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.

Uni tutor at my my daughter’s school, who was doing a uni workshop of sorts, said that psychology tutors would prefer if students didn’t study psychology at A’level... as they don’t want students with pre-determined ideas. Would rather have students with a broader range of study. Apparently maths is the number one subject when it comes to offers , followed by a foreign language.

I don't think "so many" jobs prefer a level maths, when appropriate to the job, yes, but otherwise no.

Maths A level is not required for many, many jobs. GCSE maybe but not A Level.
It will only be required if there is a mathematical element to the job and even then might only be desirable.

Don't worry too much if you're allergic to maths, my son has received offers from five RG universities without a sniff of maths, science or a language A level. Not for a psychology degree though.

Well obviously lots of degrees don't need maths or science A levels, and lots of people getting offers for eg English, history, and languages won't have them. For someone like the OP's daughter, however, who wants to study psychology, a maths/science A level is essential.

More generally, I agree of course that maths is a really good A level to have, but that doesn't mean it's right for everyone. It's hard, especially if you're not naturally good at maths. If you need eg AAA or AAB to get into the university of your choice, it would be a bit of a gamble to take maths if you're not good at it.

The trick I think is get the balance right between subjects you're likely to do well in and those that will impress universities and employers. There's not much point in doing maths, further maths, physics and chemistry A levels because they sound impressive and coming out with 4 Es. That's not going to get you to a decent university (assuming no extenuating circumstances). You'd be better off with better grades in other subjects, though obviously they'd need to be relevant to your choice of degree subject.

Maths is a really hard a level though. Can you still get a level statistics?

How about Core Maths?

Your daughter would need to study 3 a levels to get into uni but some universities offer foundation courses too which are attached to a three year degree.
My daughter did 3 a levels and got a very poor mark in one one of them as the teacher left 6 months before the exams and they couldn’t get a replacement.
She went on to do a foundation degree in a completely different subject and is now doing a degree in something she wants to do.