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Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Original poster

A level choices: too soft?

42 replies

ALevelDilemna · 26/10/2019 10:25

Have posted in Higher ed too but hoping to maximise footfall!

My dd is in Y11 and is making her choices for sixth form. We seem to be going round in circles discussing the best options for her but she has finally plumped for:

English Lit
Textiles
RE / Philosophy and Ethics
French (reserve choice)

Is this combination OK? She is bright and aiming for unis such as Bristol / Manchester / Bath / Leeds etc...

OP posts:
Original poster
ALevelDilemna · 26/10/2019 12:55

@mumsneedwine Grin good one.
Did she only do three? Textiles wasn’t her fourth?

OP posts:
mumsneedwine · 26/10/2019 12:27

My DD has a friend studying medicine who has textiles A level with chemistry and biology. She got 4 offers. Must help with stitching

grafittiartist · 26/10/2019 12:00

Textiles is the best subject of all- so she should definitely take that one!!

Original poster
ALevelDilemna · 26/10/2019 11:55

@bionicnemonic yes she could! She’s interested in politics so definitely food for thought. Thanks.

@Trewser English lit and Lang are her strongest subjects and she’s predicted 8s in RE and Textiles. So in all a good strong foundation for her.

@BuffaloCauliflower - that’s good 👍

OP posts:
BuffaloCauliflower · 26/10/2019 11:27

Philosophy and ethics definitely not a soft option. It involves forming real critical thinking skills and how to present an argument well, it’s harder than history

Trewser · 26/10/2019 10:55

I think if shes thinking of english she needs an A in english and then two others that she thinks she can get As or Bs in.

bionicnemonic · 26/10/2019 10:55

Maybe encourage her to look at her textiles as a conduit for political ideas...look at all sorts of political artists for inspiration to tie in with the ethics. She could have a very interesting time!

Original poster
ALevelDilemna · 26/10/2019 10:47

A look, not a lol! Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
ALevelDilemna · 26/10/2019 10:47

Thanks @YourOpinionIsNoted. I’ve had a lol at a few courses such as Eng Lit but couldn’t really find much evidence of what was required (apart from, of course, English Lit!)

OP posts:
Original poster
ALevelDilemna · 26/10/2019 10:46

@Trewser thank you - that is very, very helpful!

OP posts:
YourOpinionIsNoted · 26/10/2019 10:45

Have you had a play around on the ucas website? Might be worth looking at the unis & courses that appeal and seeing what they list as entry requirements. Unis scrapped the facilitating subjects thing a couple of years back, I think, which is good.

Trewser · 26/10/2019 10:44

My dd was thinking of the exact same combo! I can say she emailed exeter and asked if she'd be accepted for english lit with english lit, rs, and textiles. They said yes. They want an A in english lit and top grades in two others.

Since then she decided against textiles as too much work! And took classical civ instead which shes enjoying. Funnily enough her least fave is English! So she's now thinking of philosophy at uni.

Original poster
ALevelDilemna · 26/10/2019 10:41

@BuffaloCauliflower that’s good to hear. I’m just concerned that textiles might weaken her position.

Is philosophy and ethics a soft option? She was going to do history originally but has chosen that instead.

Sorry I probably sound really clueless 😬

OP posts:
Original poster
ALevelDilemna · 26/10/2019 10:39

Thanks for your replies. Dd doesn’t know yet. She might want to study textiles, so of course if she takes it at A level that’s her best option. However if she decides it’s not what she wants then I’m concerned that she’ll have done all that work to the possible detriment of other subjects for a ‘soft’ option that means nothing.
@YourOpinionIsNoted is spot on. And yes I think French would be the ‘better’ option in terms of broadening choices however she’s stronger at (and more passionate for) Textiles.

OP posts:
BuffaloCauliflower · 26/10/2019 10:35

What does she want to study at uni? If it’s English, Philosophy, Theology etc, yes they’re fine.

YourOpinionIsNoted · 26/10/2019 10:33

I'd be wary of textiles because it will likely have an enormous coursework load that will be very time consuming, and take time away from her other subjects, while potentially not being seen as worth as much as the other a levels. Eng Lit, RE/philosophy and ethics, French would be a very good combination though.

MyNewBearTotoro · 26/10/2019 10:29

Well it depends on what it is she actually wanting to study at university? If she wants to study a similar subject such as English, philosophy, theology etc then they will be fine, if she wants to study something like engineering or medicine obviously the lack of sciences will be a problem.

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