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Secondary education

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Original poster

Combined English A-Level

11 replies

questioner123 · 06/03/2017 18:47

Hi all.

Can I please have some advice. My DD really wanted to do English Lit A-Level, with hopes of going to a Russell Group uni to study Law, however the college she wants to go to does not offer English lit, only the combined English lit and Lang a level. So, I'm just wondering your opinions on whether this is seen as 'soft' and decrease her chances of getting into uni. All help is appreciated Smile

OP posts:
Ohtobeskiing · 06/03/2017 18:57

What other subjects does she want to do?

wildpoppiesanddaisies · 06/03/2017 18:59

It's actually quite difficult but isn't perceived as such.

I would urge English Lit given how competitive Law is.

TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross · 06/03/2017 19:06

It's not a facilitating subject, but then universities don't generally require three facilitating subjects to be taken - they do recommend one and taking two would keep options of university courses open.

I found this pdf which looks really useful (and up-to-date)!

Allthebestnamesareused · 06/03/2017 19:16

Onlylivingboy. Thanks for the RG pdf. Very interesting

YippieKayakOtherBuckets · 06/03/2017 20:47

TBH it would ring an alarm bell for me regarding the college and I would want to know their track record in terms of university admissions support. I would expect a college with a decent academic culture to offer Eng Lit.

If your DD really wanted to do English Lit specifically then I really don't think combined will be for her. Find out the exam board and have a look at the syllabus. The Language content is pretty dry and nothing like the GCSE English Language.

bojorojo · 06/03/2017 20:57

I agree with Yippie. Nearly every decent school or college offers Lit because it is the academic subject.

However a quick look at the University of Bristol Law School shows that they will consider any A level (bar 3) but that they only account for 40% of the factors taken into consideration when assessing applicants. If she does History and another academic subject, I cannot see there will be a problem. What else is she doing? If she could do English Lit and History plus one other, job done!

Law A level is not worth taking for a Law degree.

Original poster
questioner123 · 06/03/2017 21:59

Thank you all for the replies. The college is very small, and so there is one teacher per subject, hence why the teacher decided to do the combined to hopefully please everyone. The college receives normal, good results really!

She is wants to do history and government and politics. We are currently thinking doing a distant learning course with a tutor now and then.

OP posts:
BellsaRinging · 06/03/2017 22:02

I did the combined course (though it was 20 years ago) and had no problems with being accepted to a RG uni for law, although things may of course have changed. The grammar and the writing part of the exam (it's not only creative writing-you can do a more journalistic opinion piece) is actually very good for law.

YippieKayakOtherBuckets · 06/03/2017 22:13

The college is very small, and so there is one teacher per subject, hence why the teacher decided to do the combined to hopefully please everyone.

That would really put me off, I'm afraid. The department can't be all things to all people. It's not usual to have only one teacher for A Level - it's beneficial to hear from a range of perspectives, especially in the humanities, and two teachers is the norm IME.

I don't think it'll be a problem for university admissions as she will have three essay subjects.

FozzieMK · 07/03/2017 10:21

Yes my DD is at 6th form college and has two teachers per subject (except drama). It also proves useful if one teacher is unexpectedly absent, the other can set work. Her college offers both Eng Lit and Eng Lit/Lang and friends that were there previously told her they thought Lit/Lang was easier but Lit was accepted more for Uni, so she took Lit.

Harveypuss · 08/03/2017 13:02

OP, your post is timely because my daughter & I visited our local Sixth Form college last night for their open evening.

We spoke to the Head of English, as this is one of the subjects DD is considering. The college offers English Literature, English Language & Literature and also English Language only.

We spoke in length about the options and I directly asked him what was most highly regarded by Universities and why. He said that the RG Universities still regard English Literature as the preferred choice of English A level because it is seen as harder and is a more traditional and well known subject. Other non-RG universities are apparently more flexible and will consider English Literature & Language.

I think if your daughter wants to study Law, she would be better advised to do English Literature only.

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