Advice on A level choices. How are children supposed to know at 15 what career?

[Spamfrit]

I know this is nothing new, and like most people are worried (probably unnecessarily) of DS making a mistake in his A level choices and cutting off options.
I think he’s a 7/8 GCSE level kid in most subjects bar Spanish. Has taken history/art/DT options too.
He did work experience with a big global food brand and quite fancies marketing/advertising/branding etc.
He is naturally creative and arty. His first thoughts for A level were DT product design, Art and Maths.
His school advised him to maybe consider business. His strongest subject is probably English.
Any thoughts to those in the business. Does a marketing degree lead onto good things? Are there opportunities? What A levels would anyone advise? Thanks

https://www.theuniguide.co.uk/a-level-explorer
Try getting him to put different options into this and see what he likes.
Also trying taster sessions is good.
Dc3 wanted to do economics but couldn't due to timetable clashes. Has friends that have swapped from business to economics.
Also look at the btecs see if any he likes.
You spend a lot of time on each subject at alevel so you need to enjoy them. Also if theres something they're naturally good at it helps. Dc2 picked history for this reason and is predicted a star but won't take it further its just a subject that needs less effort so can put more time into the ones they really need.
Have a backup incase a course is full/clashes with other subject choices.

I would also look at degree apprenticeships. Those student debts mount up quickly and the job market is dire at the moment.

A level choices seem fine to me. I think following what you like is a very good thing unless you have a particular career in mind (eg Medicine) that has specific A level requirements.

I'm a bit surprised the school are pushing Business to be honest. I think good unis tend to prefer Economics to Business, if that's a concern for your DS. Here is a link to the LSE's preferred v non-preferred subject list: https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Undergraduate/Prospective-Students/How-to-Apply/Admissions-Information

Architecture?

For that I think he'd need Maths, Physics/FM and Art.

I'd query doing Product Design && Art, just because he might be closing off a number of other options as he'd have no 'essay' subject and also no 'science'.

(But I have no current personal experience of A levels and Uni choices.)

I think PD and art could be a lot of coursework so he should be wary of that. But then he has done them both for GCSE – has that been OK?

I work for a marketing agency and AI is a big issue tbh, so who knows what the jobs market will look like in the future. Many of our designers studied graphic design at uni, so the initially suggested A levels would work with that; if he wanted to go into the marketing side of things, any A levels that interested him and that he would enjoy and do well in would be good. English lit or lang is fine (be aware that A level lang is very different from the GCSE).

He should deffo do what he enjoys. Does he love maths? What grade is he likely to get in GCSE? If a hard-won 7 it’s perhapsnot the best A level choice.

Don’t do both Art and PD - pick one. English would be good, opens Comms degrees/careers. Then either Maths or Business depending on grade potential.

I recommend students choose subjects they CAN do and ENJOY - they usually gives them a shot list, then think about what goes together, trying to keep as many doors open as possible - there is usually a general move towards/away from core areas such as science, tech, arts and then lots take a mix of English/geography/history/maths and then the ‘new’ subjects such as sociology/psychology/G&P etc. We only have a few taking mfl but other schools will have lots.
Have they had a career guidance appt? Chat with head of 6th form? Both should be able to give guidance.

Suggest that he draws a Venn diagram with three circles - one for subjects he really enjoys, one for subjects he thinks he’ll do well at, and one for any subjects that might be essential for a future career path or degree choice (e.g. chemistry for anything medical, maths for economics/computer science)

Once he’s done that it opens up a conversation around what’s in the middle, do they complement each other, how would he feel if those were his choices?

Thanks for this link. It would make sense for him to choose at least 2 from the preferred list

Thanks for this link, it would make sense for him to at least choose 2 from the preferred list

Thanks. Do you know why his friends swapped from business to economics. Economics does seem to fall under the preferred subjects list and Business seen as a weaker choice?

Just asked dc and they've realised that the unis they want to apply for prefer economics. He says 3 of his friends have done this.

I think he’d love to get a degree apprenticeship. I imagine there is a lot of competition. The business he did work experience does offer them some years. Getting paid £25k+ and getting a degree sounds like a lovely option

Does he want to go to LSE? It’s hardly surprising that the London School of Economics would prefer Economics - have a look at other institutions and what they’d want for courses he’s interested in.

Yes, physics as a science does go well with Maths and does seem to open up a lot of options. But he’s not keen on physics, out of the 3 sciences he ‘gets it’ less.
Economics is seen as a science? Possible essay parts?

He should choose what he enjoys and what he’s good at and worry less about career at the moment. I’m a highly paid professional in the media and I did English. There is so much bashing of arts courses at the moment but we still need people doing English and creative subjects. What he needs to focus on is getting experience whatever he does. So if he chooses university, he also needs to be getting some work experience in his chosen subject throughout the course.

it is only worth keeping options open if he might want to go down those routes.
I was just worried that with your initial list he seems to be closing both science and humanities routes.

If he doesn't like physics then he probably won't like degrees for which Physics is needed either.

Hmmm I think he has to work at the maths and he says he is trying hard. The school has got him on an intervention at maths so is doing extra maths instead of PE currently. Described as available to kids that are trying hard and may need a boost at certain grade boundaries predicted ‘7 maybe 8 is in his grasp’ at parents eve.
I get the time heavy nature of Art. He spent a lot of his Christmas on his art sketchbook. But I can see the pride he has in it, but he understands it maybe something he continues out of study

I’ll be super blunt. A level in business studies is a bad idea as is a degree in marketing. Virtually everyone I know who works in marketing does NOT have a marketing degree. My company has probably about 10 marketing type people - not a single one with a marketing degree.

I can’t advise on what your DS should do but I definitely know that business studies is not a particularly respected A-level and that a marketing degree is borderline unusable in the real world. Please also remember marketing hires have collapsed due to AI…

Thankyou I totally appreciate the ‘blunt’. I had suspected a lot of what you’ve said

I work with one the biggest marketing agency in the world and no one has marketing degrees. It is all about AI now and customer behaviours. Behavioural economics is super useful and also any art skills as AI produces a lot of crap and people need an eye and an understanding of people and their target customer to choose what will cut. Anthropology very useful too. I would suggest to google the key directors of the biggest marketing agencies and see their background. It will change quickly though!

Really, A levels are the most intense learning they will ever do. Unless they want to go into a really specialised area like medicine they need to do A levels in subjects they enjoy, otherwise it will be a miserable 2 years for everyone.

I'd be wary of Maths, given the effort he has to put in to be a 7/8 candidate at GCSE. I'd be asking his maths teacher whether he is a strong candidate and what A level grades pupils with his profile usually attain.

Not sure if it is still the case, but Business used to be a vocational subject typically taken by weaker students.

The competition for degree apprenticeships is huge, Literally 100’s of applications for each spot. I reckon it is easier to get into Oxford or Cambridge!