Sociology or Politics A-level

[Overgrowngardener]

DD is just applying to 6th forms and can’t decide on a third subject (History and Spanish are definite). She is thinking of taking up something new - eg. politics or sociology - rather than plump for English or RE. Is this a good idea and are politics and sociology A-levels equally well-regarded? Are they harder than RE or English?

For context, she is predicted all 9s, other than 7 in Maths and 7-7 in Combined Science. She knows she doesn’t want to do STEM at Uni - more like Spanish and International Relations or Spanish and Business.

MN likes politics . Not sure why it is seen as more acceptable. Perhaps because it is offered at more selective schools.
I'm a sociology teacher and I think it is very demanding. It teaches proper theory and academic writing and tackles real world issues.

Politics imo is quite dry and not always what students expect. RS , likewise, is more religious than they think it will be. Both are narrower than sociology.

English is entirely different. Has the benefit of coursework but history also has coursework so that may be a negative.

I think any you suggested are good choices with history and Spanish.

Since your daughter wants to do Spanish & International Relations at uni, I'd suggest politics.

I did politics A-Level and it definitely wasn't dry, but very interesting. That might well have been down to my teacher's style - really engaging!

Both are sound choices. Have her look at the curriculum for both to see which interests her more.

I would look at the syllabus for politics and sociology for any sixth form or college that she's applying to, and also whether she'd be able to apply to study Spanish with International Relations (or with Business) with either, or with other subjects. Language degrees often involve components (history/politics/literature etc) where any of the other subjects she's considering would be relevant/helpful.

Totally agree with this

No expert knowledge but DD has just started Sociology A level after also considering Politics or English Lit and is really loving it. She thinks History & Eng Lit together would have meant a huge amount of reading and coursework.

I'd look and see how big the departments are. There is a shortage of sociology teachers around our area, and entire classes were left with supply teachers which was a nightmare.

Politics is often taught by history teachers, but you need to check that it is taught well.

Ds took Politics, but is his passion anyway so he did okay. Rest of his class, less were less successful.