To think that doing an A level in Psychology isn't enough to get into Uni

[Poppyanddaisy55]

My dd leaves school this summer. She is clever and has the potential to get good GCSE results if she puts the effort in.
She has all of a sudden decided she would like to study psychology. Then have the potential in the future to become a psychologist. Our local college has an a level course but it says it might not be enough to get into Uni? Anyone any experience in this? She has already been accepted on another course and I would hate for her to turn it down and work so hard to find it's not good enough.

She needs at least three A Levels to get onto a university course.

She originally chose the easier option of travel and tourism as she had no idea what to do and wanted to travel. But shes now changed her mind and when discussing it with her teachers they have agreed. Said she is very good at the science part of it.

Btec's (which is what the Travel & Tourism course will be) are not easy although they are more suited to those who don't cope well with linear exams. They are also generally not taken by those who have no ide what they want to do as they narrow your options considerably. My son will be taking a Btec but in an area he is obsessed with and knows he wants to pursue as a future career.

A levels will keep her options much more open.

Is she doing the btec travel and tourism as well as the psych A level? That would be the only way she would have the points for Uni. If she could get good gcses if she puts the effort in, 3 A levels would be better and may force her to put the work in. I dont think travel and tourism btec would be enough for a psych degree. It's more likely to restrict her to business/ travel related degrees.

As someone else has said it's hard work. After undergraduate it's straight to PhD, or masters followed by PhD or masters followed by at least 2 years in a training post. There's a misconception that it's an easy subject, okay to get the degree requires the same work as any other subject. But to become an actual psychologist you have to go above and beyond. I'd be finding out if she has the motivation to go all the way otherwise she may find herself with a psychology degree finding work in something completely unrelated which may disappoint her if she's not aware of this beforehand.

As others have said, she will need at least three A levels, and because it's a popular subject with a lot of competition for places, she'll need good grades in them too (minimum grade C, and a lot of unis will want As and Bs).

I recommend that she has a good look round the British Psychological Society (BPS) website...[https://www.bps.org.uk/
BPS]

And also the excellent careers advice website by the University of Kent [[https://www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/degree/psychology/index.html
Careers in psychology]] and [[https://www.kent.ac.uk/ces/student/degree/psychology/index.html?tab=other-careers
Other careers with a psychology degree]]

The Kent site is amazing for ALL degrees, so she might want to have a look at other options besides psychology too.

Didn't put enough square brackets in... BPS

It's so complicated. She's 15. I just don't think she's entirely capable of knowing yet exactly what she wants to do. I'm not really sure how to advise her further either. She can't do a level as well as the t&t course as they said it would be too much.
So it's 1 or the other. Maybe the psychology a level and 2 other ones? But then I worry that is too much work. Although she is clever she is not the best at committing to loads of work but of course college is entirely different to school.
One thing I don't understand is the entry requirements for 1 university to do a degree say BBB a level, DDM extended level 3 diploma and something else I can't remember. So she would need grade B in 3 a levels? And a normal level 3 qualification wouldn't be enough on it's own as it's not extended?

Travel and Tourism is pointless.

Yes to get into the majority of university to study a BSC degree in psychology she will need 3 a-levels. She will need to have a look at several universities she's interested in going to to get an idea of what a levels are best to do and what the average grade required for entry is. To be honest she couple probably do any combination of a-levels and they'd probably want around BBB or BBC across them, depending on the university (some metropolitan/old poly's may take lower grades, not sure)

She may excel at only studying 3 a levels - it's not like school so she may be better. Biology psychology and maths are usually a popular combination. Or psychology sociology and biology/maths/English. Any of the tradition A-levels.

All the best for her and hope she manages to do the courses she wants for her future

Ps I did psychology A level, LOVED IT. Nearly did it as a degree but chose history instead. And am not a senior manager in the NHS.

Lulu T&T is not 'pointless' and it gave my DD quite a reasonable grounding in a variety of topics to start employment in the T&T sector. As well as T&T specific stuff it covered customer service, business, marketing etc.

