Dd A Levels - Psychology- how much to advise?

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DD will enrol at college on Tuesday. She’s thinking Psychology (what she wants to read at Uni), Biology and Philosophy. As a background, she is very passionate about social justice (got a distinction on her speaking element for Eng.lit on sex work), and got 9s in both English exams and History.

However, I’m concerned about her choices - especially Philosophy, which unlike the other A levels has two three hour exams rather than three two hour exams. Anecdotally it’s very challenging and I think it won’t be ‘real world’. enough for her. I also don’t think Biology is a good fit - I hear studying sciences at A level is a while different ball game to GCSE. She did okay in maths and quite well in her sciences (all 7s), but, again, not peopley enough.

I’m looking at the courses, and think that Psychology, Sociology and Religious Studies would be a much better combination for her. She LOVED RS at GCSE (her favourite subject), and these would fit with her interest in the justice-based worldview that she’s got (she’s autistic and that brings a huge interest in what makes people tick).

Could anyone please advise on how we approach this with her? Would these subjects fit for a Psychology degree? I wish someone had chatted with me properly about my choices when I was her age.

Thanks in advance.

A level maths really isn't necessary (but you do need a decent GCSE grade)

Can she start off with four A levels and then drop one later in the year? E.g. psych, bio, sociology, philosophy. Most of my students do this.
I agree that biology goes well with psychology and I would normally recommend it, but biology does not sound like a good fit for your daughter. There is not much discussion, it is very matter of fact, lots of practical work, one correct answer with VERY specific mark schemes. It's also not much about people, the majority of it is cells, molecules, plants and analysing data. Even the essays have no opinions or discussion in them.
I would recommend your daughter does what she enjoys the most.

But pure philosophy A-level is rubbish for this as it is so theoretical.
Do RS, it is 50% Philosophy and real world ethics (plus meta ethics), about 30% specific faith (most schools do Christianity but it is a critical, analytical perspective) and about 20% synoptic type paper.
Happy to give advice, am head of RS in a non-selective school and former assistant head of sixth form so have the experience of lots of neutral guidance!

She sounds like she’s made quite good choices to me.

Biology is a really good compliment to psychology, will help a lot with her degree, and I think a lot of universities will appreciate a science A level.

A lot of kids really enjoy philosophy - lots of debate and very much about the real world and people. I don’t know why it’s 3 papers not two, but I wouldn’t worry about it.

Overall I do think you are projecting PP. I think personally psychology, sociology and religious studies is a lot of social science, so narrow for A level, and she is better as she is.

I think as an RS teacher you might be a bit biased PP!

I can’t comment on the details, but the handful of kids I know who have taken philosophy have really enjoyed and engaged in it.

From my experience don’t drop the biology, psychology is harder if they’re not doing biology alongside it. Eldest had an 8 at GCSE biology and it took a LONG time to get his head around the psychology as he wasn’t doing the biology a level with it

Her choices are waaaaay better than your suggestions. Leave her alone.

I also teach Philosophy A-level (waves to @Ooooblong77!) and it's a bit "marmite." The students who love it, really love it. It's a hard subject but obviously I think it's worthwhile. There is some "applied ethics" but not much. The three-hour papers are rather brutal, I don't know of any other subjects that has them!

My DD took Biology and would agree with the comment that it's very much about learning answers and giving the exact keywords in the mark-scheme. She enjoyed the material but not the exams (her other subjects were essay based/creative). Just some more food for thought.

Your DD sounds very sensible, though.

My first degree was psychology, but didn’t have an A level in it. I did have a law A level which was very helpful.When I studied, philosophy was a core subject, so that’d be helpful. Biology also good. I wouldn’t recommend RS. Sociology ok, but depending one what she’s good at, maths or chemistry would be a good fit too. If she’s hoping to do a BSc, lots of statistics, and psychopharmacology and neurochemistry.

Another one saying leave her choices as she wants, OP.

My DS (also ASD) took psychology and biology A level and whilst I don’t think he particularly enjoyed biology - i agree what others have said about the mark schemes etc - the two subjects complemented each other well. DS also swapped his 3rd A level (history) for an IT based BTEC. At the time I felt this was a mistake (and worried about it a lot) but felt he had to be the one to make the decision as he had to be motivated to study.

Of course he was completely right and with hindsight I am so glad I didn’t try and steer him back down the history road.

There are lots of great psychology and combined psychology degrees out there (combined psychology/criminology was DS’s initial choice so we did a lot of research) and in the end his subject choices were a perfect fit for the course he ended up choosing.

Leave her be and let her make her choices.

My DD has just done a levels including psych and bio. They work really well together.
DD really wanted to do a psych degree at the beginning of 6th form, but whilst she enjoyed the a level, she realised that it wasn't something that she wanted to continue with. So whilst you don't need psych a level to do a degree, it's a good way of ensuring you don't pick the wrong degree.

