Changed A level choice in panic, Biology - Sociology. Advice please.

[Doordye]

DD got
Maths - 7
Eng Lit - 8
Eng lang - 7
Comp Science - B
Religious studies - B
History - A
Chem - B
Biology - B
Physics - B
French - B.

Her original choices of A level, combined Eng, Biology & Psychology
She is pleased with her results but was expecting an A in Biology & A* in Religous studies. Shes no idea what went wrong but its really knocked her confidence in taking Biology. Shes has now chosen Sociology because someone told her that its normal to get 2 grades under your GCSE grade at A level, which would be a D.

Any advise please?
Shes interested in studying Occupational Therapy or Speech & Language therapy, from what I can see, Biology would be required for these.

How would anyone get A or A* if it is normal to get two grades under?
Grades at A level equate to how hard you work on the whole.

Biology A level is hard. Dd got A* at GCSE and a B at A level (is still going to do a Bio degree though!).

Having said that there is some overlap with Psychology, and if she super motivated to do Occ Health would she work really hard? Tutor maybe?

Otherwise Psych, Soc and Eng are a great combination, but not for health careers.

Would Sports Science be possible?

Do you know whether she was close to an A? It might be a good idea to ask her teacher whether he/she thinks she would cope with the A level. Biology will be important for her chosen career and B is a good grade for Biology. Her school may suggest a remark.

Biology is a very hard A level and my DD really struggled with it in Year 12. There's a lot to learn but good exam technique certainly helps. Once DD realised the importance of learning the key terms and using these to answer exam questions, she started doing really well. You can buy books to bridge the gap between GCSE and A level, I think they're called Head Start. If she's hard working and likes the subject, I think she would be fine. DD only just scraped an A for GCSE and got an A for A level.

Biology teacher here. Looking at her results it clear she is not a natural scientist. Please don't make her do it! Its a massive step up to A level. We have raised our entry requirements to A or 7 in Biology, Chemistry (there is lots of chemistry in biology A level) and maths (10% of biology A level). Pupils who entered the reformed A level with Bs have either failed to score or scraped an E.

Her results look like she is strong in Essay type subjects. Why not do History?

My friend is a speech therapist and she did English at uni before retraining.

I have also heard Biology is incredibly hard. Look at actual occupational courses, some units take psychology or sociology as a science subject so doing that and English could be just what she needs anyway. My dd wants to be a radiographer and we have done 2 open days so far, both units would take her psychology as a science subject. She is doing psychology sociology and English lit and has just done really well at AS Levels.

Sorry, should have added, I rang up admissions at a few unis and asked if she could get in with the A Levels she was doing so could you do the same?

Another biology teacher here. At our college we accept Bs in sciences and maths to get on to our course. I wouldn't say she'd definitely get a D, but most of my B entry students hover around a high C. I wouldn't expect failure from a student enrolling with those results, but I wouldn't expect excellence either.

Agree with PP - do some research. Phone admissions, look online at unis. Find out what subjects are required for the course your DD wants to do. Best to be on the safe side.

I took Biology at A level after getting an A at GCSE and came out scraping a D thanks to good coursework (3 years ago). It is such a huge step up that I wasn't prepared for at all so I ended up scrapping it and taking both the AS and A2 Sociology in my last hear and loved it, it was a really interesting subject that came more naturally to me. I also took psychology and ended up with an A in both.

She might do it with hard work but I found it miserable for a year to struggle so much after previously finding the subject easy.

Thanks for the advice, I feel reassured that its that right decision for her, not to take Biology.

Has she considered RS? It's a really interesting syllabus, and well thought of.

Has she considered BTEC, possibly with an level on the side?

Have a look at what uni requirements are and take it from there.

She could still potentially study Speech and Language Therapy (I don't know about Occupational Therapy). Some universities require Biology but some ask for at least one science or social science (to include psychology, sociology). Birmingham City is an example of this.

Look at Sheffield Hallam for Occupational Therapy. Her revised A levels would be fine because it's social sciences or sciences. My DSis is an OT and did a diploma after an English degree. OT is now a degree. You do need a good volunteering record so look up the details and get her volunteering if she wants to be an OT. Don't ignore social work either. Plenty of work available.

Good point bubble, my dd has done work experience at a hospital for a week with radiographers and unis seem very impressed with this, so voluntary or work experience and good personal statement go a long way.

DD got an A* in biology at GCSE and got a B at AS. She said that the teachers were correct in saying that the step up to A level biology is very hard.

Her revised choices look ok for most uni's, she's feeling much better now. It was just all a bit much on results day.

Dawnedlightly - she chose Ethics & Phil GCSE, but the actual qual is RS, as that was the one she was most confident of getting A* and she got a B, that's definitely not on the cards.

She started volunteer work in Y10 as part of DofE, she volunteers at an activity club for children with SN (mainly Autism). She's continuing this & has an induction day at the local hospital to volunteer there as well.

DD has found it extremely difficult to get any kind of medical volunteering work. She is a young leader at Brownies though.