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Higher education

Talk to other parents whose children are preparing for university on our Higher Education forum.

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Original poster

Please help DD choose her A levels

71 replies

sydenhamhiller · 21/10/2021 12:18

We have received so much helpful advice from MN for y13 DS navigating med school application, I would be so grateful for some guidance for Y11 DD1.

DS always knew he wanted to be a Dr, so could aim at the A levels he wanted/ needed. DD is opposite: lockdown has sucked all the enjoyment out of education/ her subjects for her... she's not sure what she wants to do for A levels or beyond that.

She's academic: at a girls grammar school, expected 8s and 9s. She is not much of a reader - enjoys English, but knows she does not want to do it for A level. In y9/10 she thought she wanted to do engineering, but now she is doing if for GCSE and did a virtual work placement with BAE systems, she is no longer as keen.

She was considering Maths, Economics and Psychology.
Maths: She is in the top set of 6 for maths, she's good at it. She doesn't love it, but is clear sighted enough to be saying it's a 'handy' A level to have, and leaves lots of doors open.
Economics: she read something about only 20% of Economics students are girls, so she thought that might be a good field to go into.
Psychology: she needs a 3rd 'thinks this might be interesting'. I am very old, and very out of touch, and I just worry about certain subjects not being as 'well regarded' as others.

I know core subjects and facilitating subjects have been done any with, but it's stuck with me!

Any advice/ tips/ things to avoid? School is a bit.... meh. And of course, it really is up to DD1 to choose, but she doesn't know what to pick, and it's starting to stress her out. Thank you.

OP posts:

Palavah · 21/10/2021 12:22

That sounds like a great combination and with good rationale.

(I did arts and languages and bemoan my lack of technical qualification!)

Palavah · 21/10/2021 12:23

Ps is she aware of behavioural economics as a field of study?

Tessa2014 · 21/10/2021 12:25

Psychology a-level is not as well regarded. With 8s and 9s she should be doing something like a language, or history/English or physics/bio/Chem.

Sorry to be blunt but have a lot of experience as a teacher and also in uni admissions.

AliceinBorderland · 21/10/2021 12:26

She has no idea what she wants to do for alevels or beyond.

She doesn't have to do alevels.

ThirdElephant · 21/10/2021 12:26

Back in the day, we did four in year 12 and dropped to three for year 13. Gives her room to try another additional one and puts off picking a direction until later. Plus gets her an AS qualification. Is that still a thing these days?

aftonwater · 21/10/2021 12:28

That sounds like a pretty sound combination to me. I've always encouraged my dc to make choices which leave as many doors open for as long as possible. This combination does just that.

coronabeer · 21/10/2021 12:32

I'm an economics graduate.

Honestly, it's a really bad idea to do a subject just because "few girls" do it.

What is your daughter actually interested in?

Nat6999 · 21/10/2021 12:33

What about Sociology instead of psychology? It would work well alongside Economics.

Trisolaris · 21/10/2021 12:44

What does she enjoy doing outside of school? Are there any things she is passionate about that could lead to a career even if not an obvious pathway that if you share might help posters steer you?

clary · 21/10/2021 12:57

I don't think there is anything wrong with those choices, and they will open doors at university if that's what she wants... but it doesn't sound as if she wants to do them.

If maths is not something she loves, I would think twice about taking three A levels which all have a maths element (that is my understanding of psychology anyway, but it's not my subject so apologies if that's not right).

Has she had a look at the specs? Can she sit in on a year 12 class to see what the subjects are like? Or at least talk to someone who is taking them?

Does she want to go to uni? What might she want to do in later life - can she work back from there? I appreciate that must be hard, especially with the 18 months we have had.

Musmerian · 21/10/2021 13:15

@Tessa2014

Psychology a-level is not as well regarded. With 8s and 9s she should be doing something like a language, or history/English or physics/bio/Chem.

Sorry to be blunt but have a lot of experience as a teacher and also in uni admissions.

While I’m not a huge fan of Psychology A level and think it’s not as challenging as others I teach in a very academic school and it’s a pretty popular A level here. Most of our students end up at Russell Group Universities including Oxbridge so if she really wants to do it I think that’s fine.

NaturalBlondeYeahRight · 21/10/2021 13:22

I agree with @musmerian in that Psychology is very popular and three good a levels including all of those will get her in to a very good uni! What about History? That works well with the other two and is a bit more wordy so that might be a nice change from the other ones.
Both of my DD’s have just done degrees in a subject they enjoy rather than following a set career path because of being unsure which way to go. I think that’s OK, we don’t all need to know the job we want from 16.

Igneo · 21/10/2021 13:23

I’m not sure that sociology is ‘better regarded’ than psychology

Welshiefluff · 21/10/2021 13:23

If she does not know what she wants to to then pick the subjects easier to get good grades in.