I think the most important aspect of a levels is that they are subjects you like and that you want to study. Doing an alevel in a subject you're not interested in would be very difficult. Leave the choice to your DD - she is the one that is going to have to do the work!

My DS also got a 7 in GCSE biology btw and yes the step up to A levels is challenging -in his case not helped by being part of the 2020 cohort - but with hard work and support he achieved a decent B in the A level.

Quote: I think as an RS teacher you might be a bit biased PP! *
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Or know my subject really well and have been back and forth over the years debating whether to add pure philosophy. Did you also miss the bit about my role as assistant head of sixth form...I have no skin in the game, OP DD is not one of my students, I do however have extensive experience of students taking these combinations of subjects and know what can be a better facilitator than others. There is a whole unit on the Psych A-level about religion and beliefs....Philosophy A-level does not help with this, RS really does and in my school I guest lecture in Psych classes and my sociology and Psychology colleagues guest lecture in mine when relevant.
As always RS is dismissed as an unworthy subject because the experience of parents from their school days is that it was shoved down their throat - this bears no resemblance to the academic nature of Religious Studies today.

I'm currently doing a part-time degree in religious studies and it's fascinating, and certainly a very academic subject. I can see why it goes well with psychology!

One of the four modules in the philosophy A-level is Philosophy of Religion (although, puzzlingly, the spec calls that topic "The Metaphysics of God," which it isn't). It includes considerable discussion about the nature of religious language and belief. Interesting to know that it doesn't gel well with the approach in psychology! Does that apply to all the exam boards?

Hi all, thanks so much for your input. I agree with a PP that I may well be projecting, and part of the reason why I was asking for some outside perspective.

I actually studied Psychology myself at uni (combined with English Lit), so I can offer her some advice with respect to the scientific nature of the degree. I also studied Biology at A Level.

However, I know that she is drawn to the subjects that facilitate discussion and do wonder whether it would be better for her to choose the subjects that I think she would enjoy / fit with that, and whether she would stand a good chance of getting onto a good Psychology degree if she still wishes to go along that route.

I appreciate that there is a good argument for leaving her to make her choices, but I am also trying to help her understand what she may actually enjoy and so would have a better chance of getting a good grade in. The universities that she has set her sights on (which are the ones that we have family in, so she will have support nearby), require high grades.

My intentions are good - honestly! - I really am not a tiger mum! :)

I think that any of the subjects you've suggested would work well, as would her original choices, so I personally would leave her to it. My own DD decided to take A levels that neither of us had studied, and to do a degree in a field which is completely new to us...!

I have a psychology degree and am part way through clinical psychology training. I did psychology, history and English lit at A level. It may not be the case now but there were some universities I couldn't apply for as I didn't have a science A level (UCL was one). Some unis gave lower grade offers if you had a science A level - I think the RG uni I went to did. Having said that, I don't regret my subject choices and I wouldn't say I was particularly disadvantaged by not doing science or maths. I think it has to be her choice but choosing what you enjoy is a good start.

Does she know what she wants to do post degree? I would caution about the advice given by a previous poster about choosing a combined degree for breadth as some may not be BPS accredited. Having the BPS accreditation is crucial for any further training in applied psychology

There was no religion or beliefs element in the Psych A level course my DD has just done! There were some options - which were picked by her teachers, but even the ones she didn't do didn't include religion.

As a teacher I would have thought you would know that different exam boards have different specs!

She thinks she’d definitely like to do Philosophy, but isn’t sure about Biology, and is thinking Sociology instead.

You've interfered and made her doubt herself and think about a worse option Biology is far better than sociology for a Psychology degree. She needs to look at the content of Psych degrees - random one here (clear preference for Science A levels):

https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studying-here/undergraduate/psychology/psychology/

Actually, no I haven’t. I haven’t expressed any preference of mine to her. She has spent time looking at the syllabus this morning, and is open to other options. Which is what she needs to be. I have asked a question on here so I can be as informed as possible before chatting to her to help her make the right decision - for her. Not to railroad her into anything.

My Dd starts her psychology degree next month having just completed psychology, English lit and Geography a levels as this is regarded as a science subject

Religion and beliefs is in the sociology A level not psych - I teach both and examine psych. I agree though that RS could be a good alternative to philosophy.

She will be fine either way. I did a psychology degree and my a levels were in physics and maths! My tutor said they actually prefer students who don’t have a psych a level as they teach the course so differently.

Also, biology is great for half of the course, but sociology also great for the other half.

Psychology is such a broad subject and tbh you don’t really need specific subjects to get into it. I’d study a levels I really enjoyed if I were her and then do the psychology degree. It’s a great degree, she will love it!

Well, she enrolled yesterday. She spent some time over the last few days going over the course content. She decided no to biology, as she was only interested in a certain part of the course (human biology). The tutor advised that for many unis (even the RG ones), Psychology is accepted as a science. So she opted for Philosophy and Sociology (which really grabbed her), alongside the Psychology. Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to answer.