Best A Levels? I work with schools and my family is full of Engineers so here it goes!
There is a difference in what you need at each stage from the first glance at your Application in an Engineering Admissions Team to you proudly picking up your Master Degree with Distinction after four years of study. The most important consideration is what aptitudes, knowledge and skills you will need to actually do the academic and practical work well and be a successful student, whether it’s for a BEng in Ship Science at Southampton or a combined BA and MEng in Information Engineering at Cambridge.
The Admissions people will look at your GCSEs - your ‘top eight’ – and your prospective A Level s in the context of your school, your school’s performance, your family background and your wider CV. Generally, the more Maths and the higher the level of Maths, the better. Physics is important, too. The more you offer from these three subjects, the more comfortable the Admissions people will feel. But do not rule out Design Tech or Chemistry, either. Chemistry is obviously vital for Chemical Engineering. ….So, three of Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Design Tech are fine.
Clearly, some courses at some universities are especially competitive. For example, Engineering at Cambridge is particularly tough because of it’s Cambridge, because the teaching term is only 8 weeks (10 or 11 weeks is normal), the volume of work is vast and the depth and breadth per module are immense and they go at a fast pace. Oh, and they recruit on the basis that you will last the pace for 4 years, right the way to your Masters degree. … Yet the 3 A Levels of Maths, Further Maths and Physics are fine if, overall, you show enough potential, including contributions from your written Admissions Assessments and tutorial-style Interviews. Some Cambridge colleges will offer AAA while others will offer AAA plus STEP Maths. You can get in with 3 A Levels and be turned out with 5, all 5 at A* grades.
But this is not for everyone and there are fine Engineering courses at many universities.
It really is about the individual’s esoteric overall strength in the context of their circumstances and, of course, the competition that year. For example, your Year 12 Maths could be pants but you just won a National Engineering Competition; that gets you in the frame just about everywhere and the university’s final decision may rest on how they feel they will support you if your Maths really is a bit weak or if they sense that you can do much better but your attitude is a bit casual. In real life, rockets land on the moon safely and come back in one piece and bridges remain standing in extreme weather because of sound higher level Maths; fortunately, talented, creative professional Design Engineers have equally talented Engineering Mathematicians working with them in the same large team.