Are these good A-levels to do?

[lovesunshine247]

Can I ask for advice about these A-levels - ICT, Economics and Politics.

What courses and careers can these lead to?

Can anyone give me some advice please as someone has asked me and I have no idea!

What do they want to do for a career/degree.

I am not an expert, but I think Maths would be better than either ICT or Politics because without Maths , it would be hard or impossible to get into Economics or Computer Science courses. It is also good to have at least one traditional subject ( or even two). For a Politics course, these subjects would be ok. But best to keep options open.

What do they want to do? Have they chosen the subjects because they like them without a plan as such?

Thank you for your replies.

These are subjects that they are interested in, but they don't know what career paths they can lead to or what degrees they can do at university with them

Let me amend my post to say it is best to figure out what kind of degree they want to do and then look at the requirements of target unis. Many unis now require Further Maths for CS and Economics.

There is no plan for a career in particular.

Just wanted some general advice that I don't feel I know enough about them

this website is useful though aimed at Russell Group unis in particular - it does connect A level subjects with degrees. They could also look at the y11 choices/careers guidance from any local schools which is often tucked away on their websites as powerpoints etc.

A teacher once said, when making Subject choices, think about what careers they exclude you from ...can help focus on the wide choices.

So these subjects would exclude you from medicine, engineering and science type jobs but keep the door open for computing, business and all the other careers that don't have specific subject requirements (e.g. law, accountancy etc etc etc).

Also, are there any other subjects the pupil would be strong at ... as a potential choice for A Level

At A Level ... if you have no idea about what you want to do after A level
... pick the subjects you will get best results in. If you find you need a particular subject when you are deciding on a course ... you always have the option of taking a year out and doing that as a single A level after the others.

Do you mean A Level Computer Science or BTEC ICT?

I'd ideally want A Level maths with A Level CS. (which will also complement the Economics).

Some great advice here. Thank you.
The link is very helpful too

The teacher has said IT. Now you mention BTEC ICT, maybe that's what they meant. Will need to double check this

There's the concept of "facilitating subjects" that's worth considering if your child doesn't know quite what degree or career they're interested in. Maths is a facilitating subject where ICT is not.

I didn't realise anywhere still offered ICT as an A level. It's been on its way out for ages.

I would swerve that one - is Computer Science also offered? It's way more useful.

I wouldn't get too caught up with what it leads to. It's best to to go with subjects that they are interested in and the rest falls into place, especially if they are academic subjects like all the ones you've mentioned. I probs wouldn't be as confident saying the same about art subjects.

I did photography, film studies and English language at college. I then went on to complete my degree in animal behaviour, totally unrelated 😂 I honestly wouldn't worry about a levels and what jobs they can lead to, as long as they get them most universities are more concerned with grades rather than subject matter. And it's so hard to know what you want to do at that age! I'm 25 and still haven't a clue 😂 but as others have said always worth choosing a good all rounder for at least one subject if unsure - this was English for me.

Just read your OP more carefully and realised what you are actually asking about...

ICT could lead to business/IT courses at Uni, but not traditional Computer Science which would need Maths rather than ICT or Computer Science at A Level. Economics and Politics could lead to various courses in the humanities or social sciences but I think for an actual Economics degree you would need Maths again. A law degree could be a possibility too, given the Economics and Politics combo.

I disagree that unis care more about grades than subject matter.

The subjects you have chosen rule out medicine, engineering, economics, sciences, and computer science as a career path. Some business degrees also require maths. I don't think that is a good idea.

Computer Science wasn't offered as an option. It was suggested as IT (no mention of BTEC) I'll check that for them

Would Maths be a better option than Economics? Or should they choose Maths instead of the IT?

Are they interested in Maths and would they enjoy studying it? If so then I would include it, probably at the expense of IT. Interest in IT be maintained outside of school, without any reduction in options for degree choice if Maths is substituted.

Maths is a better option than Economics or ICT because it allows you entry into both Economics ( all the different types) and Computer Science. You don't actually need to do Economics for a degree in Economics. They want to see maths ability. Assuming the DC is good at Maths though.

What GCSE maths grade did they get and how much work did they put in to get it? If you’re talking about someone who worked really hard for a 6, maths A Level might not be a good option for them. If you’re talking about someone who got 8s and 9s and doesn’t have much family experience of higher education they need better advice so they don’t end up missing out on degree courses because of poor A level subject choices.

Got a 6 in Maths, so not sure if that would be enough to be able to do A-levels?

Three subjects have been agreed, but I don't think DC had time to think and agreed to do what was suggested on the phone by the teacher.

I am hoping they will find time to discuss these on the first day of school and change them if needed.

Not sure if that is usually allowed

A 6 is likely to be enough to do Maths A level, but it does depend if they had to work super hard with lots of help or if they managed ok on their own. If the sixth form is the same as the school they attended for GCSEs then their teachers should be able to advise on whether Maths is doable or not.

Lots of places require a 7 at GCSE to do A level maths.

With a 6 at GCSE Maths would be very hard at A level. Assuming rest of GCSEs similar grade the student isn't likely to be targetting elite unis, so those three probably fine as they don't know what subject. They've ruled out RG Economics but should be fine for a mid ranking uni to do Eco or another social science.