What are the best A levels choices for university?

[Veronica25]

What subjects should DD choose for A levels>

I know it depends on what you are planning to study but DD has no idea yet, she is an all rounder. She enjoys and does very well at Maths, DT, Geography, Chemistry.

She doesn't enjoy Physics or Classical Civilisations but she is happy with all her other subjects.

Maths is a good subject for all STEM subjects (not always required, but always useful). Chemistry also very useful.

I'm assuming not heading for engineering as she doesn't like physics (physics might not be required, but if you don't like the subject then engineering probably won't appeal)

So I'd go for geography rather than DT, as I think that is more likely to broaden the range of potential courses (if her school does EPQ, she could perhaps bring DT into that)

If you want the widest possible range of courses, then perhaps exchange one of those with an essay based subject -history, English, RS, philosophy etc

Absolutely impossible to say without some idea of what area she wants to study.

Has she tried any of the National Careers Service tools? nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/. They're not brilliant, but if she can get a rough idea of the direction she wants to go in it should help her to focus a bit on possible university courses, and she can then start to find out which A-Levels will be useful.

Life is difficult for school students who receive little or no careers advice or exposure to different kinds of jobs. It's not easy to appreciate how vast a range of options there is beyond what your relatives and teachers do.

I'd be inclined to suggest someone who's good at - and enjoys - maths and DT look at various forms of engineering, design, architecture and other kinds of draughtmanship. But if she doesn't like physics, engineering probably isn't a good fit (unless the reason she doesn't like it is just that she has a bad teacher).

It really does need some searching. Sometimes things show up that you had no idea about. For example, I have met at least two year-10/11 students who almost accidentally discovered product design and realised right away it was exactly what they wanted to do: www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/product-designer.

Is IB an option? If not then she really needs to try and narrow down to at least whether she'd be likely to go for science, social science, humanities, arts or creative focus at uni.

Maths, further maths and chemistry. Pretty much future proof.

She enjoys and does very well at Maths, DT, Geography, Chemistry

Well then she should choose 3 of these. (If maths is one of them it will give her maximum flexibility for future options).

Agree with others, it massively depends on what she wants to do in future.

There are no "best choices" but if she enjoys maths, geography and chemistry, then they will open lots of doors at uni - degrees in geog or chem (not maths so much without FM) or variations, medicine and allied degrees, law, accountancy, plus lots of degrees that don't call for any specific subjects.

You are closing some degree doors (Eng lit, MFL, history, music, art) but that is unavoidable whatever you pick.

I suggest some careers advice, a look through possible degree ideas and a think about possible final goals.

@Oneliner

Maths, further maths and chemistry. Pretty much future proof.

Unless she ends up wanting to do anything vaguely creative, and then it'll be like trying to jam a square peg into a round hole.

You said on another thread that your DD's favourite subject is DT, so (assuming it is not her favourite subject just because she likes the teacher or it is an easy subject) you could explore from there:

What is it that she likes about DT?

• Is it the design aspect of what she is studying? In which case you could consider degrees like product design and look at what A Levels would be required for such a course.
• Is it that she enjoys the technical / measuring / calculating aspect of it? In which case, she could look at subjects like architecture, mechanical or some other branches of engineering, even accountancy, maths or economics and see what A Levels are helpful for these courses.
• Is it because she likes to have a more practical, hands-on aspect to her work? Then she can look at science degrees, allied medical degrees, geosciences, and so on.
• Is it because she likes the defined 'project with an outcome' nature of DT? Then she might look at business degrees or law, for example.

(I am guessing what DT involves here, as I last did it at school in the dark ages when we spent all our time sawing things and eventually I emerged with a key ring)

Obviously she might have several likes and some degrees would cover several of them. She can do similar with other subjects she enjoys. So, for example, I liked chemistry enough to study it for A Level, but breaking it down, I liked the mathematical, calculating aspects of it and disliked practical work, so would not want a job in a lab or a degree course that involved a lot of lab or other practical work. So on that basis I was able to look at more mathematical degrees and exclude lab-based science ones, despite my broad interest in chemistry.

Basically, once she has narrowed down what skills she likes to use and how she likes to work, and perhaps some of her own broader interests and preferences (want to help people? would do a job you dislike for lots of money? work abroad? etc.) she can identify degree subjects that would include these things and lead to professions that provide these conditions (and conversely exclude degrees and professions that don't provide this) and choose her A Levels accordingly.