However if wanting to do an academic degree I would agree that T&T would not be an appropriate thing to study at 6th form.

Extended Diploma ~ 3 A levels 'equivalent'
Diploma ~ 2 Alevels
Certificate / Subsidiary Diploma ~ 1 A level. (? on names).

OP - if she's bright enough I'd steer her to A levels as it keeps her options open and she clearly isn't fixed on what she wants to do yet.

Most traditional university courses require 3 A-Levels. If you think 3 A-Levels is too much work then I'm not sure she would cope with the demands of a degree course.

she is not the best at committing to loads of work

You said in your OP that she was drawn to Travel and Tourism 'because it was easy' and that alone made me wonder. Now you've confirmed it. A psych degree is hard. There's a lot of material and many students find it information overload. And research methods is really a stretch (although some unis swerve it almost all together). Look to see whether the courses she's interested in are BSc or BA. The BAs are usually lighter on statistics than BScs.

(Psych lecturer here)

If she’s not committed to hard work then psychology is not for her, nor university in general. It’s not worth the time and money and considerable debt unless she’s going to actually work at it.

Better to postpone it, IMO. You really only get one shot at university these days.

I did A level Psychology.It's nowhere near as taxing as a more "academic" subject like Maths or Chemistry. I think it was about 3 hours of classes a week.

From memory Psychology A Level is more about memorizing studies, names of the people that carried out the studies, and the outcome.

I wouldn't imagine she would be able to do much with T&T unless she planned to become a travel journalist or something, in which case she'd want to do Eng Lit and Media too. T&T was very much a skivers subject in my day.

Hi OP. It’s pretty much expected to do 3 A Levels, I know lots of people that did/do 4! If you think your daughter will struggle with 3 A Levels, I believe she would most likely struggle with a undergraduate degree also. Maybe the travel and tourism option would be a better route?

Reading with interest for ds who is in same position.

A level psy might not be particularly taxing but a good psychology degree is very taxing, and does require a good understanding of maths and science plus an academic approach.

I think your DD would be better off going with the other course. She can always do A Levels later, or a foundation degree. If she’s not going to work hard at A Levels there’s no point in her taking them now IMO.

Chartered psychologist here and I teach masters level. I'd say just be clear about what psychology is, it is not dream analysis, reading body language, horoscopes, hypnosis or psychiatry. An a level is actually a good introduction but not necessarily required. If she wants to do it at degree level then fostering good writing skills and critical thinking is more important.

College won't sign her onto a programme of study that's less than three A-levels or equivalent e.g. an extended BTEC/techicals diploma OR a double BTEC + 1 A-level. It's not enough hours to count as full-time study otherwise.

You will be able to get onto an academic university course with an extended diploma if achieved at distinction level. Of course not every course or even most courses would accept that but I'd say somewhere would. I've had a student with extended Media BTEC go onto a Law course!

However Psychology is very competitive so Travel and Tourism wouldn't be a good route to that. A mix of science and humanities A-levels would be the best route.

Its also not - as my professor told us in lesson 1 - 'mind reading'!

Oh please don't let her do travel and tourism! I was too young to get into uni when I finished school (even though I had the points) so I did T&T for a year at a community college and then worked for a year and salaries are AWFUL in the industry. It's fun, and not hard, but that is 100% reflected in the pay. And at any rate you don't need a btec in it to get into the industry after you get those 3 precious a-levels.

The advice above is fantastic - biology & maths keep other doors open for her as she matures.

@myself2020 Cheeky question but what do you actually do? I am endlessly curious about other people's gigs.

You nearly always need 3 A levels to do a degree, unless you do a BTec diploma in a more practical subject such as e.g. Art or Agriculture where the course is very specific to the degree. Officially the Btec is only worth the same as 2 A levels but in the more practical degrees they may value the practical experience you often get on the Btecs. I don't think this would apply to psychology as it is a more academic subject but might apply to travel and tourism if you want on to a very closely related degree or maybe a HND.

Alot to think about then. Thanks so much for all the info. So helpful.