Advice needed please on suitable uni courses when doing maths, physics and Law A levels

[Monr0e]

DS is currently in his first year at 6th form, he recently did his mocks in his subjects, Maths, Physics and Law, and did quite poorly, CCD. He has his reasons, also known as excuses, but the main one being he didn't do any revision towards them and it obviously shows. He is now feeling quite low and not wishing to talk about uni or attending any upcoming open days, we had planned to start having a look after the Easter holidays. A big part of it is he has no clue what he wishes to study or what career he might want, which leaves him even less motivated as he feels he has nothing to work towards. He is, or was, predicted all A's based off his in class assessments and class work and I'm sure this is probably achievable if he puts the work and revision in when his exams come around. However, he still has no clue what uni courses to apply for. So I guess I'm asking for any advice or recommendations on what he could be looking at with the A levels he is doing? He has decided against Law so probably something that ties in with his Maths / Physics that will give him good options when he leaves uni. I work in healthcare so no use to him at all! Thank you very much for any help

if he’s feeling really low do you have a local uni? If so, take him to an open day there. Don’t worry too much about subjects but hopefully it’ll re motivate him and he’ll be more enthused about picking his course. There’s not much point trying to make him choose a course when he’s feeling low and negative in my experience.

The obvious ones are obviously to carry on either subject and that combo is popular for engineering - does any of that spark his interest?

In all honesty I would highly recommend a gap year or two so he can work out what he wants to do, schools push for university as it's good for their statistics but it's not a rush, let him work out what he likes in his own time, plus if he does better than predicted he'll be able to apply for better universities with grades

Thank you, yes, we are in the North West and have Manchester uni, Salford and Man met all nearby.

I wasn't sure whether it was course then uni or uni then course to look at but I guess having a look round any of them would be a start to hopefully get him interested. I know he wishes himself he had a clear path to aim for and it frustrates him that he doesn't, so hoping he can choose something which still leaves him lots of options at the end when he hopefully does have a better idea what he wants to do!

Uni websites have loads of info on them - I think too much if you don't really know what you are looking for. I found it useful to order a few actual prospectus from a few different unis for DCs to look through. It's much easier to see the full range of different courses available. If anything looks interesting you can then look on the websites.

There are various websites where you can put in your A level subjects and it will suggest different possible degrees. I think UCAS does it for one.

What about civil engineering or town planning? Also geography seems like it could lead to lots of different options. But I agree, if he's really not sure he could have a gap year.

Probably maths or physics if he can get on with going an awful lot more work.

Maths degree might be tough if he doesn't do FM tbh. Physics or engineering jump out to me. Or maths combined with another subject?

Have a look at some of the options on offer at Manchester, which is a good place to start

A good objective might be scientific intellectial property, trademarks etc. The science background with law might help. Pharma companies with new products have to fight these battles all the time as do AI start ups.

It sounds as if he might be a bit weary/disillusioned with academia at the moment. If this appears to be the case I would suggest postponing any uni applications and exploring a different options that takes his interest in the short term.

Has he had any experience of part time work? Is there anything he is interested in or hobbies he focuses on? Perhaps just taking off any pressure to make a choice for a while, earning some money and gaining experience in the world of work once A levels are finished will help him mature and focus his ideas of how he want to develop a career.

Possibly optometry? He can do this at Manchester although they used to request maths/physics/biology. I studied it at Cardiff with maths/physics/chemistry but not up to date on the entry requirements these days. Just a thought when you said maths and physics

Thanks everyone, some good ideas here

I was thinking maybe along the lines of engineering, or possibly economics, and I'll mention maybe a few open days in the area when they come up.

But yes, I'm going to avoid adding any pressure at the minute and not mention anything for a while. I'll happily support a different route if there is something worthwhile he could pursue

What about Meteorology and Climate Science? The course requires maths and physics (and is basically atmospheric physics). The course at Reading is the 2nd best in the world.

@Oldowl that sounds really interesting!

I'll take a look. And not tell him yet 🙂

Accounting?
Finance?
Radiography?
Psychology?

Accountancy, finance, marketing (it can get very mathsy), computing, UX design, psychology (can also get very mathsy), pharmacy, archaeology (no jobs though), business management, sports science, physiotherapy, economics, or joint/combined options of some of the above.

DH has a relative, now 24yo ,who did law after similar A-levels, now a lawyer working in Europe (high flyer). He did work for his Uni place, though.