She should also keep an eye on what degree subjects she might be closing off with her A Level choices and consider if she is as definite as she can be that she is ok with not being able to study those things at university and go into the kinds of jobs they lead to, at least in the immediate future.

I would recommend maths, chemistry and geography. A great combination for all kinds of degrees. Take what you enjoy because you will do well if you are motivated to study because you are enjoying your learning.

Thank you for all the advice. It is very helpful.

DT has always been the subject she enjoys the most. I will ask her more information about what she likes about DT. She is creative so I think it may be the design part of it and she is also good with calculations. She was excited when we saw Tonbridge Grammar School DT department as there were some cool things the students had made.

She thinks she may not like physics because she doesn't have a good teacher and she said she is happy to do it if it is necessary.

We thought of the IB but are concerned of the amount of work required and achieving the grades required for university.

I think 4 subjects will be good we can look at which schools have an EPQ.

We didn't know about: nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/. I will get her to look at it. Also this link: www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/product-designer.

Also, she wants to do a career a job that is very well paid.

She likes Biology too but discarded it as she said she doesn't want to go into medicine or any of the health related careers. She was also discarding Geography as she thinks there are no many jobs you can do with that degree.

Maths plus a couple of other subjects she'll do well in is not a bad starting point. Maths being good for pretty much any career, including creative ones. Fosters good thinking skills, analysis, thinking outside the box etc.

She could also play with plugging different subject combinations into this: www.informedchoices.ac.uk/
See which interesting courses come up, and then drill down into their essential subject requirements:

Geography supports careers in town planning, surveying, law, environmental studies, a whole variety of social sciences and public sector roles. And could be a good one for getting into jobs no-one has even thought of yet, given the climate crisis.

Geography is a very wide ranging degree that involves lots of different study techniques. It is a very good degree for employability, even if you don't actually use the geographical elements.

Don't forget, most schools/colleges have extra A levels that cover subjects often not offered at GCSE so she may want to consider one of those - psychology for example would go well with biology (not necessarily leading to medical degrees). the bio/psych combo is good for degrees as the psych can often be counted as a science/second science as well as a humanities subject, and sometimes an essay-based subject, opening up a range of degree options in other areas.

Her GSCE predictions may also impact what she can do - most schools have a minimum grade requirement for subjects - particularly maths/sciences. There is a big step up to A levels, and for something like maths you really need to have the basics really secure before moving on. I wouldn't recommend something like ,maths or physics unless she really enjoys the subject, rather than just being good at them.

I think at this stage, with no idea of what she wants to do, the best option is to pick subjects that interest her and that she enjoys. If those can also offer a breadth of study, that will also keep many doors open.

[quote Veronica25]Thank you for all the advice. It is very helpful.

DT has always been the subject she enjoys the most. I will ask her more information about what she likes about DT. She is creative so I think it may be the design part of it and she is also good with calculations. She was excited when we saw Tonbridge Grammar School DT department as there were some cool things the students had made.

She thinks she may not like physics because she doesn't have a good teacher and she said she is happy to do it if it is necessary.

We thought of the IB but are concerned of the amount of work required and achieving the grades required for university.

I think 4 subjects will be good we can look at which schools have an EPQ.

We didn't know about: nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/. I will get her to look at it. Also this link: www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/product-designer.[/quote]
That does sound like she might like some sort of engineering IF the physics is down to the teacher. And it does get more interesting the further you go.

One combo for that would be maths, physics, DT and FM (if she's really good at maths and can manage 4).

But she might do well in some branches of chemistry too. I did double maths, physics and chemistry aeons ago, and now write chemistry software - it's very much calculations plus creativity.

Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry an excellent combination.

Maths A level is a massive step up from GCSE so my children's school said only do it if you are really really really good at it. They had far too may boys pushed into it by parents just because they got an A at GCSE who then ended up with Cs and Ds. However if you really shine at maths do it as it has a lot of A* at A level.

My daughter regretted physics AS and Chemistry A levels by the way but that's just a personal ancedote.

