Page 2 | Which 3rd a level to go with RS and German.

TiredTiredVeryTired · 2025-02-23T19:32:04+00:00

Decision made to take religious studies and German. What would be a good 3rd? Current thoughts/conversations have included, in no particular order - History - Physics - DT product design - Politics - Geography - Environmental science - Electronics And with no particular career in mind.

converseandjeans · 24/02/2025 18:52

@Piggywaspushed

I should know that! But that's good news for creative subjects.

OP I found this website which looks useful

www.informedchoices.ac.uk/

You could also get him to look at Unifrog - if his school has it.

clary · 24/02/2025 18:43

Thats amazing news aboit German A level, 30 candidates wow. Is this a very big sixth form @TiredTiredVeryTired ?

I also don't know why some pp are saying don't do German, it's a great subject. Can't be a bad thing to have an MFL A level.

Agree with @Piggywaspushed facilitating subjects no longer exist and RS is a perfectly strong choice. Given that your dc (interesting how so many assume they are a ds) does geography GCSE I think that's a good A level choice.

Piggywaspushed · 24/02/2025 18:33

Geography seems best shout to me, too.

averythinline · 24/02/2025 18:33

DC did RS a level really interesting.. he also did govt+politics and sociology as geography didn't fit....

Govt +politics also interesting but another essay based as is history.

.. Dc didn't like the history curriculum as much...

Would highly recommend Geography it leads to a wide range of degrees.. and is not all essays

Floralnomad · 24/02/2025 17:59

History would be the natural choice . Many decades ago my sister did RS , history and English lit . She then did a combined history / theology degree and ended up being an accountant . Has your child really no idea what the6 want to do post uni as it would help to focus it a bit .

pizzaHeart · 24/02/2025 17:56

user2848502016 · 24/02/2025 15:15

Based on this I would probably go with geography then. If he's doing well in it he's likely to continue doing well and he could end up going in that direction at uni.
RS and geography are social sciences so make sense as a combination.
There will be a lot of essay writing for history and politics (as well as RS) which might not be the best idea because from his predicted grades English is maybe not his strongest subject. Doing 2 essay heavy subjects might be too much.

Show quote history

I agree with this^
I also think you need to think what their strengths and weaknesses for each subject because it doesn’t look like language side is strongly prevail and it needs to be for history imo.
Physics without maths is useless.

Piggywaspushed · 24/02/2025 17:54

Facilitating subjects don't exist any more. RS is a fully creditable subject with plenty of rigour.

converseandjeans · 24/02/2025 17:51

@TiredTiredVeryTired

Great news German is doing well. I don’t know why people are trying to say not to continue. It covers history, politics, literature at A-Level & is a facilitating subject. It can help develop lots of different skills.

With RS I think either history to complement it. Or geography to keep options more open. Maybe something environmental in the future?

They don't need Law A-level to study it later on. These are the A-levels considered as facilitating & RS isn't on the list but MFL/geography/history are on there. So perhaps get him to pick one other from this list:

&bull;	Biology.
&bull;	Chemistry.
&bull;	English Literature.
&bull;	Geography.
&bull;	History.
&bull;	Maths and Further Maths.
&bull;	Modern and Classical Languages.
&bull;	Physics.

WhereAreWeNow · 24/02/2025 17:32

It really depends on what the child is most passionate about and how good the teaching is at the school. Personally I think History would be a good choice with a language and RS but only if that's a subject the kid really enjoys.

Original poster

TiredTiredVeryTired · 24/02/2025 17:32

@ChonkyRabbit how would that work? I thought the rules were they they had to stay in education or training until 18? So 6th form, college or apprenticeships? Please do correct me if I’ve interpreted this incorrectly.

OP posts:

Original poster

TiredTiredVeryTired · 24/02/2025 17:30

Some good points made especially around the essay heaviness of history and politics combined with RS. But we shall have a good look later and I will update. Do keep the suggestions and thoughts coming though, they are very helpful.

To clear up the German questions. Yes, it is 100% viable, potentially the most viable option. Every year the school has over 100 entries at GCSE and around 30 at A level. For the current year 12 they are running 2 A level German classes because they have over 40 taking the subject. As a side note, French has lower take up at GCSE and it wasn’t offered last year at A level although will be offered this year if there are enough interested (by enough the school say more than 10).

@clary history was considered at GCSE and was one of the preferred choices with electronics being the reserve but when it came down to it history managed to clash with German, geography and RS. At the time, DC thought geography would be better because they were already doing an essay subject (RS) and we knew history could be picked up at A level without doing it at GCSE. (The same with RS and geography, but it was history that lost out).

OP posts:

ChonkyRabbit · 24/02/2025 17:21

Not what you asked but I would be advising them to take a couple of years out of education and get some work and volunteering experience so they can figure out what they want to do. I figured out what career I wanted while doing general admin, by which time I'd wasted years of my life on a completely useless degree that I was paying off until I was 30. I then had to do my next degrees while working full time.

