A level choices..

[seeker]

..does anyone know how university admissions tutors would feel about History, English, Theatre Studies and Philosophy as A level subjects to read History?

Pretty good I'd say assuming History and English were continued to A2.

Fine so long as it is History, English and Philosophy that are kept on to A2.

DD1 has to make her A level choices soon. She is set on Music, History, English and Geography. She expects (and is expected) to get A*s for all of these at GCSE although of course who knows what will happen in this brave new world we all now inhabit. It really does seem as though all bets might be off, prediction wise. But still. That aside, I'm a bit concerned that this 'essay heavy' bunch will be a right slog for her though - does anyone who has had DCs take these A levels in recent years have a view? I did music and history myself at A level many many years ago when the world was young, History was one of those things that could expand to fill the time available. I did English at a later date, for fun (as you do) via evening classes and that was perfectly manageable with a quite full on job. But geog I have NO idea.

Not a university lecturer, but an A level teacher..

The Informed Choices (Russell Group) state History as a requirement for a history degree and recommends English and Philosophy as good A level subjects. The other subjects it recommends are: Sociology, Religious Studies, Economics, Politics and a foreign language.

I can't speak for the other subjects, but Is it Pure Philosophy (AQA board) or Philosophy and ethics? If it is AQA, then I would check results etc with your school. I teach this and A level RS, and the AQA Philosophy course. The AQA Philosophy is notoriously difficult in the marking, and inconsistency, and often students can get a lower grade in this than their other A levels. Depending on the type of child you have got, how naturally bright they are etc - AQA Philosophy suits some children but by no means all... For some, they're likely to be a lot better off doing RS (which depending on your school and choices, can share over 50% of the same subject material.). A lot of students find it a lot easier to get a higher grade in RS compared to the philosophy, and it won't count against, given that pure philosophy is taught in so few schools. That said, for the right student it is a fab A level and they really fly with it. This is probably not very clear, but I'm happy to clarify further if it helps.