Help, DD not happy with A-level choices, now wants to do psychology…

She doesn’t need psychology A-level. She could do a psychology based epq and/or an AS in maths or statistics or core maths. She could also apply for a foundation year in psychology if necessary.

The A levels that your dd had chosen would work well for Law which was a possible degree choice last year. The problem is that she has changed her mind and now favours Psychology.
With an A level in Sociology there are already possibilities to choose something that overlaps with Psychology. For example there are joint degrees that include both subjects.
Doing an EPQ in a relevant subject may also help.

(It’s also worth bearing in mind that schools are really selling A-level psychology to students at the moment, and it’s currently fashionable/popular - often it fits into the students’ current interest in “identity” and self-knowledge, and it sounds vaguely sciencey and vocational, but without actually requiring schools to funnel students through to actual science teaching….)

However, as an academic subject it isn’t largely as useful for university admissions as more traditional arts and sciences subjects. The content of A-level psychology would be taught again - and with a different emphasis - at university level, so it really isn’t a necessary prerequisite for a related degree.

It’s definitely not the case that not taking it at A-level has ruined your DD’s life 🤣 or that you’ve given bad advice. It might well be the case though that the current fashion amongst students for psychology A-level has left your DD with a bad case of FOMO or a sense that held friends are doing a more “fun” and fashionable subject!

Also, the vast majority of psychology degrees are now BScs and lean towards the scientific side, and will normally prefer straight science and maths A-levels to psychology A-level.

If however she wants to lean towards the humanities/social science side of psychology (eg a BA), those courses tend to be happy with other traditional academic A-level subjects too. Has she thought about social psychology for example, which has a large crossover with sociology?

In any case, psychology as either a BSc or BA tends to have high grade requirements, so she is better off worrying about meeting the grades in her current subjects, rather than switching subjects.

She doesn’t need psychology A level to study psychology at uni.

She could add an EPQ in year 13 and make it psychology or stats based.

What does she want to do afterwards? That may help her with uni choices

I’d restart Year 12 next year. It’s called 17,18,19 education for a reason as you have 3yrs to do the 2yr A-levels course.

I did a sociology degree and made friends with lots of psychology students and most didn’t have psychology A level. This was many years ago.

Could she restart year 12 next year, either at her current school or somewhere new, if this is what she really wants to do?
Another option, see if she is allowed to drop an A level, so only do two at school (some were allowed to do this when I was at school), and do Psychology by distance learning. If she starts now, she'd have over a year to study.

Uni lecturer in psychology here, and I agree that the maths is important, and so is a liking for science. Psychology is a science, and she'll be doing experiments and writing them up as part of her course.
Also, as others have noted, the British Psychological Society requires certain course content, and that means all degrees have to cover the more biological aspects of psychology - e.g. what different parts of the brain do, how neurotransmitters work etc - hence why you see A Level Biology in some degree course requirements.

I also agree with PP that if she is going to do Psychology at degree level, it'd be good to make sure the degree is British Psychological Society approved and will give her "graduate basis for chartered membership". Without that, she won't qualify for a number of the postgrad level training courses (e.g. clinical psych, organisational psych, counselling psych, educational psych, forensic psych) that many people go into psychology wanting to do.

One thing that's not been mentioned is that a number of unis offer postgrad psychology conversion courses for people who didn't do undergrad psychology but now realise they want a career which requires graduate basis for chartered membership. Here's a list: www.bps.org.uk/public/become-psychologist/accredited-courses?type=CONV&status=C. The Open Uni does one, so she could study and work if need be. I know people who've gone this route who' went on to be successful practicing psychologists or to do PhDs.

So, even if your DD can't get onto a psychology degree course with her current combination of A Levels, and can't swap what she's studying, she shouldn't be too disheartened - it's not game over and the door's definitely not shut on a career as a psychologist.

The maths point is very valid as, even at A level, those doing psych without maths found the maths element challenging. I agree foundation year sounds a good option.

*swap Sociology for Psychology

She can't do Psych next year though, far too much to catch up on. Tutor - only if the school was on board which it sounds as if they're not.

