Humanities or Sciences- best A levels for a future career

[jennylamb1]

My son is due to choose his GCSE options soon. He is most interested in physics, chemistry, history and geography in addition to the core compulsory subjects and possibly RE/ethics and Spanish. He can do maths and is in the top set but doesn't really like it. My question is, can he take physics/chemistry further without having to do A level maths? He loves history and has an interest in geography. I feel that geography probably offers more job prospects given climate change and the issues that will be more present in the future. He would enjoy a history degree however I wonder how it would dovetail into a fruitful career.

You've not mentioned that your son has any particular career choice in mind, so I will assume that he doesn't know.
If he doesn't have a specific career in mind the main thing is to pick a range of subjects (which most schools enforce anyway, due to their options picking process!) that minimise limitations to future options and to pick subjects that he enjoys as he's more likely to do well at them. Don't get too hung up about future career at this point - his preferences may well change a dozen times before he gets to that point!

In answer to your questions - A Level maths is generally considered essential to take A Level physics and heavily recommended for chemistry (although taking Core Maths might be sufficient). It will also be useful if he wishes to pursue a career in STEM. It's too early to be picking A Levels now but I would say that IMO maths A Level is more interesting that GCSE, so don't write it off just yet!

History is great as a choice to gain analytical skills, the ability to write well, the ability to summarise key points and to understand different viewpoints. These are all highly relevant skills for lots of careers!

Great advice thanks, yes, he's looking at a wide spread at GCSE. He will be the guide for what he would like to do, however I work at a university and the options do really interest me and I do love to plan ahead. :)

Science, sorry. Hardly any decent careers in humanities!

There are lots of decent careers in humanities. It sounds like a balanced set of subjects he's choosing but I'd be wary of trying to take the sciences further without continuing maths.

At GCSE he should keep as wide a base as he can within his skillset and interest.
So if he hates X or is poor at it he shouldn't do it, but otherwise don't overthink.

He may not be so keen on maths now, but can change his mind in 2 years. If he doesn't like maths by the end of y11 he's unlikely to want to do Physics A level either.

Broadly speaking, if they do what they enjoy are good at it is more likely to led to a degree/career they will thrive in.

At gcse ds did the 3 sciences plus history and geography. For a levels he is doing biology, chemistry and geography. He discounted physics as an a level as he did not want to do maths. Chemistry is however quite maths heavy.

You don't mention computing? I'd say there's money to be made in computing careers....not sure if AI will change this. But guess someone has to write the AI?

Yes, computing is a good shout too. The teaching of computing at his school has been a bit patchy and he doesn't ever get any homework for it which seems surprising, the school has struggled to recruit for the subject which might be the underlying issue.

He could well change what he likes and is best at by the time he chooses his A Levels - I’d really try not to worry too much now just encourage him to have a broad spread of subjects at GCSE and see how things go after that

I wouldn't worry about computing at school, maths and physics A levels are more useful than a computing GCSE if he wants to move in that direction.

Doing Maths, English, a language, Triple Science, History or Geography plus one other at GCSE gives the most options for A level and University. It's choosing A levels that really cuts down options so that's the point at which he should really check his options. Maths A level is required for a lot of science degrees (not all).

I think most schools recommend doing Maths and Physics A-levels together. However, our ds did Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Computer Science A-levels without Maths and got A in all of them. Maths is certainly not required with A-level Chemistry. Our dd did Chemistry A-level without Maths. Both were decent mathematicians, but like your ds OP, they didn't enjoy Maths.

Many science degrees require maths. Maybe not biology but certainly engineering will do. Economics is also
fairly maths heavy. Geography is enhanced by maths if you move on to environmental science. It’s not always needed but maths opens doors. Without it, a lot close.

Humanities can lead to many careers. Eg law. I would say it’s better to aim high regarding uni though. History at Durham will trump History at somewhere with a low tariff. Many employers take history grads onto their grad schemes. Loads of opportunities.

@jennylamb1 a couple of things, A level physics either requires maths A level or most colleges make them do core maths which is half way between GCSE and A level because GCSE maths alone isn't enough to support their understanding of A level physics maths components.

I know a PP said don't worry about computing and instead maths and physics if they are interested in computer science but firstly having the underlying knowledge for either A level computer science wiht GCSE or degree computer science with the A level lets you hit the ground running. Some courses are more maths based, these tend to be the top universities so Cambridge etc.

For some subjects like physics and computer science although a university won't specifically state futher maths a huge percentage of the applicants for the top universities will have it so it would disadvantage an applicant a little. Also it means that someone taking 3 A levels is likely to be up against applicants with 4 A levels as further maths is often taken as a 4th A level. Only a small percentage take 4 A levels and shows they can handle a slightly larger work load.

With all that in mind I would say the aim of the game is to get the highest GCSE grades and that usually goes hand in hand with enjoying a subject. That being said you can still get a high grade in a subject you don't enjoy if you can see the bigger picture and understand that school is about education not necessarily enjoying every part of it.

I’ve got a chemistry PhD and yet then pivoted and became a Big 4 trained accountant. Get him to do what he loves and excel at it. On my training course (Deloitte) we had historians, mathematicians, someone with an English degree and three of us with PhDs (intake in that office was about 20). DM was a City lawyer and her firm actively recruited modern linguists as they did a lot of work in Europe. Making smart decisions about doing a respected degree and then using it will do him much better than a 2:2 in Economics because he thought it would get him a better job than a 1st in History.

Thanks for the highly informed answers. He does love history, he's doing a spread for GCSE, so I guess we'll see how he gets on within the different subjects areas. I'm a little more militant about him being able to be get into a job that earns good money now, since I am doing a PhD in the arts/humanities and have seen the stark difference in income between those working in arts/heritage and the commercial sector.

A 2:2 doesn’t get you far these days. A friend’s DS got a 2:2 in maths from Cambridge. If took him a year to get a job. Doing well now but the 2:2 closed many doors.

If you are great at maths and sciences, you know they are for you. Ditto history and humanities or MFLs. Most dc do find their preferred subjects and go with them. Few schools allow many options at GCSE either so there’s not a huge choice. You need to be good at the EBac subjects and build on them with subject strengths to get high grades all round. If you have a narrower portfolio of GCSEs, this is pushing dc into sciences, arts or humanities. My DD1 did 2 MFLs because she was good at them. So build on strengths.

Jobs in arts are always fairly poorly paid if they are grant funded or charities. There just isn’t the money available.