Is this A level combo too random?

[WhatAlevel]

DS is Y11 and thinking about A levels - he has no idea what he wants to do for A levels or after. He is a G5 - G8 type student - he has done no revision so far, if he pulls his finger out hopefully towards the higher end.

His strongest subject is Maths and his weakest English Lit. Does well at German, Geography and DT.

He really wants my advice on what to do for A levels. I have said whatever you think will sustain your interest for two years.. and keep your options open. He is adamant he isn't doing double maths.

So he could go fully STEM - Maths, Physics, Chemistry probably 'easiest' for him.

He could take one essay based subject - he is interested in doing economics or politics.

I have a slightly random suggestion that he does Maths, Economics and Graphic Design. Is it too random? it would probably support most humanity type degrees but might make it hard to get on a physics course.

I work in public sector policy and I am surrounded by service designers and data visualisers which seems the direction everything is going as life becomes ever more digital and integrates AI. Also I just think he'd find it interesting. But should I just encourage an easier, more integrated set of A levels)?

How about Maths, Physics and Geography. That is a common combination and plays to his strengths.

He doesn't like the physical aspects of Geography - he likes the political ones. hence Maths, Physics, Economics (or politics).

If he wanted to study physics at uni he would certainly need physics A level so yes, the combo you suggest would make it very hard to get on a physics course.

Maths, econ and GD would lead nicely to a degree in economics (maybe not at the very top unis who will want FM but still plenty of options) or something like PPE. Or could direct him towards graphic design – is that an area he is interested in? If he subbed in physics for GD he could look at engineering as well as physics.

Tbh facilitating subjects are no longer looked for by unis as such but if a student is undecided about future direction, it can be a good idea to choose from that list – because it represents subjects needed for certain degrees. So to take Eng lit – if you want to do a degree in that then you need it at A level, pretty much. Same for chemistry, physics, biology, maths, geography, MFL. But to study (say) psychology or econ or philosophy or surprsingly, history (at some unis) you don't need the A level. So choosing some (for want of a better word) traditional subjects – like, in his case, maths, geog, German, physics, chemistry – would simply keep more doors open.

Thanks really helpful in helping thinking this through. The really difficult bit is trying to get DS involved in making the decision!

Dc 2 is doing alevels and wanted physics, maths and economics but couldn't do economics because of timetable conflict so had to go for a backup option which was politics (and absolutely loves it). He was told its good to have an essay based subject (to show range of ability) alongside science/maths based subjects. So i would make sure you have a solid 4th option too.
Another option he was looking at was physics, chemistry and maths because he thinks he wants to be an engineer so could open more areas at uni, but then decided it was too science/maths based and therefore wanted to keep more options open incase engineering wasn't what he wanted in the end.
Also if ds gets the lower end of his predicted grades have you looked at btecs, apprenterships etc? This was dc1 who did btec in health and then to university. The issue with this is you need to have an area in mind. Dc2 looked at engineering and applied science level 3 btecs.

Have posted this before but when my DC were choosing A-Levels I encouraged them to draw a Venn diagram of ‘subjects I like’, ‘subjects I think I could do well at’ and ‘subjects that would be needed for a future degree/career’. It’s not a perfect approach but did help to have some conversations and consider/reject different subjects.

Bear in mind that if there is any chance that DS might want to do Economics at university he’ll have more options if he has maths. Maths and Computer Science need Further Maths for competitive courses and medicine almost certainly needs chemistry (and ideally biology). None of those may apply here but some of DC’s friends were caught out in Y13 when they realised that maths, for example, would have given them more options for degrees.

It might be a random suggestion, but would he consider a physics and philosophy degree? Would that be something that interests him?

Maths/Physics/Economics or Maths/Economics/Geograohy or Maths/Physics/Graphic Design.

If he gets a high grade in Maths he could also consider Further Maths.

I don’t really understand the thinking behind your suggestion. Why graphic design- is it something he actually wants to do? Has he expressed an interest in data visualisation? Seems to me an area that will simply be taken over by AI in about 5 minutes. Not to say he shouldn’t do it but I think these odd combinations work best if they are driven by the student, because they can be a route into the perfect niche. If the GD idea is yours not his, that won’t apply.

Maths, physics and chemistry would set him up for medicine if that’s of interest. Or maths, economics, politics for social sciences.

He's definitely doing Maths - just not further maths. It's more maths + what

He's not doing Further Maths and I think unlikely to be getting A* not looking at Medicine or Maths or the most competitive unis.

