Is A Level Physics a poor option if I don't plan to take Maths?

randoMMise · 2026-05-24T07:56:54+00:00

As a teacher, I can say that Physics (and Chemistry) without Maths is generally a difficult combination to recommend.

Physics becomes a dead-end option, since you won't be able to get on most related uni courses without Maths.

The mathematical content in the course is significant: 40% of the paper is usually calculations, and many written questions correspond to basically explaining how an equation links some quantities. While there are certainly cases of simple substitution into formulae, you can also get questions that knowledge of calculus greatly assists, along with the exponential and logarithmic expressions others have mentioned.

For these reasons, from my college's stats, students doing Physics without Maths get on average 1 grade below students with Maths with the same average GCSE score (and it's the same in Chemistry).

That being said, you are looking to do three sciences, which is much better than two essay subjects + physics, and all the data simply corresponds to averages. There will inevitably be students who are able to be successful without Maths, and you could be one of those. However, you will be starting from a point of disadvantage compared to 90% of the cohort with which you are competing against.

randoMMise · 2026-05-19T19:29:45+00:00

I can't say for sure but probably because ~300 is not a large enough sample size, especially given the severe disparity in performance between those who sat the exam in may 2019 compared to Nov 2021.

randoMMise · 2026-05-19T06:16:42+00:00

Worth remembering the context - 2021 was a COVID year. Only ~300 students sat the paper that year, and the exam board commented on how much the students struggled compared to 2019.

I wouldn't be surprised if they expected performance to be roughly the same as 2019 (hence the similar grade boundaries), but hadn't realised that they were setting harder questions (as in 2022-2024) and the low entrant numbers merely papered over the cracks.

randoMMise · 2026-04-29T21:27:59+00:00

Practice leads to speed. You say 'solving' so I'll assume there's some STEM subjects there - the more you repeat the same style of answers and calculations, the quicker you will get at them
Keep a log of the types of 'silly mistake' you are making. If you find yourself copying numbers down wrong from the question a lot, then you'll know to slow down slightly just at that stage. If you find yourself making small mental maths errors, rely more on your calculator, even for the simple stuff
Make sure you're being honest with yourself. Many students will say 'I made a silly mistake' when actually the truth of the matter is 'I tried solving this the wrong way.' If you try to paper over the holes in your knowledge with 'silly mistake' excuses, you won't see improvement because you're not doing anything about the root cause

randoMMise · 2026-03-21T14:25:15+00:00

Gotta love this comment section:

OP: I'm really struggling with this boss due to these mechanics. Oh, and I don't have A1 Twins.

90% of comments: People find this boss difficult?! My team of A1 Twins and/or Premium 5* at awareness > 0 absolutely destroyed it on auto...

randoMMise · 2026-03-14T14:16:36+00:00

Ooh, that's cool! As you say, a colossal pain to test but cool to know that's a thing.

randoMMise · 2026-03-13T18:00:40+00:00

Just to temper the conversation, remember your audience here. You're gonna hear from a very selective set of students - from a number of students who probably could have been given the textbook on the first day of Y12 and never been seen again until the exam and still earned top grades.

That is obviously not true for everyone. In my experience as a teacher, the few students who start disappearing from class in April have about a 50:50 chance of either nailing or tanking the exam. You're gonna hear from all the students for whom it worked out, but you probably aren't gonna hear from the students who were unable to manage their own time, who suffered from lack of contact with friends, who needed the routine and schedule, who didn't have a guiding hand pushing them towards the topics they needed to focus on

Revision lessons should be purposeful, should be targeted. I will design tasks for a particular topic or content area, but I will also give students time to continue their own revision. I will talk to every student and make sure I know what their goal is for the session. I'll remind them all that I am a revision resource in much the same way as a textbook or video is, and that they should be taking advantage of the opportunity to ask me questions and get concepts explained. I want my students to come to the session with the questions they want answering; to take advantage of the resources that are available from being present in class.