Igneo · 21/10/2021 13:24

I think 3 subjects she will stay interested in for 2 years is key, rather than thinking strategically.

parietal · 21/10/2021 13:24

Maths is always a great choice. It is the one thing I look for in hiring (in psychology research).

Do one out of psychology and economics but not both. A trad subject (history / biology etc) would be better and gives more flexibility for university applications.

I teach psychology at university and think the a level is a waste of time. We'd rather have students with a broader background.

Redyellowpink · 21/10/2021 13:28

I did a psychology level and now work as a clinical psychologist. It comes in handy and is fairly well regarded in my field

JumpLeadsForTwo · 21/10/2021 13:30

My dd was interested in Economics as an a- level choice until she went to the open evening, wants to do something involving maths generally. She got the impression that Economics is very essay based, and that doesn't appeal to her. Any ideas if that is the case? Psychology was also a choice for her along with a language. She is in a similar position with no fixed codes for Uni. Tricky isn't it?!

SockFluffInTheBath · 21/10/2021 13:36

No advice OP but I’m interested to see the psychology discussion. DS is in yr 11 and considering taking it as his third subject. I’m concerned it might be seen as a bit flaky (but willing to accept I may be wrong) and not a good combination with maths & chemistry which he has his heart set on. I’m open to his third being a non science but think geography or history might be better. I’m concerned it could derail him, as he’s quite a high achiever and would hate him to scupper his uni plan with an unknown.

bubblegumunicorn · 21/10/2021 13:40

Sounds really good I'm studying psychology at Degree level and it's very interesting it's also classed as a science (BSc) very maths based at this level too! It sounds very well rounded but I would definitely recommend speaking with a. Careers advisor/doing a careers test just to make sure she doesn't close any doors especially if she likes sciences for example physics would be good if she wanted to try any sort of engineering women are very under represented in those areas too :)

Angrymum22 · 21/10/2021 13:41

I have been doing a bit of research on A level requirements for Russell group unis. Ds is bright and was predicted 8s & 9s at gcse unfortunately Covid destroyed his mental health and he totally disengaged from last Christmas, doing little work and no revision. He did manage 10 GCSEs graded 7 and above so would still qualify for most Russell group.
He has no idea what he wants to do and has chosen Psychology, biology, business studies and PE. He will drop one of them fairly soon. I would consider these easy options but most Russell group do not need specific subjects for the subjects he is interested in and only look at grades.
We had parents evening last week and he is excelling in psychology and business studies, biology although being his best subject throughout school ( top of year in academic selective school) he has lost interest in. Having looked at the curriculum I have to agree it’s not the fascinating science it used to be.
I think if they are not looking at a vocational or specific degree then the subjects should be interesting and possibly something they have not done before so a new challenge. I would probably have disagreed with this 2 yrs ago and was hoping DS would go for traditional 3 sciences. But if getting 3 A in the subjects he is doing will get him onto the same course as 3 A in more challenging A levels then he’s got more sense than I have.

chesirecat99 · 21/10/2021 13:45

Is she 100% sure she isn't still interested in engineering?

Maths, economics and psychology A-level would rule out engineering. Some universities like further maths for economics/engineering. Does she enjoy physics?

If she is considering economics, I would look at course requirements for that plus course requirements for engineering (to keep her options open) eg maths/FM, physics. If she is also interested in psychology, the A-levels requirements for economics and engineering would also be fine for psychology courses but not vice versa.

mumofthree22 · 21/10/2021 13:48

Having done psychology Alevel myself, there is a lot of essay/ research writing but it's a very interesting subject to study and quite easy to gain a high grade in it. However, it isn't as highly regarded by universities as the more traditional subjects and I would only advise to study it as a 4th Alevel not as 1/3 main ones.
If your child is into maths , physics alevel works really well as there is a lot of common maths content in both Alevel maths and physics. This can make the workload slightly less and it's a strong combination.

CambridgeConcise · 21/10/2021 13:49

@chesirecat99

Is she 100% sure she isn't still interested in engineering?

Maths, economics and psychology A-level would rule out engineering. Some universities like further maths for economics/engineering. Does she enjoy physics?

Agree, does she definitely rule out Engineering? Is it that she just hasn't had experience of the 'right' kind? But no point slogging through FM, M, Phy if that really isn't where she's at.

Angrymum22 · 21/10/2021 13:52

Just to add I’m from a very academic/science based family. My sister and I are both dentists the other sister has 2 degrees and a phd. We are second generation Uni graduates and most of our extended family are Uni educated so have a wealth of experience. DS’s cousins are all at Uni at the moment.
DS is now focused again and is in a much better place mental health wise. Now we are just praying restrictions are not enforced again.

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