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What subjects should I pick at a- level if I'm wanting to study biology at uni?

I know that I would need to obviously do biology, and probably chemistry, but for my third subject I'm not sure on what to pick. I would love to do something I enjoy like psychology which I found very interesting at GCSE level, but I'm guessing it's better to do physics or maths as a third option as I don't think I'll go into anything psychology related in the future. I just don't really enjoy maths or physics, if I had to choose one it would be physics but at one of the sixth forms I'm looking in to you need to do maths alongside it, and I would rather not do 4 a- levels!

Part of me wants to just do biology, chemistry and psychology but I know that's not the best thing I could do, and doing either physics or maths keeps my options open a lot more as most unis look for an A in biology and another science and then a B in another subject. I'm just curious to know what other people think, and it also might make me more willing to go for one of those other subjects if people truly think it's important!

Reply 1

Original post
by KittyCat_22
I know that I would need to obviously do biology, and probably chemistry, but for my third subject I'm not sure on what to pick. I would love to do something I enjoy like psychology which I found very interesting at GCSE level, but I'm guessing it's better to do physics or maths as a third option as I don't think I'll go into anything psychology related in the future. I just don't really enjoy maths or physics, if I had to choose one it would be physics but at one of the sixth forms I'm looking in to you need to do maths alongside it, and I would rather not do 4 a- levels!
Part of me wants to just do biology, chemistry and psychology but I know that's not the best thing I could do, and doing either physics or maths keeps my options open a lot more as most unis look for an A in biology and another science and then a B in another subject. I'm just curious to know what other people think, and it also might make me more willing to go for one of those other subjects if people truly think it's important!


Hi! For most unis your third subject doesn’t matter. For example I’m doing biochemistry at a RG uni and I did bio, chem and Spanish A Levels. I also know someone doing a biology degree who did Biology, psychology and politics. Just do what you enjoy and what you are good at!
The poster above is right, your combination is perfectly fine!

Taking psychology would be beneficial for the biology A-level as well, as there are some overlaps within the course. (E.g. statistical tests and neuronal communication)

It it also important to keep the maths A-level in mind, as this is a subject which acts as a key (may be preferred by some universities, or even compulsory) to many STEM-related courses for an undergraduate degree.
Original post
by KittyCat_22
I know that I would need to obviously do biology, and probably chemistry, but for my third subject I'm not sure on what to pick. I would love to do something I enjoy like psychology which I found very interesting at GCSE level, but I'm guessing it's better to do physics or maths as a third option as I don't think I'll go into anything psychology related in the future. I just don't really enjoy maths or physics, if I had to choose one it would be physics but at one of the sixth forms I'm looking in to you need to do maths alongside it, and I would rather not do 4 a- levels!
Part of me wants to just do biology, chemistry and psychology but I know that's not the best thing I could do, and doing either physics or maths keeps my options open a lot more as most unis look for an A in biology and another science and then a B in another subject. I'm just curious to know what other people think, and it also might make me more willing to go for one of those other subjects if people truly think it's important!

Reply 3

Original post
by LittleFire10
Hi! For most unis your third subject doesn’t matter. For example I’m doing biochemistry at a RG uni and I did bio, chem and Spanish A Levels. I also know someone doing a biology degree who did Biology, psychology and politics. Just do what you enjoy and what you are good at!

Oh okay thank you! That is so good to hear, I think I'll definitely be considering doing psychology as my third subject now!

Reply 4

Original post
by jelllyfiiish
The poster above is right, your combination is perfectly fine!
Taking psychology would be beneficial for the biology A-level as well, as there are some overlaps within the course. (E.g. statistical tests and neuronal communication)
It it also important to keep the maths A-level in mind, as this is a subject which acts as a key (may be preferred by some universities, or even compulsory) to many STEM-related courses for an undergraduate degree.

Okay that's good, I wondered if it would help as well! And yes I will still consider maths because I know how useful it is!

Reply 5

Original post
by KittyCat_22
I know that I would need to obviously do biology, and probably chemistry, but for my third subject I'm not sure on what to pick. I would love to do something I enjoy like psychology which I found very interesting at GCSE level, but I'm guessing it's better to do physics or maths as a third option as I don't think I'll go into anything psychology related in the future. I just don't really enjoy maths or physics, if I had to choose one it would be physics but at one of the sixth forms I'm looking in to you need to do maths alongside it, and I would rather not do 4 a- levels!
Part of me wants to just do biology, chemistry and psychology but I know that's not the best thing I could do, and doing either physics or maths keeps my options open a lot more as most unis look for an A in biology and another science and then a B in another subject. I'm just curious to know what other people think, and it also might make me more willing to go for one of those other subjects if people truly think it's important!

You dont need maths or physics to do bio at uni, biology and chemistry will be all thats ever asked for by unis (and many would accept bio and psych without chem for that matter!). Dont take maths or physics if you dont like them because they are very tricky and you dont need them or enjoy them so its not worth it. Psych goes really well with bio, especially when you learn about the nervous system in bio cos it links to psych content. You dont have to choose all your a levels based on career aspirations, you can take a subject cos youre interested in it 🙂 Im going to apply for bio and am doing bio, maths and env sci atm so lmk if you have any questions on any of those
Original post
by KittyCat_22
I know that I would need to obviously do biology, and probably chemistry, but for my third subject I'm not sure on what to pick. I would love to do something I enjoy like psychology which I found very interesting at GCSE level, but I'm guessing it's better to do physics or maths as a third option as I don't think I'll go into anything psychology related in the future. I just don't really enjoy maths or physics, if I had to choose one it would be physics but at one of the sixth forms I'm looking in to you need to do maths alongside it, and I would rather not do 4 a- levels!
Part of me wants to just do biology, chemistry and psychology but I know that's not the best thing I could do, and doing either physics or maths keeps my options open a lot more as most unis look for an A in biology and another science and then a B in another subject. I'm just curious to know what other people think, and it also might make me more willing to go for one of those other subjects if people truly think it's important!

Double check the course on unis websites to see what they say (subject wise).
Biology, chemistry and psychology should be ok. But just double check on uni's websites to be 100% sure.
Original post
by KittyCat_22
I know that I would need to obviously do biology, and probably chemistry, but for my third subject I'm not sure on what to pick. I would love to do something I enjoy like psychology which I found very interesting at GCSE level, but I'm guessing it's better to do physics or maths as a third option as I don't think I'll go into anything psychology related in the future. I just don't really enjoy maths or physics, if I had to choose one it would be physics but at one of the sixth forms I'm looking in to you need to do maths alongside it, and I would rather not do 4 a- levels!
Part of me wants to just do biology, chemistry and psychology but I know that's not the best thing I could do, and doing either physics or maths keeps my options open a lot more as most unis look for an A in biology and another science and then a B in another subject. I'm just curious to know what other people think, and it also might make me more willing to go for one of those other subjects if people truly think it's important!

Hi OP!

As other commentors have said your current combination looks great! If you wanted to be 110% sure it would be good to make a list of all the universities you're interested in and having a look at their requirements. I would caution against doing 4 alevels especially if you aren't passionate about them as they are intense subjects. The standard university offer is based on 3 a levels and you wouldn't want to stretch yourself too thin. I did Bio, Chem, Maths and Further maths for 3 weeks before I dropped FM as the workload was insane😅

Best Wishes,
Jade
Lancaster Student Ambassador
3rd Year Medicine and Surgery

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