Opposing views on A-Level choices

Shame really that this attitude persists when so many of the world's problems come from a lack of media literacy.

Have you looked at T-Levels?
The more regular assignments may help from a motivation aspect.
And yes you can go on to university from them.

Psychology IS a science
DD needed 2 sciences for her chosen STEM Degree and Psychology was on of them.

My DH thinks his chosen subjects are too soft and won't be respected by unis or potential, future employers.

Unless he ends up doing something very specific that requires math/science/computing etc, employers really won't care which GCSEs/A Levels he's done.

Unless it's Media Studies 😅

the a levels he’s chosen are generally seen as “soft” and a psychology degree might want maths.

There's nothing 'soft' about psychology or geography A levels!
I know Business is looked down on but it covers a lot - essays, data analysis, stats and maths.

Many psychology degrees don't require maths, or even a science.

My DD2 is in yr12 and doing this exact combination, with the addition of core maths. She did business and geography at GCSE but psychology is a new subject for her. She is enjoying all subjects and thinks they go well together. Core maths, if available at your DS's school, is great - lots of useful 'real life' stuff like mortgages, VAT, tax etc.

Both psychology and geography can be counted as science a levels for certain degrees.
I would consider that range of subjects as fairly diverse. If he hasn't chosen a pure science/maths I would think it unlikely that he would opt for a STEM degree.

The advice from schools is because a levels are a lot of work and students generally only put the work in for stuff they are interested in.

this goes both ways - parents saying to students we want you to be a doctor so you have to do science to a teen who wants to do languages and as well as teens choosing stuff they don’t really like.

is there no gcse at all he has interest in?

the a levels he’s chosen are generally seen as “soft” and a psychology degree might want maths.

I did those same A Levels - and did find it restricted my choice of subjects to apply for at Uni, so it does depend on what he might want to do at Uni - would recommend swapping one for a science if he thinks there is any chance he would want to study anything STEM related at uni. Otherwise, its up to him really, there's no point in choosing subjects he isn't interested in.

Is he Y11? It's a long time from now until GCSE results day and next September when he starts sixth form. Things will change as there will be a lot of career discussions in class over the next 9 months. It's hard to make the right choice of A-Levels when you don't know what you want to do after.

The important thing now is to put what he wants to do as A-levels are a slog and it's no good getting 3 Cs in subjects your husband approves of when he could have got 3 As in ones he enjoys and are relevant to his interests. I've lost count of the number of people i know who were pressured into doing what their parents want to do and ended up either dropping out or refusing to engage with the subject ever again.

Your husband's advice is quite out of date by the way. All those subjects are accepted by the big universities.

Your DH is wrong. Lack of interest is the biggest problem I face as an A level teacher (although lack of ability runs it a close second).

Although does the school offer Business BTEC? That can work better for students who have learning challenges, as there's lots of continuous assessment in it.

Has he studied either Business or Psychology for gcse? Does he know he does not need to study either subject to do so at uni. Both will involve maths and could be substitued by that.

A levels should ultimately be your DS”s choice. Particularly with ADHD it’s important not to push him into a subject he has no interest in.

Nothing wrong with the ones he’s provisionally picked, anyway, assuming he’s not targeting a subject requiring maths or sciences at university.