Art History A Level

[DolorestheNewt]

DS has to hand in A level choices next week. He wants to do Maths and Art for A level, and my rough guess is that he'll come out with either BB or B (Maths) A (Art). For his third choice, he would like something for which he stands a chance of getting an A, but he's a little unsure about getting it at the expense of doing two years of a subject he's not enjoying.

He's considering English Literature or Art History. Art History is sixth-form-only so he hasn't done it before, but he thinks he'd enjoy it. His Eng. Lit. mock was a strong highlight in a very, very spiky set of good and bad, but because he isn't mad about it, he's leaning towards Art History.

As well as thinking "is there a chance of an A in there", with Maths, Art, and Art History, my other concern is two facilitating subjects. My understanding is that he is well advised to have two facilitating subjects if he wants to keep options as open as possible, and that Art History is not a facilitating subject unless you're doing Art History. Happy to hear that I'm perhaps being too rigid here. Is this more for applications to prestigious universities (which he may well not get the grades for anyway)? Or is it pretty universal?

As things stand, he wants to go to art school, so I imagine AH wouldn't be a problem, but other kids I've known have completely fallen out of love with art during A level and done humanities degrees instead. Were he to do likewise, am I right in assuming he'd be better off with English Literature for offers/choices? How is Art History A Level viewed if you don't want to do Art History at university? (And if you don't go to art school.)

Thanks so much for any useful thoughts/experience/insights!