Snowmanscarf · 24/02/2025 17:17

History was my first thought before I saw your list.

From your list, I’d add geography or politics. I think physics, dt or electronics would be a bit random with the other two.

mathanxiety · 24/02/2025 17:16

TiredTiredVeryTired · 24/02/2025 09:51

I was under the impression that RS (or RE) was quite highly thought of with it being, at A level, mainly philosophy and ethics. And that’s is also how the syllabus reads to me. I know someone who went to Oxford to do PPE and he had RS so I’m if the opinion that it is definitely not a subject to be completely dismissed as ‘poor’ or ‘waste of time’.

German seems to (currently) be non-negotiable. (Also, all our schools, except one, offer German at GCSE and all the sixth forms offer it at A level. How strange that some areas aren’t offering it).

Projected grades; (for some reason the school don’t use predicted, but basically the same thing) English Lang 6, English lit 5 (maybe a 6), maths 6, sciences 6-6 (maybe higher), German 7/8 (borderline), geography 7, RS 7, electronics 7.

Sixth form require a 6 in German GCSE and there are no form requirements for RS but if taken at GCSE then they want a 6.
They also seem to want a 6 for all the subjects I originally mentioned in either the same subject or related subjects if it hasn’t been taken at GCSE.

Some suggestions alternative subjects to have a think about, thanks for those, (although history of art is defiantly not offered). We can dig into the curriculums of them all later on, but from memory, I think DC wasn’t over the moon about one of the topics in history? I can’t remember exactly, it might have been something in politics, will have to check. Also some good suggestions over the type of assessments, I’ll make sure that is considered.

In light of the predicted English and English Lit grades, I'd steer well clear of History.

History requires essays, and anyone not really on top of their writing will struggle. It will be a lot of work for potentially a mediocre result.

Stick with the Electronics or another STEM/ design subject (not Physics, though).

German, Geography, RS, and Electronics/ Design...?

Cakeandusername · 24/02/2025 17:12

Mine did RS, History & politics and they complimented well. RS is philosophy and ethics.
Is German course viable? It’s not offered at large grammar 6th form and I know another school pulling it after this year.

Piggywaspushed · 24/02/2025 16:37

No, very few can staff that!

Zarasita · 24/02/2025 15:33

I would encourage start with 4 A levels

It gives more options and the possibility to drop the least favourite one

I thought most sixth forms required 4 to start with?

user2848502016 · 24/02/2025 15:15

TiredTiredVeryTired · 24/02/2025 09:51

I was under the impression that RS (or RE) was quite highly thought of with it being, at A level, mainly philosophy and ethics. And that’s is also how the syllabus reads to me. I know someone who went to Oxford to do PPE and he had RS so I’m if the opinion that it is definitely not a subject to be completely dismissed as ‘poor’ or ‘waste of time’.

German seems to (currently) be non-negotiable. (Also, all our schools, except one, offer German at GCSE and all the sixth forms offer it at A level. How strange that some areas aren’t offering it).

Projected grades; (for some reason the school don’t use predicted, but basically the same thing) English Lang 6, English lit 5 (maybe a 6), maths 6, sciences 6-6 (maybe higher), German 7/8 (borderline), geography 7, RS 7, electronics 7.

Sixth form require a 6 in German GCSE and there are no form requirements for RS but if taken at GCSE then they want a 6.
They also seem to want a 6 for all the subjects I originally mentioned in either the same subject or related subjects if it hasn’t been taken at GCSE.

Some suggestions alternative subjects to have a think about, thanks for those, (although history of art is defiantly not offered). We can dig into the curriculums of them all later on, but from memory, I think DC wasn’t over the moon about one of the topics in history? I can’t remember exactly, it might have been something in politics, will have to check. Also some good suggestions over the type of assessments, I’ll make sure that is considered.

Based on this I would probably go with geography then. If he's doing well in it he's likely to continue doing well and he could end up going in that direction at uni.
RS and geography are social sciences so make sense as a combination.
There will be a lot of essay writing for history and politics (as well as RS) which might not be the best idea because from his predicted grades English is maybe not his strongest subject. Doing 2 essay heavy subjects might be too much.

user2848502016 · 24/02/2025 15:03

I would probably go history or politics from this list.
Physics is difficult (but not impossible) without also doing maths.

Geography or environmental science are completely fine choices too.

I think it could really be as simple as which one does he enjoy most and what kind of thing is he thinking of doing after school?

Sixthform25 · 24/02/2025 15:03

@TiredTiredVeryTired I also think this decision really comes down to your DC, the curriculums on offer and who will teach them as to how much they will enjoy them and how well they will do!
History would be a good fit but my DC ruled it out as felt the curriculum for ALevel was too close to what they've studied at GCSE (Cold War following on from WW2) whereas they would have liked to study ancient history or classical civilisations but it wasn't on offer at their sixth form. Has your DC gone through the course specifications to see which interests them most?

