University Course Choice

[Goodgriefdh55]

Long time lurker but first time thread starter. I know these have been done to death but am honestly at a loss so hopefully the wise mumnteers can assist. Dd1 is starting Y12 next year and hopefully her GSCEs will have gone well enough for her to study English Literature, History, and Classical Civilizations. Whether or not that’s too narrow as one of her teachers suggested is a whole other thread. She wants to go on to study one of these at Uni. Neither DH or I went to Uni (but have the goal that all our children will attend and have saved for their whole lives) so not sure what to advise her on.
The issue is I was chatting with a colleague whose DS is also going into y12 and she said that since there no jobs in those subjects besides teaching, that it would be a waste for DD to pick one. She told me she pushed her DS to do practical subjects for that reason.
I know the advice here is to let them study what they like (and that’s what we encouraged) but now DH and I are worried that she won’t have any prospects out of Uni that she’ll like. She’s dead set against being a teacher (says that some of her classmates are horrible to them and she doesn’t want to deal with that).
So wise mumsnet tees, if you managed to read until the end, did anyone study those subjects at Uni and what sort of jobs do you have now? Just to ease our worries and maybe help guide DD into what she ultimately chooses? TIA!

Something like 80% of graduate schemes don't mind what subject you studied for your degree.

Very few careers need a vocational degree.

My dd took Eng lit (and French and geog), got a great degree in Eng lit (also considered class civ) and is working in a library. Yeeeh it’s not MN top lawyer or engineer, but she enjoys it and it’s genuinely valuable in the community. Also for her as she has MH issues and it’s great for her to be doing a public-facing role.

She considered a masters in publishing (and might still) but not just yet as she has had her fill of assessed essays for a while.

If your dd took maths and physics and a degree in engineering, if she hated those subjects she probably might not even get as far as uni, and once there would most likely drop out. You really have to love your subject.

@UsingChangeofName
thats a relief to know

@clary theres no danger of any maths degree here 😅She inherited that straight from me. Both those sound like lovely career paths!

Getting a degree means you have a degree. It’s evidence of a base level of intelligence and application and opens the door to an infinite number of graduate level jobs. Specialist jobs, or specific professions require further qualifications.

If your daughter wanted to become a doctor it would be sensible to study medicine straight off. But quite honestly a good degree in English, Classics, History or any Humanities subject will enable her to join any graduate training programme or move on to postgrad study. And she’ll have spent three years doing something she enjoys.

Obviously everyone has different views and your colleague is entitled to theirs. But imagine a world where from today nobody studied Arts or Humanities subjects … It would be the most terrifying horror story ever.

Fingers crossed that despite any lack of natural ability she has really applied herself to Maths and Science subjects at GCSE. The stronger her exam grades across the board, the more competitive she’ll be as a job applicant in her final year at university.

@WhatWillIWear That’s what we were hoping , that by having a degree and doing well by studying something she enjoys, naturally something would turn up. Universities wouldn’t offer the subject if it’s useless, right? We just know from the experience of not having them that getting the degree is important! She does study very hard. We’re hoping for 6s in sciences and maths, a 7 in French, and 8s in Everything else.

People don’t wait for ‘something to turn up’ these days, @Goodgriefdh55 ! Young people (or anyone of any age taking a first degree) have to be proactive in identifying the sort of path they want to take and positioning themselves to be a string competitor for suitable opportunities.

It’s wise to familiarise oneself with the university careers service early on, and endeavour to get a clear idea of when you need to apply for things.

And it helps to engage in extracurricular activities at the highest level possible, both to show evidence of teamwork, leadership, creativity, and to develop resilience and a hopefully supportive network of friends and contacts. For every person who might say they’ve succeeded in life without friends or contacts, there are countless others whose lives have been made significantly easier because there’s a network of people they can call on for a favour … By which I don’t mean a job - rather something like a few nights free accommodation for interviews or work experience at the other end of the country. Or a chat with a friend’s parent who knows about the career you dream of entering. Or someone who can lend a suit, or a suitcase, at the last moment. Or the boy or girl a couple of years ahead at Uni who’s now in a job and can write your first reference, purely because you acted in a play, or sang in a choir, together one term …

For the courses she is planning on doing at A level, I just looked up the degree equivalents and there is always a "career opportunities" part where they detail where the degree can lead. Those subjects can lead to a myriad of different job opportunities and not just bloody teaching. It is always best for your child to study A levels that they love as this means they hopefully remain interested and gain high grades from putting in the work.

Basically to drill down into these subjects it is best to start looking now so that your DD goes into this with her eyes open about grades and expectations. Start at the top, google top UK universities for <insert subject> and from the list look at the course at that uni. There is a UCAS code for every subject ie Q300 is English Literature (sometimes it includes language too) so you can short cut with Q300 and the name of the university and see the entry grades required. Please be aware that these entry grades are the lowest grades they will take a candidate in on and so lots of applicants will have higher grades. For things like English and History some universities require examples of their work too.

However, it is good to see what can be combined with English Lit such as English Lit with History or with theatre studies or with Classical Civilisations etc all at Warwick University. There are uni open days too in September, try to get to your local one just so she gets a feel for a place too.

@WhatWillIWear great advice, thank you. She’s active in clubs and activities currently but we’ll keep encouraging her to take advantage of all the opportunities being at a uni offers

@bucketoflego we’re definitely planning on attending open days or having her attend them by herself if she wants. But we’ll encourage her to keep googling career options. Right now she thinks she wants to be a museum curator or work in the publishing industry so we’ll see what else is out there

Have a look at the History course at Lancaster. It looks quite interesting and is more practical than some. They have an integrated heritage placement option as well as a Historian in a Digital Age course which will be good for transferable skills.

My son wants to study history and then ideally get on a general management graduate programme for a train/public transport company or failing that the civil service. Engineering would have been a practical choice for him - but he has no interest in it so doubt he would have made it through the course if we has pushed him down that route.

Have a look at UEA - lots of English related courses. But also with the Sainsbury Centre on campus, they offer modules in gallery management etc.

this might be worth a read https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2023/03/30/humanities-education-is-a-uk-strength-new-report-shows-it-is-a-mistake-to-set-up-a-humanities-vs-stem-contest/

@Jaxx Thanks! Those sound quite interesting. We’ll have her take a look

@Seeline Thanks! We’ll add to our list of places to research

@boys3 interesting read! And very reassuring!

@Goodgriefdh55 Nothing wrong with those subjects. Degree matters though. What and where.

The Institute of Fiscal Studies found English grads don’t earn as much as History grads. I don’t think CCiv grads were listed. With those a levels she could look at a broad range of degrees and careers. University opens up all sorts of options. It’s also a good idea to do as much as possible at uni, especially for publishing. It’s a long way from a history degree to a museum curator.