My thinking is that he is so unsure of what he wants to do, it might be good to keep something creative. He enjoys DT and visual arts and he's better at it than essays. However I think maths, physics, politics/economics gives the most options.

Maths Design and any other (especially Physics) would set up for a degree and career in architecture. Long study and training pathway though to professional qualification.

Is Product design (DT a-level) offered at any of the sixth forms / colleges your son is looking at? It might be a good fit with maths/physics/graphic design/engineering.

This is all really helpful. I stumbled across architecture as being an obvious route from maths and design. Great if he loves it but comparatively badly paid for a long training and a lot of designing same loft extension over and over.

Suspect he is going to end up in some version of an office job - finance, accounting, project management, service designer, risk but who knows what office jobs will look like in 5 to 10 years when AI comes for the most routine bits of it.

Really wish he wanted to be a plumber or something. He is not practical.

I have DC who took Maths, a science and a humanity at A level and enjoyed the mix and it did keep options open.

One did consider Graphic Design A level and another Politics. In both cases, I got them to study the syllabus details and look at past exam papers.

One felt Graphic Design was likely to be a time sap and drain on the other A levels and the other felt Politics was a bit dry with its focus on the constitution.

Your DC may feel very differently about either subject - the point is that some due diligence at this stage can be very helpful in narrowing down options. Important to know what you will actually be studying, not what you assume you will be studying.

Architecture could also open doors into construction plenty of people train as an architect and go on to become design managers for main contractors which is probably better paid, also comes with decent pension and healthcare if a tier 1 contractor.

DS2 is also in yr 11 and wants to do a degree in aeronautical engineering.

He has chosen Maths, Physics and Art for a'level. He needs Maths and Physics and also wants a more creative subject

Maths + physics + one other keeps engineering etc open. An essay subject as the third keeps lots of humanities degrees open. Graphic design is fairly unusual option so almost nowhere wil expect it so only take it if it really fits with possible future degree or professional direction. German could make him stand out if he likes it enough.

If he's not practical then maybe engineering or graphic design are not ideal future plans?

Politics or economics are great A level choices for sure, but neither keeps open any specific degree options, tho of course if you enjoy A level politics then that's a good sign for a politics degree. But it’s not required. In the senes of keeping options open, geography would be a better choice. But it’s also important (obvs) that the choices are something he will enjoy and thus do well at.

An A grade in politics is much more useful going forward than a C in "but it keeps options open" geography. Not saying he would get a C but if he is not engaged then it won't end well.

What does he want to do @WhatAlevel ? Any chance of any taster sessions on new subjects?

Surely doing the subjects he loves and would therefore do well in is the best option?

You say that maths, physics and chemistry would be the "easiest" options - would they also be options that he enjoys?

If so, I think that sounds pretty good and would keep his options open. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think doing all STEM would rule out an essay based subject as uni (speaking as someone who did maths, further maths, physics and chemistry, and then got a pretty good joint honours degree in philosophy - albeit a long time ago!).

The only issue I found was that doing all STEM at school blinded me to uni options which would have been open to me but which I didn't realise existed (I initially started out in a STEM degree before realising I was more suited to philosophy). But hopefully with your guidance he will be able to keep an open mind 🙂

Really hard to say what he enjoys that's what I am trying to get out of him. He is most interested in the DT/graphic design but I don't think he will go down a pure design route. And so seems a gamble. He is very interested in the 'about the world' humanity subjects but he is much more suited to doing lots of questions calculation type questions than writing long essays. Maths comes very easy to him but he has no interest in doing it, or any science, for fun. I have a relative who did Maths at Cambridge and was definitely doing lots of extra maths from age of 10. It's a struggle to get DS to do homework never mind revision.

So it doesn't make sense in the way you'd expect and he is clueless on what he might want to do for a degree/work.

I'm a bit prepared to make him choose and then let him change when he starts.

On tasters - he's had two taster days - irritatingly they gave him familiar subject lessons and not econ, politics etc. We've just been to an open day which is what is making me think about it. The teachers he talked to (rather than me leading the convos) were Graphic Designs and Maths. Was interested in the economics and chemistry displays. Did a detour to the 3d design area which is a BTEC and he doesn't want to do it - wanted to show us the models.

Could he do maths, physics and graphic design? That seems a good combination and also leaves the door open for physics/engineering type degrees, and also economics as you don’t need an A level in it to do a degree.

Maths, physics and DT. Great combination that leads onto many different paths.