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Further education

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Original poster

A Level choices - Maths plus ? ? Advice appreciated

60 replies

Madeinessex · 11/07/2023 14:07

Sorry it’s long as trying to get relevant info in the opening post.

DS is struggling to decide on his A levels, so we are working backwards from what degree he may want to study. His favourite and best subject is maths. He won’t change that as an A level. He works hard and gets good grades.

Post 6th form he has his eye on
finance/economics/business/actuarial degrees type degree’s. But that could change!

Which of these options would give him a better chance of studying the above. He would prefer RG uni, but I think that’s just because it’s talked about a lot amongst his friends, that idea may change once he visits different unis.

Unfortunately physics and economics can’t be taken together as they are a timetable clash. Maths, Physics and Economics would be his ideal mix, but it can’t be done.
Also, 6th form will only allow further maths as a 4th A level and not as part of the choice of 3.

Choices would be:

1- Maths, Economics and Biology
2-Maths, Physics and Business Studies

He enjoys all equally, so he is not concerned about that, he just wants to pick the ones that give him the best chance.

He will also do an EPQ.

He seems to think that B Studies is seen as a lesser A level, I’m not sure if that is true, however it doesn’t appear on RG preferred subjects. Would taking this be an issue?

He seems to think choice 1 will give him a better chance of getting on the degree he wants as they are preferred subjects. He thinks choice 2 will be an easier route as Bus Studies is a soft A level and will be easier to score a good grade, but may not get him on the degree course. (I’ve pointed out the jump from GCSE to A level is huge and there isn’t an ‘easy’ A level otherwise everyone would do it)

I think choice 1 looks a bit random as biology doesn’t ‘fit’ with the other 2 subjects, but it on the preferred subject lists. He’d have no use for the biology after 6th form.
I suggested choice 2 as it seems a sensible compromise with BS for Economics and both look useful after 6th form with his intended degree choice, but he keeps saying B Stud isn’t on the preferred list.

The only other 6th form in striking distance has gone into special measures, kids and teachers are leaving in droves, so it’s not an option.

Does anyone have any experience they can share on this. Or any advice. Or suggestions.

Thanks for making to the end of this post!

OP posts:
clary · 12/07/2023 13:27

hahahah I see @PerpetualOptimist made the same point as me in rather fewer words lol. #always

Agree btw EPQ is a rather pointless thing sorry, unless of course it sparks and interest which you can talk about in the PS. Or you get an A and a lower offer. Maybe.

BabylonianChild · 12/07/2023 13:27

Is there a statistics A-Level he can do? It really depends what A-levels the 6th form offer.

Taking Durham Accounting and Finance as an example, they require AAB and only specify Maths.

For the Durham Economics degree they require A*AA and say “Applicants are encouraged to avoid studying both Economics and Business Studies.”

The more important thing will be doing a 3rd A-Level subject he is interested in and will get a good grade in. That could be music, or psychology or anything.

So I say Maths, Economics & whatever he is best at, plus FM if he can handle it.

clary · 12/07/2023 13:25

He will definitely do something with a Maths element at uni.

Then he should take FM for sure.

With Maths and FM all maths-type courses will be accessible. By which I mean - maths (FM basically essential esp for top-rated unis); economics (econ A level not needed) Com sci (CS a level ditto), some engineering by agree physics would help there.

Never heard of unis not counting business and economics as separate A levels! You could say that about maths and FM (and I think for some courses such as medicine, some unis are not keen) - for most maths-related degrees FM is deffo a separate A level. Ask anyone who has done it.

Also - if you love maths, why wouldn;t you do it? DD would have loved to do Further English Lit* rather than French A level.

If you are worried about rigour or facilitating subjects then how about maths, FM, physics, business? or maths, FM, physics, biology?

Just to reiterate - if he is at all interested in a maths-related degree, esp at LSE, cambridge etc, then FM is muh more important than worrying about how business is viewed. If he has Maths, FM, physics then he is good to go anyway.

If he finds he hates FM then he can drop it and reconsider the maths degree idea as well.

*caveat; this does not exist

PerpetualOptimist · 12/07/2023 13:25

Hi OP, if he is aiming high in terms of maths or maths-adjacent degrees and his school offers FM, then he most likely needs to take FM, otherwise its absence counts against him at the likes of Cambridge and LSE - probably to a much greater extent than whether he chose Business A level as part of his mix. Cambridge's The Subject Matters pdf makes the point that FM is very good preparation for maths and similar at uni.

Plasmodesmata · 12/07/2023 13:17

I'd suggest FM, if he can. If it's the fourth he can always drop if it's too much. I remain unconvinced on the usefulness of EPQs. Maths, FM, one out of Business / economics and probably Physics over bio as all that maths makes Physics easy (according to my son who has just finished A levels).

Original poster
Madeinessex · 12/07/2023 13:11

@orchardsquare that is a good point about physics. He did think about CS, but he isn’t as strong in that as he is other subjects

OP posts:
Original poster
Madeinessex · 12/07/2023 13:09

He will definitely do something with a Maths element at uni.

@clary the school have advised that BS and Economics are seen as overlapping subjects and therefore can cause issues with uni applications as they may not be counted as separate A levels, and this combo is best avoided. But, I see what you are saying

@PerpetualOptimist there is an option to take FM, and he would be happy to take it, but is conflicted with regards to whether 4 is a good idea. On the other hand if he dropped the EPQ that would be more do able.
Maths is his best subject. He got 9s in his mocks and it’s a subject that seems to click for him.

It was LSE and Cambridge that he was looking at with regard to universities, and he was v focused on the preferred subjects list. Obviously these very over subscribed universities and he would have to be head and shoulders above others to get in. He has also been looking at Queen Mary uni too. He is setting his sights high!

“We just need to be careful not to assume there is some kind of overarching 'list' out there”. I think we/he has fallen down that rabbit hole.

Do you think/know if he took 4 A Levels - maths, FM, Physics and BS it would effectively discount a LSE or Cambridge application due to the BS?

This is a whole new world to me as I didn’t go to university.

OP posts:
orchardsquare · 12/07/2023 12:26

I would do the first option as I think it does look a bit better for the degree he wants to do. If there's a possibility he might want to do engineering, I'd do the physics option.
My dd was the same as your son, although less idea what she wanted to do afterwards, and chose maths, further maths, computer science and a social science which she has now dropped. Now she has decided she wants to do engineering, she regrets not taking physics as it cuts off quite a lot of engineering degrees.

clary · 11/07/2023 21:28

I would suggest maths, FM, physics and xxx - biology, business?

Or maths, FM, economics, business. Fm is a good idea if he wants to do maths or econ at uni.

PerpetualOptimist · 11/07/2023 21:19

Hi OP, will you DS be taking Further Maths as a fourth A level? If so, taking an EPQ in addition may be a very heavy workload and compromise his grades in one or more of his A levels. If he has the capacity to do more than three A levels, is likely to do well at Maths A level (eg 8 or 9 at GCSE) and is interested in maths or maths-related degrees, then Further Maths would be the priority.

You say Business Studies is not 'on the preferred list'; what does this relate to? The LSE has lists of preferred and non-preferred subjects and Business is on the non-preferred list; Cambridge sees Business as more vocational in nature and so less suitable (The Subject Matters pdf). However, I am not aware of other unis steering applicants away from Business A level in this way. We just need to be careful not to assume there is some kind of overarching 'list' out there.