Sixthform25 · 24/02/2025 14:57

LuluBlakey1 · 23/02/2025 21:28

I think RS and German are very unusual choices and if either is likely to be pursued at University the courses will be very limited. Language courses (even French and Spanish) are being reduced in number and RS in any form, is an unusual choice now.
If they are just A levels that will be decent grades to access a less socialised degree that doesn't require particular A levels, just good grades, that's fine.
RS at GCSE is not a highly regarded GCSE academically, I don't know about at A level. I don't know of a secondary school in our LA or neighbouring LAs that offers German at GCSE or A level any more.

Any evidence to back up your first sentence @LuluBlakey1? Total baloney.

Lots of people go on to study philosophy at degree level following an A level in RS from my DCs school. Religious studies is popular due to debating ethics, providing important reasoning and conversational skills that equip students well for a range of subjects.

@TiredTiredVeryTired My DC is a good all rounder and not sure what to do for a degree / career wise so keen to keep options open. Alevels applied for are:
RS, Biology, Psychology (new subject to them) and AS level German. That way they can continue to learn a language but also could drop another subject and continue with full ALevel German if the workload becomes too much or they don't enjoy a subject. Would AS Level German be an option at the sixth form your child will attend?

clary · 24/02/2025 14:30

Ah so they don’t currently take history GCSE? Assume the school is OK with A level history without GCSE (plenty are IME) but I would wonder why they didn’t choose the GCSE if it is of so much interest.

German GCSE projected grade is good; IMO a min of a 7 is needed for A level. There is a lot of language ability needed for A level, but it’s true that that is not all – A level MFL is by no means a walk in the park for someone bilingual, as @reluctantbrit notes – there is study of many political and social topics; there are 12 topics altogether (for AQA) and all will be studied. I think a 7 is needed as it shows the required level of language skills, which will be assumed on starting the A level. Also one book and one film is usually studied (though you can do two books but why would you??). I imagine you know this @TiredTiredVeryTired as you say you have looked at the specs, but I wanted to flag as @reluctantbrit suggested multiple books are studied which is not usually the case.

Unfortunately I am aware of a number of schools that are phasing out study of German altogether and certainly it is less common at A level than Spanish or French. If your DC enjoys it, is good at it and has the chance to study it further then that’s all good.

You are quite correct that RS is a perfectly good A level.

Original poster

TiredTiredVeryTired · 24/02/2025 09:51

I was under the impression that RS (or RE) was quite highly thought of with it being, at A level, mainly philosophy and ethics. And that’s is also how the syllabus reads to me. I know someone who went to Oxford to do PPE and he had RS so I’m if the opinion that it is definitely not a subject to be completely dismissed as ‘poor’ or ‘waste of time’.

German seems to (currently) be non-negotiable. (Also, all our schools, except one, offer German at GCSE and all the sixth forms offer it at A level. How strange that some areas aren’t offering it).

Projected grades; (for some reason the school don’t use predicted, but basically the same thing) English Lang 6, English lit 5 (maybe a 6), maths 6, sciences 6-6 (maybe higher), German 7/8 (borderline), geography 7, RS 7, electronics 7.

Sixth form require a 6 in German GCSE and there are no form requirements for RS but if taken at GCSE then they want a 6.
They also seem to want a 6 for all the subjects I originally mentioned in either the same subject or related subjects if it hasn’t been taken at GCSE.

Some suggestions alternative subjects to have a think about, thanks for those, (although history of art is defiantly not offered). We can dig into the curriculums of them all later on, but from memory, I think DC wasn’t over the moon about one of the topics in history? I can’t remember exactly, it might have been something in politics, will have to check. Also some good suggestions over the type of assessments, I’ll make sure that is considered.

OP posts:

reluctantbrit · 24/02/2025 07:25

One thing about German A-Level: DD did German GSCE as an additional topic, she is bi-lingual. She wondered if she could do a 4th A-Level with the same minimal learning she did for GCSE, a big no.

We spoke to the school's A-Level teacher and also the school she is going to know. Both said that A-Level German is less about learning the language but learning about German culture, polictics and history.
So one school's focus was on the fall of the Berlin Wall, the changes in East Germany and they read a variety of books. The school wants at least a 6, the other a 7 in GCSE to do A-Level.

So, I would thoroughly recommend looking at the curriculum.

Farcry66 · 24/02/2025 01:59

As an RS teacher (who has had several students go on to Oxbridge and far more to Russle Group unis ....) I would suggest History as it has some really interesting parallels to the RS course, obviously depending on what units they do. At my school they do an independent study for coursework in History, which may or may not appeal.

Quite a number of my students do English or Sociology. Because of the nature of the subject and the exams in RS being 100% essay based, they tend to be pretty solid essay writers.