Consider what might be studied at university. Eg I did English lit, German and History A levels and read law. Those are on the list of harder or facilitating subject A levels. Doing 2 of that kind (which are all your child's options anyway) at least is a good plan.

What about Geography, Maths and Economics (the latter is just an A level subject but quite well regarded and most of my children did it)? 3 of my children went to Bristol. 2 are lawyers of my children and 2 others are law students.

If you child might want to do medicine however physics, biology, maths and further maths might be good choices.

@megan1992xx Only if you have a passion for those subjects and want to really push yourself in the STEM field. It sounds like OPs daughter hasn't decided what route she wanta to go down yet.

OP, I would advise keeping either DT or geography to mix it up from being all STEM - especially if your DD is creative.

The best results come from when someone really enjoys the subject they are learning.

We were told by many unis that Geography is a great option if you are good at it as you learn lots of skills

@Xenia

Maths A level is a massive step up from GCSE so my children's school said only do it if you are really really really good at it. They had far too may boys pushed into it by parents just because they got an A at GCSE who then ended up with Cs and Ds. However if you really shine at maths do it as it has a lot of A* at A level.

My daughter regretted physics AS and Chemistry A levels by the way but that's just a personal ancedote.

Consider what might be studied at university. Eg I did English lit, German and History A levels and read law. Those are on the list of harder or facilitating subject A levels. Doing 2 of that kind (which are all your child's options anyway) at least is a good plan.

What about Geography, Maths and Economics (the latter is just an A level subject but quite well regarded and most of my children did it)? 3 of my children went to Bristol. 2 are lawyers of my children and 2 others are law students.

If you child might want to do medicine however physics, biology, maths and further maths might be good choices.

Any decent school will have an express stream for GCSE Mathematics which is taken a year early leaving the opportunity to Additional Mathematics in Year 11 which allows an easier transition onto A level Maths and Further Maths. Do not be put off by the 'Further' in Further Maths it does not mean the maths is necessarily harder rather it is just a wider range of topics.

If she enjoys Maths and chemistry then I’d suggest one of those - useful in so many jobs. I see she didn’t choose many arts subjects and doesn’t enjoy classical civilisations so I’d strongly recommend not an arts degree. I did English and regretted it a lot, wish had done something useful. If she strongly fancies an arts degree I’d suggest perhaps history as the least useless.

Not geography it has a reputation and slight stigma as an ‘easy degree’, if she’s bright enough to enjoy maths A-level it would be a shame for future employers to judge her by a geography degree.

She does need to think about careers. Maybe take a gap year if she has no idea at all. There was a post the other day from someone in midlife wanting to become a doctor… If she has no clear direction then she could do worse than something useful and future proof like computing/ nursing, but really it would be such a shame to start her degree with noidea of career direction at all.

When she reads the course lists, doesn’t she feel excited by any of them at all??

She was excited when we saw Tonbridge Grammar School DT department as there were some cool things the students had made.

We thought of the IB but are concerned of the amount of work required and achieving the grades required for university.

I thought Tonbridge Grammar only did IB, not A-Levels. We have a few medical students from there. Or have you ruled out Tonbridge Grammar as a sixth-form choice?

Also, she wants to do a career a job that is very well paid.

Don't we all? Well-paid jobs usually come with lots of responsibility and "unpaid" hours, and many of them require postgraduate qualifications.

If you child might want to do medicine however physics, biology, maths and further maths might be good choices.

I know OP said her DD wasn't interested in medicine, but in case she changes her mind, nearly all medicine degrees require chemistry A level, some require biology.

@sofakingcool

We were told by many unis that Geography is a great option if you are good at it as you learn lots of skills

Sorry but a Geography Degree is not likely to lead to a well paid profession most likely you will end teaching Geography!

As someone once said about the knowledge and skills gained 'a broad savannah of limited height'

A lot of STEM degrees require maths plus a science. Physics is probably better for engineering than chemistry, but chemistry will be fine for most sciences. Would geology be an option in place of geography? It contains a fair amount of chemistry, biology and geography and should have field trips and will count as a science for some (but not all) degrees. DT contains bits of metallurgy so is useful for materials science or engineering, but wouldn't be considered a science.

Years ago, I did maths, chemistry, geology and DT because I hated physics and essay subjects, but then bizarrely ended up in a heavily physics/IT based job.