So options:
An AS next year, possibly as an external candidate (the extra workload will impact her grades though);
A year out and a crammer A Level;
Apply wherever she can that will take her on the subjects she has;
Better option though would be a foundation year. Either as part of a Psych degree, or use the FY to transfer to year 1 elsewhere.

She really should be doing Maths as well though, so an FY, or a year out should include some Maths.

If she is more interested in the humanities side, she should take a look at Psychosocial Studies degrees - much more interdisciplinary and her A levels are very suited to it. If she wants to be a psychologist, she can do a 1 year conversion MSc afyer any undergraduate degree, this would get her BPS accreditation in order to apply for training doctorates in clin psy, ed psy, etc.

What’s her reasoning for wanting to do psychology? I’m a psychotherapist and have a huge number of young people wanting to study it because they feel they’ll understand themselves better and to help people. This is fine, but it’s common for them to struggle with the stats/maths side of the degree. Other subjects ie therapeutic psychology at Roehampton or joint honours may fit better (but not offer the BPS accreditation).

Psychology is very competitive now as very on trend degree choice. How about focusing on the three she is doing to get best possible grades in those, plan in a gap year where she take psychology A level in one year plus gets some relevant work experience, apply this autumn through UCAS for course she wants to start in Sept 2024 specifying these are her gap year plans. She could earn some money too and fit in a bit of travelling after the exams. I'm v pro gap years as I've seen kids really grow and shift their focus over gap years and be very well placed for uni the following year. I think that would show real commitment to her choice. Personal statement on UCAS form would allow her to really detail why she wants to do psychology (other interests are literally one line at the end).

Could she consider an AS Level in Maths or Biology?

There's a statistical element in psychology that means many people doing the degree will have a strong maths background.

Both friends of mine who studied psychology at uni had Maths A Level and were natural strong mathematicians.

If a university can see she's been looking at statistics and studying that area, they may be more willing to consider her.

There are BAs in Psychology but you must make sure they are accredited. No point getting a degree without some recognition outside of the uni. It must stand in the real world.

There's an interesting discussion about maths/stats/psychology degrees here: www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5634140

For Warwick without a science A level she alas needs 2 x 6 (or B) in science gcses so as long as she has that she should be OK.

She may want to look at Future Learn and see if there are any MOOCs she could take alongside her A levels to see whether psychology is what she believes it to be. These would also be useful to evidence her interest within her personal statement.

There would be funding available for her to restart year 12 next September if she really doesn't like her actual choices at present but if she does like then but just regrets not having taken psychology the lack of A level won't prevent her going into a degree at many places but she will need to ensure she carefully checks the entry requirements (including gcse requirements) for the unis she is considering.

First step is to look at entry requirements for the degree she wants to do. Then decide based on that. She could take an AS level in year 13.

Many don't require psychology, but a lot will want biology.

I think doing psych a level in a year would be very difficult. It is a tough subject, and once the subject matter is learnt, tudents need to learn the skills to actually answer the different question types - that is usually a main part of the second year of the course.

Another option might be a Liberal Arts degree where you can pick modules to make your own degree - many include psychology modules as options.

At ds1s school they are now halfway through the a level course. She’s missed too much imo to switch. However it’s unlikely to make any difference as to whether she can study psychology at university. There will be numerous places that don’t require psychology A Level

Psychology is a very interesting subject and is massively oversubscribed with many more studying it at university than there will ever be any demand for working in the field. That's ok because a good psychology degree will be useful for all sorts of careers not directly related to psychology.

Whilst some courses ask for psychology A-Level this is comparatively rare, not least because a lot of schools don't even offer psychology as an available subject so vast numbers of university applicants have never had the opportunity to study it.

I think its silly to try to rewind the A-Level decision. Maybe it was a mistake but there's not enough teaching time left to make a change now. She should focus on getting 3 good grades on the subjects she has started, do plenty of reading of psychology books in her spare time and apply to universities that don't require psychology A-level.

She's missed too much. Psychology is a hard A'level and you need to be on it from day 1.