A level choices - advice please

[KevinDeBrioche]

I’m sure this is going to be long but this is my first experience of this as a parent and want to make sure I’m supporting / advising DD correctly.

DD16 is naturally bright, bit lazy and loves socialising but can pull it out of the bag revision-wise when she needs to. She’s at a bog standard comp, top sets for everything, predicted 7-9s and has one 7 already.

She is totally set on choosing geography for one A level (loves it and is good at it) and thinks she’d also like to do biology and maths. Both of these worry me slightly tbh, maths because of the jump up (already talked this through with some of you on another thread 🙏🏼) and biology because it’s probably one of her weakest subjects (chemistry is her worst) BUT ‘worst’ is still a 7 which is clearly good, and importantly she loves biology , finds it interesting and it will be useful in her future path (possibly relevant: her dad is a biology professor and if she ever deigned to ask him for help he absolutely would)

Current future plans: geosciences, earth sciences, geography are all on her radar. so Geo / maths / biology all make sense for A levels.

the sixth form she wants to attend suggest everyone starts with four subjects with a view to dropping to three. This can be within a few weeks or a few months depending on how you are finding them at A level. I’m quite pleased about this idea, as I suspect she might want a ‘get out’ of maths or biology. But we are a bit stuck on choosing the fourth option, considering where she wants to go next.

Having hated English until year 10 she finally got a good teacher and now likes it. She got 8s in both for mocks . So maybe lit/lang, or pure lit? Any thoughts on which of those are a better choice?

Any other ideas? She won’t do either Chem or physics, FM also an absolute no. She likes Spanish but not enough imo (I did A level Spanish and it was rock hard despite getting A * for GSCE). She’s good at drama, predicted a 9 - should I suggest that? Or steer towards Eng lit or lit/lang instead?

if she does end up dropping maths or biology I really want her fourth option to positively add to things rather than detract or be an ‘add on’ that doesn’t really fit.

Any thoughts from people further down this road and / or teachers?

apologies for the masses of info I didn’t want to leave anything out 🙏🏼

English is very demanding - stacks of reading, long essays. That said it’s my favourite subject! It is also an essay subject so will demonstrate and develop the skill of longer form writing.
Psychology - if offered - would be ideal. It fits nicely with biology as it will include the biology of the brain, and it also develops the ability to write longer essays. It is also very interesting and lots of my sixth form students chose to apply for it at uni having done A level.
I would also suggest considering economics, business studies or history. Just be cautious with business studies if she does drop maths or biology as it is a ‘softer’ subject if she’s applying to a Russell Group Uni or Oxbridge.

When my DC chose A Levels they were organised into 'blocks'. One timetable would do mostly sciences, another do mostly languages, etc. If you wanted to do a weird mixture - Chemistry, Classical Civilisation and P.E. say- it wasn't possible because it didn't fit into any of the timetables.
On that basis, does the school have a "Geog, Biol, Maths, XXX" timetable? i.e. see what restrictions the sixth-form has, and that may help narrow the choices.

Economics possibly?

Just thinking about geography - splits into physical geography economic Geography.

Maybe politics?

Jump ahead a bit. Her A Levels are just a stepping stone to a Degree. L:ook at UCAS and see what the entry requirements are for geosciences, earth sciences, etc. You may find that Chemistry is a requirement.
If she doesn't do Chemistry or Physics she may find that she can only do a Geography B.A (human geog) and not a B.Sc. (physical geog)

Or maybe sociology or psychology might work with the human geography side?

In my experience (earth science @ undergrad many moons ago) she'll find chemistry and physics more useful to a geosciences degree than biology or maths. And if she hates both chem and physics I would do some serious research before plumping for the more physical end of geosciences at degree level. Or at least dig down into the course focus/module selection. I did a pure geology degree (I'm god awful at maths but that was no real issue, great at chem, but struggled with the physics a bit), but even environmental geosciences will still need a fair bit of chemistry. If she's thinking human geog then less of an issue of course.

I'd vote sociology to complement the geography : it goes really well with human geography. Her existing choices are a really god trio.

The 4th doesn't really matter - so sociology, economics , politics or indeed lit/lang lit : all would be good.

Bear in mid workload and whether she likes exams / coursework. Geography has coursework, as do the English subjects.

Economics, psychology, English language or literature would all fit.
I have a dc studying geography bsc at uni - he did biology with geography but found biology hard (having a dad who’s an expert might help yours!). Some unis will require another science A level if your dc wanted to do geog bsc but not all unis do. Also year 1 of geography ba and bsc is pretty much identical - and Nottingham uni, for example, offer the same modules for both so it wouldn’t matter whether A levels were science-y or not

Would steer clear of biology unless stellar student at it (9) as all the medics do biology and it’s tough to get the top grades in it at A level. Maths similar in that if she’s predicted a 7 at GCSE then likely will get C/D at A level.

