The Student Room Group

Geography, Maths, & Economics A level combo?

I did fairly well for IGCSE. And I’m trying to make up my mind on which subject combo would be best to study for A levels (thats also manageable for me). I loved Geography IGCSE (got 79%), and did maths Extended IGCSE (got 65%), I did struggle a little bit with understanding maths. Economics would be a new subject to me, but I find it interesting as it’s a business related subject which I’m into.

However I’m afraid this combo would be too high stress to manage. And the only other subject I can think of that would be somehow still relevant to this combo is sociology, though I can’t say I’d be too thrilled with all the essays or subject, some people say it’s boring.

Should I just stick with this combo with 2 facilitating and Econ, or replace 1 for a supposedly easier subject that is sociology. And is it all really that overwhelming as they say?

Reply 1

Do you have an idea of what you would like to do after A-Level?

Reply 2

Original post
by jasmineva3128
Do you have an idea of what you would like to do after A-Level?


I’d like to pursue a commerce related pathway, though I haven’t made my final decision on what exact course I’d like to take in university. As it’s been difficult to learn information about the different courses I’ll have access to once I finish A levels in my country, it seems like I’ll only find out once I actually get to the school I’ll be doing A levels at. Which is why I’m worried about not making the right decision subject wise now. I don’t want to limit myself and make choices I might regret in a year or 2

Reply 3

Original post
by Rielle.19r
I’d like to pursue a commerce related pathway, though I haven’t made my final decision on what exact course I’d like to take in university. As it’s been difficult to learn information about the different courses I’ll have access to once I finish A levels in my country, it seems like I’ll only find out once I actually get to the school I’ll be doing A levels at. Which is why I’m worried about not making the right decision subject wise now. I don’t want to limit myself and make choices I might regret in a year or 2


For a commerce-related pathway, this subject combination sounds good. If you can, I recommend checking the entry requirements of courses you may be interested in online. This is because I may recommend picking a subject other than maths if you struggle with it, but depending on what subject you apply to study at university, you may need A-Level maths. I hope this helps. :smile:

Reply 4

Original post
by jasmineva3128
For a commerce-related pathway, this subject combination sounds good. If you can, I recommend checking the entry requirements of courses you may be interested in online. This is because I may recommend picking a subject other than maths if you struggle with it, but depending on what subject you apply to study at university, you may need A-Level maths. I hope this helps. :smile:


Thank youu. I’ll try and see around about the entry requirements of courses, and apart from that..would this combo feel like too much pressure? I’ve asked around and people say maths is hard, some say it’s essential for doing economics and such. I’m worried I’ll get burn out from this. Not to mention Ive read that geography is content heavy with a lot of in depth knowledge case studies I’ll have to memorize. Is this combo common? Do students usually pass?

Reply 5

Original post
by Rielle.19r
Thank youu. I’ll try and see around about the entry requirements of courses, and apart from that..would this combo feel like too much pressure? I’ve asked around and people say maths is hard, some say it’s essential for doing economics and such. I’m worried I’ll get burn out from this. Not to mention Ive read that geography is content heavy with a lot of in depth knowledge case studies I’ll have to memorize. Is this combo common? Do students usually pass?


I think whether it would be too much pressure or too difficult depends on the individual. Plenty of students pass these A-Level subjects, but each student is different, so I can't say how you would find these subjects.

Reply 6

Original post
by Rielle.19r
I did fairly well for IGCSE. And I’m trying to make up my mind on which subject combo would be best to study for A levels (thats also manageable for me). I loved Geography IGCSE (got 79%), and did maths Extended IGCSE (got 65%), I did struggle a little bit with understanding maths. Economics would be a new subject to me, but I find it interesting as it’s a business related subject which I’m into.
However I’m afraid this combo would be too high stress to manage. And the only other subject I can think of that would be somehow still relevant to this combo is sociology, though I can’t say I’d be too thrilled with all the essays or subject, some people say it’s boring.
Should I just stick with this combo with 2 facilitating and Econ, or replace 1 for a supposedly easier subject that is sociology. And is it all really that overwhelming as they say?

yeah that seems like a really good combination for commerce, and geo and econ are way more useful than sociology. If you really want to do commerce then you will have motivation to push yourself through geo and econ, so good luck!

Reply 7

Original post
by Thala10
yeah that seems like a really good combination for commerce, and geo and econ are way more useful than sociology. If you really want to do commerce then you will have motivation to push yourself through geo and econ, so good luck!


Thank you for this

Reply 8

Original post
by Rielle.19r
I did fairly well for IGCSE. And I’m trying to make up my mind on which subject combo would be best to study for A levels (thats also manageable for me). I loved Geography IGCSE (got 79%), and did maths Extended IGCSE (got 65%), I did struggle a little bit with understanding maths. Economics would be a new subject to me, but I find it interesting as it’s a business related subject which I’m into.
However I’m afraid this combo would be too high stress to manage. And the only other subject I can think of that would be somehow still relevant to this combo is sociology, though I can’t say I’d be too thrilled with all the essays or subject, some people say it’s boring.
Should I just stick with this combo with 2 facilitating and Econ, or replace 1 for a supposedly easier subject that is sociology. And is it all really that overwhelming as they say?

Hi there! I'm on my last year (Y13) studying this exact combination Geography, Maths and Econ.
I also did IGCSE Cambridge Maths (86%) and Geography (93%);
I'd say I struggled a ton in maths right now, I'm getting C's and B's all the time, it's extremely difficult and requires a lot of flexible thinking. And I practice a lot so I'm slowly going to build up my skill before the real thing. (And also I'm quite stupid and stubborn - I refuse to learn and only memorise so it's biting me back rn).

Econ was an impulse choice I picked halfway through Y1, it's so fun and has some perfect overlap with Geography, the subject content can be exchangeable in some topics and makes the essay answers more all rounded as you generally know more from both subjects.

Geography is literally so peak I can't even describe it. It's awesome as an A level subject. So fun.

And since you stated you wanted to do commerce-related subjects, maths is kind of a must because it equips you with the necessary statistical skills. Overall it's a pretty epic combo, since you get one less paper due to the Geography Coursework, and definitely sets you up quite nicely for the future, with technically a science subject (math) and two humanities.

If you're a fast writer I'll definitely recommend this combination.
Happy selecting. I got so happy when I saw this was a recent post.

Quick Reply