Psychology A Level - pros & cons?

My DD did Art, Photography and Business Studies and got offers from RG universities. It all depends on the course and the subject(s) they want. No subject is really wrong unless you apply for a course that wants something specific, eg maths, and you haven’t done it. Psychology is such a popular subject now, why would universities ignore it?

My eldest does it and he hates it. From what I can see it’s massively helpful to do it alongside biology which he doesn’t do. It’s well regarded by universities and he has 4 RG university offers so far

Biology and Maths are the “facilitating” subjects we are no longer allowed to label as facilitating. She would also have got in to study a whole range of subjects including biology. If she had done Photography and Art with the Psychology many courses requiring science A levels would have been off the agenda. It’s always what you study as a group of subjects that leads to degree success. Maths, Biology and Psychology is a perfect combination for Psychology so offers not a problem.

Degree courses in psychology are often BSc. The A-level requires some statistics and biology.

My dd is doing Psychology, Maths and Biology and received offers from RG unis no problem. She is planning to study psychology at university and many will offer a slightly lower offer of you do maths or a science as one of your choices. It's not necessary to study A-level to do a degree but dd studied it at GCSE and found that it was advantageous as there was some overlap.

In her experience, her choice of A-levels is unusual and most of the other psychology students are doing Sociology, Business or Geography.

It’s like many A levels. Perfectly fine. Depends what else you study with it regarding university courses. Few (If any) require it but none dislike it.

My daughter is currently doing it, and loving it. She's doing it along side two sciences, an arts subject and an EPQ. She by no means is finding it a 'soft' option.

Hi @AsPerMyLastEmail!

I work with schools and have some dealings with University staff. They regard Psychology as they regard nearly all A Levels: not a problem.

Life skills? My observation of hundreds of sixth formers every year is that such skills come from the personality and the teen's wider life than from academic life.

There really is no need to worry.

Let them do what they want. My mum forced me to do a science or I 'wouldn't get into uni'. I got a U and the teacher was fired the next year for misconduct (she used to scream at us if we didn't understand).

I got three A* in the options I chose and now have two degrees and a professional qualification.

Stop interfering and let the person choose their own education.

DC1 does it with music and history and finds it very interesting. Its not that popular at her school but was at her old school. Her old school wouldn't let you take it unless you had 7s in Maths, English Language and Biology/Science.

Also, there is crossover, but uni offers plenty more besides, and the A Level course is more about learning names, dates and studies - all of which are useful for a degree, but the degree goes into much more depth.

It's Ds1's favourite out of his 3. Very respected now.

Psychology is a good A-level to study. It's considered largely a 'science' at degree level now I think, rather than an art or social science, and chartered psychologists are eligible for chartered scientist status. I did A-level psychology (in the 90s!!!), a degree in it, an MSc and a doctorate!! I didn't find it to be a Micky mouse subject :) It's interesting and once you get to degree level and beyond the maths, stats and IT get pretty tricky!!

I'd personally choose sociology over psychology as it is just too popular it seems (I have a masters in educational psychology but I dint use it for anything). But my daughter is considering it if she goes to a sixth form that requires four A levels. It's not a soft option.

The longest question in the A-Level (for AQA at least) is 16 marks - four or five paragraphs ideally. There is a lot of names, dates and details - and A LOT of evaluation of theories, models etc. Very good for learning about behaviour though - she may end up applying it in her other subjects, as elements of it are very transferrable.

DD2 is doing it alongside Biology and History to get her to the degree she wants to do. She's finding the sections on research methodology particularly helpful. Because we have a history of mental ill health in our family, she's finding that part of the work useful in terms of dealing with that too. It's very content heavy, but if you're a good essay writer it's really doable.

My DS did it alongside Physics and Biology. Biology and Psychology are deffo complimentary. He is doing it at uni now. Best bit is it stimulates lots of discussion around the dinner table.

If she wants to study it as an add-on to her other subjects, she should go for it. It’s a very interesting subject but very content-heavy.

DS did the A level and is now in his fourth year of a Psychology degree (3rd year was a placement). He said there is quite a bit of repetition in year 1 of the degree but lots of other stuff besides so it didn’t bother him.

If she finds she loves it and wants to do it for her degree, she should bear in mind that there are around 18,000 new psychology graduates every year. You need to be able to offer something to set you apart, so a placement year is highly recommended, as well as other work experience.

DIDN'T like it much!

Yes, it's often not what people think it is.

I did very well at 'A' level and went on to study it at university. Switched subjects completely after a term, as I realised that I actually like psychology much, despite finding it very easy.

Yes @christinarossetti19 - when dd was talking about studying it at uni when she was in year 11, I kept stressing that she didn’t really know if she’d like it and it would be best to see if she liked the A Level first (which she does - but apparently lots dont).

It's worth doing the 'A' level to know if you want to go on and study it at university though, surely?