I'm sure friend's DS, his final actual A-levels were CCD. At Uni He studied political science at an ex-poly including a term abroad. Enjoyed his course & grew up a lot.

Hi, OP -

Former Russell Group STEM admissions tutor here. Maths and Physics opens so many options I won’t add too many to the lists above.

You haven’t said how DS would be feeling about Law were it not for his poor Mock result. I mention that only because I thought @AllInADay ’s suggestions of Law specialisms were very interesting and somewhat unusual. If DS has low PGs and wants to read Law he will probably need a gap year, but that is not in the least unusual and it can be highly beneficial.

As @clary suggests, the reality many places, but perhaps not post 1992 unis, is that most Maths students will have done FM. This statistic might be publicly available. Given his current crisis of confidence, your DS might have a hard time in a situation where (he perceived that) he was underprepared compared to his peers. However some post 1992 unis offer an excellent Maths education. The FM dichotomy is true to a lesser extent in Physics as well. Again some post 1992s are very good.

Two further possibilities; I will second @ShandaLear ’s mention of various Computing related degrees, from CS itself to quite niche degrees at post 1992s. Maths and Physics are the most important ALs for CS and CS AL is not required anywhere that I know of. The second possibility is Mechanical Engineering. This is one of the broadest Engineering degrees for employment purposes and amongst the most mathematical.

It sounds like you are also not far from Liverpool, Hope, John Moores, Lancaster, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam and Leeds. Sheffield is notable across the Engineering disciplines.

However if DS did originally lean towards Law and now feels put off, I wonder whether he would a Business degree with a small Maths component? That little bit of STEM is real value added for employers if well chosen.

The main thing is that your DS needs to get his confidence back. Starting uni in a positive frame of mind is important, even if takes an extra year. Good luck to him

Thank you all so much for your very helpful replies. I should have pointed out in the OP that he has quickly decided against a Law degree even before these results. I am hoping his confidence will build again, especially after he appears to be coping well in his lessons, and by his own admission, he let himself down by not revising, and not doing himself justice. He most definitely could do better.

I think we'll get some prospectuses and let him scan through them and see if anything sparks his interest, plus a few local open days. It appears he will have a lot of options to choose from

Also in case he wants to do law later 50% of lawyers do a different degree first (and also some firms run age 18 6 year apprenticeships to become solicitors if he wants to get into that right away (but it sounds like law is the thing he wants to do least!

@Monr0e
I think law might be quite a challenge without a research and essay type A level. Universities do not prescribe A levels for Law but in reality, he might find it challenging. I think he recognises this. What people can do later in life with law depends on getting a job in the first place. That’s the really hard bit these days!

I would also look at engineering . So many new opportunities are available so something might spike his interest. There are also a myriad of degrees like planning, building technology, building surveying which are practical. I would start looking at the Engineering Council to see what interests him in engineering but if he ends up with CCC, say, a post 92 university is the best place to look for a building services degree. There are plenty of jobs for these degree holders.

It occurs to me he might like Business and other associated roles. Again look at post 92 universities to gauge what courses there are, eg marketing, HR etc and see if any are of interest. If he can find something to aim for, he might enjoy school again. There are also countryside and property management degrees. Would he like something which directly leads to a job?

This is not good advice.
Specialising in intellectual property happens at the postgraduate / post professional level, and generally (not always) requires a STEM degree (chemistry, biochem, maths, natural sciences, physics, biology, engineering, computer science) followed by professional qualification as a solicitor, barrister, lawyer patent attorney or trade mark attorney. Some manage without a science degree but increasingly few. Most then take a further post graduate diploma in IP law. The OP’s son’s A level in law will help not even the teeniest tiniest bit.

Would he consider an apprenticeship? There a decent ones in law and engineering.

He has only done 6 months of his A level courses so I think it is unrealistic to expect him to be getting A's at this stage of year 12.

This website is good for looking at subjects and where they can lead.

www.prospects.ac.uk/

A lot of people go into law after doing a degree which is not related to law.

Have a look at big companies like EY who offer pathways into things like accountancy.

https://www.iop.org/careers-physics/your-future-with-physics#gref

This may be of interest

Was going to suggest accounting and finance, but see it's been suggested already. Or Econ and/with finance.

BUT, with that performance in his mocks he's likely to get poor predictions which will limit his uni choices. A gap year will fix that by allowing him to apply with his achieved grades. Check his school will provide his reference and put him through their UCAS centre next cycle.