A Level choices - Maths plus ? ? Advice appreciated

[Madeinessex]

Sorry it’s long as trying to get relevant info in the opening post.

DS is struggling to decide on his A levels, so we are working backwards from what degree he may want to study. His favourite and best subject is maths. He won’t change that as an A level. He works hard and gets good grades.

Post 6th form he has his eye on
finance/economics/business/actuarial degrees type degree’s. But that could change!

Which of these options would give him a better chance of studying the above. He would prefer RG uni, but I think that’s just because it’s talked about a lot amongst his friends, that idea may change once he visits different unis.

Unfortunately physics and economics can’t be taken together as they are a timetable clash. Maths, Physics and Economics would be his ideal mix, but it can’t be done.
Also, 6th form will only allow further maths as a 4th A level and not as part of the choice of 3.

Choices would be:

1- Maths, Economics and Biology
2-Maths, Physics and Business Studies

He enjoys all equally, so he is not concerned about that, he just wants to pick the ones that give him the best chance.

He will also do an EPQ.

He seems to think that B Studies is seen as a lesser A level, I’m not sure if that is true, however it doesn’t appear on RG preferred subjects. Would taking this be an issue?

He seems to think choice 1 will give him a better chance of getting on the degree he wants as they are preferred subjects. He thinks choice 2 will be an easier route as Bus Studies is a soft A level and will be easier to score a good grade, but may not get him on the degree course. (I’ve pointed out the jump from GCSE to A level is huge and there isn’t an ‘easy’ A level otherwise everyone would do it)

I think choice 1 looks a bit random as biology doesn’t ‘fit’ with the other 2 subjects, but it on the preferred subject lists. He’d have no use for the biology after 6th form.
I suggested choice 2 as it seems a sensible compromise with BS for Economics and both look useful after 6th form with his intended degree choice, but he keeps saying B Stud isn’t on the preferred list.

The only other 6th form in striking distance has gone into special measures, kids and teachers are leaving in droves, so it’s not an option.

Does anyone have any experience they can share on this. Or any advice. Or suggestions.

Thanks for making to the end of this post!

What does he want to do after uni? There's a lot of focus on uni courses and things that go well with maths, but where does he see himself when he is 25 or 30? Is uni essential for that?
For example, I'm a chartered accountant, trained in a top ten firm. We had an outstanding apprenticeship scheme for school leavers and would have viewed accounting or finance degrees as a bit of a waste of time and money - you learn better and faster on the job, qualify faster and with zero debt.
I would strongly advise your son to think beyond uni to careers he may be interested in, find out if those careers have apprenticeship options, and if that appeals to him. If so, my own experience was that employers care more about grades than subjects so he should just do what he loves, but he should definitely check out employers he might be interested in to see what they would be looking for, both in school leavers and graduates.
Good luck

@JaukiVexnoydi @Dukeydo the only other school in striking distance has just gone into special measures, so the choice is severely limited. Private school is out of the question as we couldn’t afford it.

@HolidayPlansAPlanning school only allows FM with a min of grade 8. Maths is his thing. He has consistently got 9s in mocks, mini mocks, past papers, apart from once when he got an 8 when he miss read a question. He wasn’t happy about that, but it was a lesson learned. August will be the acid test when the results are out, he is quietly confident of being accepted on to FM with the grade required.
Maths and FM are taken side by side and the exams for both are at the end of yr13. There is no taking one exam in yr12 and one in y13.
He would def be heading for BSc as opposed to BHons.

@birdsongismyfave he isn’t sure what he wants to do after A levels. He has thought about Actuary and tax management/consulting. However, that isn’t set in stone and could change. He has looked at going straight into a professional role after A levels, but without a definite career idea he would be reluctant to commit to a route without being totally sure. The thought of zero debt and a qualification was very appealing to him when I told him. You post has made me think I need to take him (and the other DCs) to a careers fair, just to get a feel for what is available job wise and the route to get there. We will do the Uni open days, so it makes sense to do this too. I

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to this thread, you’ve no idea how useful this is for DS and me.

If he's into tax work, get him to look at ACA/CTA joint qualification which could be funded by an employer on an apprenticeship.

Maths degrees lead to a wide choice of work. Apprenticeships are much harder to get. Only around 3500 18 year olds get them at the moment. People talk about them as equivalent to degrees for 18 year olds but most degree apprenticeships go to existing adult employers. So do be aware that apprenticeships at top firms are very hard to get. With a maths degree you have more choice and wide employment options. Degree finance is not debt. It’s a grad tax. If you earn well, pay chunks of it off if you can to reduce your tax.

Yes agree withb@TizerorFizz I hear a lot of talk on here and in RL about degree apprenticeships, but in fact very few students get them, and anecdotally apprenticeships in general are not always great.

Maths degree from RG uni or Bath, Lancaster - you'll not go wrong.

@clary Absolutely. Don’t maths grads get £25,000 if they sign up to teach? That.is a decent amount.

Something like that! And still they don't want to do it as they can earn more money elsewhere (and not have to teach! Haha) This is a big issue for schools actually (less of an issue for English or history) - maths grads can command good salaries. Mate of Ds2's was earning 25k in his placement year fgs.

Biology or Economics A Level?

DS2 has to make his final subject choices this week. He will definitely do Maths, Further Maths and Physics. He has to do a fourth subject (FM only available as a fourth). Can’t decide between Biology and Economics.

He has enjoyed Biology GCSE but has heard that the A Level is hard and in particular is very content heavy and has quite pernickity mark schemes. He likes the idea of Economics but not entirely keen on long essays (although has done well so far in History so he can do them).

Any thoughts on which is a better option??

He doesn’t know what he might want to do at Uni …

Sorry posted this in the wrong place!

@FarnhamMum no worries. Just read this thread, it’s been a gold mine of information for us.