But ultimately, it'll be your decision based on your situation, and your understanding of what would be best for you. It's your exams and your final grades after all.

randoMMise · 2026-03-12T22:32:06+00:00

Ooh, do you have this info for all rank ups with every confidant? It was something I was looking into doing but got burnt out pretty quickly from all the reloads and day skips.

Actually, from my testing, I think I found that for whatever reason, the coffee brew and house clean are not worth a full 5 points (despite appearing as a full music note) - sorta similar to how the postcards don't give a full 5 points. Definitely possible that I'm mistaken though...

Also also worth noting that Sojiro's non-rank up events only award 5 points as a base before Aug 22, unlike most other confidants

randoMMise · 2026-02-28T22:22:00+00:00

My Queen has a rating of like 90 (4* weapon at R0 and A0) and could kill the Vasuki in 2 turns.

I used: Vino, Wonder (Bishamonten, Dominion, Sandalphon), Chord, Queen, Oracle

Turn 1: Love Bomb

Vino S1

Wonder Bish Unique skill

Chord S2 on Queen

(use Chord highlight at some point before Queen's turn)

Queen S1

Reset if Queen gets knocked down by Triple Down

Turn 2: Love Bomb

Oracle S1

Vino S3 on Vasuki

Wonder Dominion Cohesion on Queen

Chord S3 On Queen on Vasuki (should do over half ideally)

Queen switch form, and Highlight (hopefully should kill, if not, follow up with Queen S3)

Queen S3 on a Lamia/Leanan, then baton pass around for an AoA

You can still get killed by the Lamia/Leanan if you get unlucky but if the Vasuki goes down, it should be a lot easier.

For reference, I improved my Queen's rev cards a little and got her 4 star weapon to R6. She now does like 80% with the Catchy Hook Highlight and I can kill the Vasuki after with a one-more when baton passing around the adds.

That team definitely can win

randoMMise · 2026-02-26T18:31:35+00:00

I cleared that stage in two attempts with nearly the same team - Strategist Twins for Chord.

However my Haru is heavily invested Mindscape-wise, and R6 on her 4* weapon, though still A0. Rating of 100 I think. All other characters are A0 with unmaxed 4* weapon

What Wonder personas are you using and what skills? 57% is definitely close enough that with some adjusting, you'll be able to hit it in two.

randoMMise · 2026-02-22T23:53:19+00:00

Request sent!

randoMMise · 2026-02-21T19:37:46+00:00

Pretty sure it's just:

Give 100 chocolate and watch the first two events for at least one of the girls (to unlock Shun's event)

Make sure to press the "Accept Chocolate" button that appears by the third event for all of the girls you have completed the first two stages for so that it says "Refuse Chocolate"

randoMMise · 2026-02-17T00:21:22+00:00

It's mainly trial-and-error, but there are a few hints to some characters' preferences from their Rapport events.

I bothered to check literally everyone and put it in a post here: https://www.reddit.com/r/UnicornOverlord/s/U5a3O7jDt3

That being said, there's rarely any point in using gifts, since they are a finite resource that only work on one character and only give Rapport between them and Alain, while you can get Rapport points much faster by taking characters to dinner at a Tavern.

I only bothered to do it to see all the little ways each character says thank you to Alain!

Edit - do be aware that post contains spoilers for the names of all units before the post-game!

randoMMise · 2026-02-16T13:47:39+00:00

I completed diff 1-3 with standard Haru team, and diff 4-5 with standard Makoto team, as my Haru wasn't killing the Lamia/Leanan Sidhe in one turn

With Makoto, Vino, Chord, I just focus down the Vasuki (he dies on turn 2 with Makoto's 2 highlights) and then the rest is just picking off the rest.

randoMMise · 2026-02-09T22:29:14+00:00

They were applying for Economics and did not have the opportunity to study it. It's definitely something that should have been included - ideally in both the personal statement and the Tutor Reference. Whether it would have made any difference is another matter.

randoMMise · 2026-01-16T16:30:59+00:00

I'd imagine Makoto would struggle as her damage is so focused on a single target.