I would pick Psychology as a science, and another Humanity like Sociology, Politics or Economics which all sit really well with Geography.

Environmental Science?
geology?

Most science or science related courses want to science A levels for uni study or maths. So if she drops maths enviro or geology would suit.
psychology?

I teach geog/geol/enviro science so can offer advice if wanted.

What subjects does she actually enjoy, other than Geography? A levels are hard work; it's no fun, and often unsuccessful, studying something you are not interested in. As a teacher, definitely don't take maths unless you enjoy and feel confident in it and really with at least an 8 at GCSE. My DD did Geography, Biology and PE (would this be an option?), was really into all of them, and found all hard work. Her uni requires physics for anything Earth Science related; she's doing some ES modules and is finding them hard going without it.

I’d recommend a new to them subject. Mine chose politics and loves it but friends are doing psychology, economics, sociology etc. I think something new can give them a real boost. If they hate it drop it when they drop to 3 A levels.

Really great advice, thank you everyone for your thoughts and contributions

I’m going to suggest she looks at sociology and psychology . I don’t think PE is an option without the gcse??

She absolutely loves maths. Doesn’t have to work at it much but definitely loves it!

Interesting. DH - uni professor on a course that requires AAA - says they often see students with 6-7s in science and maths at GCSE yet AAA or better at A level. I guess it depends on the student and their ability to step it up when required.

This is the table often posted here that shows the Maths likely progression from GCSE to A level

DS1 does Geog at Notts. He did maths at A level (with a good 7) and found it extremely hard. Sweated blood and tears and needed a tutor to get a B.
DS2 did Chemistry and Biology. Both also very hard at A level, Biology is particularly tricky and quite different from GCSE.
To some extent to have to play the game. Work backwards from degree requirements and try and combine what is appropriate with what you will get the best grades in.

My DD is not dissimilar OP.

It is too soon to comment as to whether or not it was right choice but she has plumped for Geography, Economics and Biology. She is really enjoying all three. She hated GCSE Maths despite a decent grade and refused to consider it at A level. We didn't try to dissuade her as we felt strongly about her studying subjects she enjoyed and was interested in. Hence her choices.

So far, so good.

ETA She got 9s in GCSE Economics and Geography and 7 in Biology. Biology she is finding hard but still enjoying it.

Not sure how much help this is but IF she had a view to Oxbridge (probably she wouldn't know at this age!) or other top unis in UK the 'gold standard' subjects are listed as (by Cambridge):
Maths, FM, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, English Lit, Foreign Language.

As she's already looking at doing Biology and Maths with FM/Physics/Chemistry a no-no I'd be looking at English Lit or Spanish. Or even history if she did both geo and history at GCSE- most don't but don't want to assume.

Good luck to her!

One of my children did Geography Psychology and Politics and the youngest took Biology Psychology and Chemistry last summer.

I would suggest Psychology (or Sociology if yr school does it - ours doesn’t). Both my children found Psychology straightforward and my youngest found all the Biopsych stuff v straightforward as it was covered in more depth in Biology.

Geography has an NEA which took up an awful lot of time. Biology has all the required practical work which again was a bit time consuming but nowhere near as much as the Geog NEA. I wouldn’t add another subject with an NEA into the mix.

if she doesn’t love / struggles with GCSE chemistry I would avoid A level like the plague. Dd found GCSE chemistry easy but A level was a slog (and significantly harder then Bio and Psyc) although fortunately it came good in the end.

@KevinDeBrioche A levels in maths, geography and biology are tailor made for Environmental science. I think you could take out Biology substitute something else but you would need to check at various unis. It’s not available everywhere. Sociology would be a good addition if she wants to study geography (or sociology) . Economics for management or business degrees. I would look at possible careers and decide what combinations work at uni. Maybe deciding if she’s a scientist or not might help?

Thank you! Where is that table from please? 🙏🏼

Thank you so much. We are going through the sixth form info right now and economics has jumped out at her 🙏🏼🙏🏼

@noblegiraffe posts it usually

U of Cambridge's The Subject Matters pdf (as mentioned above) is a useful document but should be read and interpreted with care. For arts & social science subjects, it highlights that 'one or more' of the subjects listed by a PP could be provide a good foundation to their application (to Cambridge and, in Cambridge's opinion, to other 'selective universities') if a student is unsure about the arts or social sciences subject they wish to study at university; if also goes on to say that subjects such as sociology, psychology, economics, politics (cited above and good suggestions) as well as a number of others can be very sensibly combined with the likes of Maths, Physical Sciences, History, Eng Lit, MFL. It is not that the latter are gold standard subjects as such but rather subjects that, potentially, keep options open.