will be better in terms of engineering and etc. and further maths is good for like oxbridge and stuff but idk if I should take it or not as it has lots of work and I am quite a lazy person - maybe just locking in will do???
i personally am aiming for all 9s ( but still have a few 7 lots of 8s and few 9s but I will get thereee! It’s my mock period so I hope to improve) so entry into the subject is not an issue, i just need to choose soon and am still stuck
would love your help from anyone who did those subjects or just 4 a levels in general!!

I started year 12 doing physics and biology but dropped physics at the end of the first term. I picked physics to keep my options open within natural sciences, especially stuff relating to planetary science and astronomy but i didnt find the subject very interesting in class tbh. I have absolutely loved biology and now want to do a degree in it because its such a broad and fascinating subject, you do some really cool stuff at a level like learning about insect organ systems and plant adaptations! Feel free to ask me any questions on either subject 🙂

Hello... apologies for the late response i had my mocks in the middle and in terms of the time that you did do physics - how was it overall because something which put me of it a bit was that it is one of the hardest a levels apparently. And in terms of biology what aspect of it did you like the most??

hi 🙂 i'm in year 13 and studying maths, further maths, physics and chemistry.
further maths definitely isn't needed, especially if you're not sure what field you want to go into, but if you end up deciding upon engineering or any other mathematical course, it certainly can make you more competitive. it is of course more work doing 4 subjects, but further maths certainly doesn't feel like an entire a level extra of work, since there is so much overlap with normal maths and physics. it also means that the transition to uni will be smoother if you apply to a highly mathematical subject because further maths covers the first few topics you'll do at uni - so while it's more work now, it could pay off in the long term
it's definitely worth considering which out of physics and biology you could see yourself doing in the long run; both are subjects that open a lot of doors to you! i would certainly agree with the advice to check the specifications, and also to attend any subject tasters your school offer you. i am of course biased, but i'd argue that physics would open slightly more doors if you're really undecided (you can get into a lot of careers in biosciences with just a level chemistry whereas physics is more useful for technology and engineering degrees). but, at the end of the day, the most important thing is what you will do best at and enjoy the most!
hope this helps

Hiya lovely
On the topic of doing 4 alevels people aren’t wrong when they say it’s a lot of work, but it really depends on you. Some students breeze through 4 because they genuinely enjoy the subjects, others regret it by October. I personally was able to do 4 as one of the alevels was my own first language that I'm fluent in (Polish). The main advantage is that it keeps things open a bit longer and looks nice on paper, but unis really don’t care about a fourth A-level, and even then it’s “nice to have”, not essential. The downside is the obvious — more workload, more stress, . If it’s going to affect your performance in the 3 main ones, then it’s definitely not worth it.
Since your school only lets you take Further Maths as the 4th, the question is really do you want/need FM?
If you’re considering Physics/Engineering/Maths at top unis, FM is genuinely helpful and sometimes expected. But if you’re not dead set on that, three strong A-levels > four messy ones.
Regarding the question of which would be better biology or physics, it helps to think of what each one opens up:
• Physics – great if you might be into engineering, computer science, maths-heavy degrees, architecture (helpful but not required), or physical sciences. It pairs super well with Maths and Chemistry and keeps STEM doors open.
• Biology – better for things like psychology, biomed, environmental science, zoology, nursing, physio, anything life-science related. You said you don’t want medicine, but there are sooo many non-doctor bio paths too.
If you genuinely have no idea what you want to do long-term, Maths + Chem + Physics is probably the most flexible STEM combo. You can pivot into engineering, chemistry, physics, materials science, even some economics/compsci courses. Biology is great, but if you’re unsure and don’t want medicine, physics generally keeps more doors open.
I think you will do completely fine and everything will work out, you can always try 4 and drop one if it becomes too much.
Kind regards Aneta PhD Chemistry

The workload for physics wasn’t awful, nothing in lessons was really difficult to understand (keep in mind though that i only did one term and got a 9 at gcse) but i just didnt enjoy it very much. The lessons were very much here’s a piece of theory (usually just gcse or a slight extension), here’s a closer look on the particle level or something like that, here’s the maths we can do for this content and here’s 20 practice questions that are all the same and none of them will be like that in the exam (physics a level exams are notoriously difficult!). It’s possible that it was just the teachers but i doubt it as i had 3 different teachers and one had taught me for gcse which i enjoyed and another is very easy to get along with. The test questions were either gcse level or felt impossible based on the content (so lots of practice is needed on exam tech i suppose) and i went from a 9 to a B in physics which was very low for me considering i got A*s on tests in my other subjects. Basically i just really didnt click with the subject! 2 of my closest friends also do physics and neither of them enjoy it even though they both had it as their favourite science before a level, one is working at an A* from a 9 at gcse and then other a D despite getting an 8 at GCSE. I think if you really enjoy the subject then you could do well but without being interested i wouldn’t recommend it, its one of those subjects imo where you shouldn’t just pick it because you liked it at gcse ig
I love most of biology! We get trips to natural history museums, botanical gardens and labs offered, and we do fieldwork off timetable which was a lot of fun! The practicals are actually interesting- in physics we did circuits and pulleys but in bio we do stuff like using the equipment for dna profiling and so many microscope practicals! We’ve also done practicals with live bugs and dissections which i know some people like but i dont and thankfully you can opt out if you object ethically. The topics are all super interesting too- my favourites so far have been on evolution, ecosystems, genetics and classification! Also the wider reading we get set is really cool like studies on bees and how sharks can reproduce asexually 🤯

Hi, I'm in year 12 and I picked maths, further maths, computer science and chemistry and my college also only offered further maths as a 4th A level.
In terms of picking between physics and biology, if you know you don't want to go into medicine and you enjoy both equally I'd suggest picking physics because it'll help keep slightly more options open. Physics also has overlap with maths with the mechanics section so it'd be slightly less work. If you do have a preference between the two then pick whichever one you like more. A level sciences aren't easy so you really want to pick something you're going to enjoy (or at least not hate) studying for 2 years. I didn't pick physics because I knew I wanted to do maths, further maths and compsci and I enjoyed chemistry more than physics at GCSE.
For whether to pick further maths or not, I'd say pick it only if you really enjoy maths and want to be doing more maths because you will be doing double, probably more, the amount of maths you otherwise would be doing if you only did A level maths. If the workload is too much or it's dragging other subjects down then you can always drop it. Do also check entry requirements for courses you might be interested in because some might prefer or require further maths if your school offers it. My college teaches all of A level maths in year 12 (we'll sit the exams next summer) and then we start FM content in year 13 so I can't speak on the difficulty/intensity of FM. In terms of the workload of 4 subjects, I find it currently isn't too bad but I am only 1.5 half terms into year 12 and I know it will get harder. My timetable is 6/18 maths, 5/18 frees, 3/18 chem, 3/18 compsci, 1/18 'tutor' (form but for 90mins each week) so I do need to make sure I organise my time well to fit in homework + any other studying I want to do.
If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Thank you so much for the info, And in terms of grades do you think by doing well in exam practise you could get higher grades especially for physics as it is key to master exam technique no matter if it's gcse or a level??
And what was your third subject which let you drop physics and how did you find that....and why did you chose it - like what did you consider
and how did you manage a 9 in gcse physics - I getting 8s now however I would like a 9 and any tips and stuff - I'll gladly accept
And I do feel that my dilemma between physics and biology is because of how easy and understandable I find biology and interesting and how interesting physics is and also i am considering chemical engineering and etc as a option for the future which requires physics