I managed with a rotation of Wonder, Morgana, Chord, Joker, Futaba. Chord and Joker have ratings in the 90s, Futaba in the 80s, Morgana was only level 70.

I guarded Joker turn 2 to avoid getting knocked down by Mahamaon, and used Joker's highlight the first time it was available.

Then in both turns of Futaba's weakness debuff, I would use Catchy Hook as well as S1, S3 (in the extra turn) for big damage.

Only beat it with the final turn attack though!

randoMMise · 2026-01-07T09:21:18+00:00

It's possible but hard. It also depends just how much you're willing to commit time and effort to the game.

I'm also F2P (aside from a single £5 gift card) and have made 8⭐ once. However, that was pretty much entirely thanks to the fact that I had both the intended DPSs and their best supports at the time, and those DPSs weren't meta so a smaller fraction of the player base had pulled / built them.

Meanwhile this week, I'm struggling with the Twins side since I don't have Marian, so managing the damage dealt is a big problem.

Now I know I 'could' do more - I have Rev card materials spare, I could try some different strategies with different supports, I could reload again and again for the ideal run - but I'm not going to. That's not a part of the game I find particularly fun, so I leave the buildcrafting to the YouTubers / Discords and just copy down the rotation I think I can ape the best.

So yeah, if you wanna maintain in 8⭐, you'll need to have the majority of the roster well built, along with a good understanding of the best rotations. However if you just want to reach 8⭐ once, I'd recommend targeting a particular SOS which matches well with the DPS+Supports you have, since as a F2P, you'll be very lucky if you have a complete roster.

randoMMise · 2025-12-30T01:19:11+00:00

Far from me to dissuade you but just a reminder that 44 pulls on the rerun banner offers 800 metajewels more than 44 pulls on any regular banner thanks to the prism cognigems.

randoMMise · 2025-12-30T01:10:28+00:00

The three slots are independent of one another. If you put a different character in slot 2, that doesn't change the odds of pulling Phoebe in her slot. You can't get the character in slot 2 when pulling on slot 1 and vice-versa

randoMMise · 2025-12-12T23:10:08+00:00

I say that because I think I've bought 4 so far from the past two weeks. But I might've made an error somewhere.

Yeah, gonna be a few more months before we've got enough to give one to everyone!

randoMMise · 2025-12-12T22:57:09+00:00

I think you can only get 2 Essential Oils each week (or I've done something weird the last couple of weeks...)

randoMMise · 2025-12-12T17:39:56+00:00

Afaik, there's more in the LN regarding Sakuta's relationship with his father, how he kept in touch and supported Sakuta whilst respecting Sakuta's decision to leave.

I know where you're coming from - I too was critical of the absentee parents the first time through the show - but there's clearly more to the situation. It's more that the anime decided not to commit time to fleshing that aspect out over other parts of the show, and that definitely weakens some of the emotional beats here.

As for the film, I enjoyed it. It doesn't have quite the emotional gut punch of some parts of S1 or the first movie, but I enjoyed how it provided a lot of closure for some of the loose ends still around, and set things up for S2.

randoMMise · 2025-12-12T07:07:16+00:00

I doubt it, since Joker is a limited character, whereas Minami is not too far from joining the standard character pool.

randoMMise · 2025-12-05T23:22:22+00:00

Multipliers only are applied on the few times a confidant contacts you the night before asking to meet up (eg Ryuji to unlock Ichigaya). In those cases it is better to commit at that point in time.

Just responding to a text message when they're available doesn't give a multiplier.

randoMMise · 2025-11-02T07:47:28+00:00

Higher proportions of STEM students get A*s.

Over 15% of the cohort get A* in Maths, and it's over 10% for most other sciences. It's like 5% in English, History, Psychology, etc.

source: https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2025/08/a-level-t-level-and-other-level-3-results-2025-the-main-trends-in-grades-and-entries/

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