Choice of A Level subjects any advice please?

[hollytom]

My dd is struggling with choosing her A levels and is getting quite worried about it as she has to enrol on Monday at her new school. I have been trying to help her decide but would welcome views from any one with experience of this.
The problem is that she doesn't really know what she wants to do as a career or at University if she goes. She really enjoys History and got an A in this and also got Art A. She also enjoys science and was originally going to do Biology and Chemistry A levels (with history) but she is concerned she won't enjoy Chemistry and it's meant to be hard. Also to complicate matters for Chemistry she had to get a B in science which she has but a also a 6 in maths and she only got a 5. Not sure if they will let her do Chemistry now due to the maths grade and will she find it too difficult? Her grades in science were A, B, B.
Her other option is to do English Lit with History and Biology instead as she got 8s in both of the English exams.
Ideally I think she wants to choose A levels which doesn't limit her choice in degree courses whilst she is unsure what she wants to do.
I have said don't worry choose what you enjoy but I know that things have changed a bit now from when I did A levels and it's probably a lot more competitive.
I don't know how Art is viewed as an a level choice by Universities if she does that. She really likes Art but is it not seen as academic?
Is it best to pick the subjects she got the highest grades in or is it better to pick the subjects such as biology and chemistry so she keeps her options open? Does anyone have a similar experience?
It all seems a lot more complicated then when I picked my A levels!

OK. Has she looked at online prospectus' for the universities & courses she may possibly want to apply to?

If so, what subjects will they be asking for?

Also, how does the actual process or registering for sixth form happen? DS2 went to register on Friday, and it involved a chat with the Head of Sixth Form who was able to give advice.

DS2 didn't get the B he needed to take Physics at A-Level but school have let him do it anyway because he was very close to the grade boundary. Has DD checked how close to a 6 in maths she was?

Santa: thanks for your reply. I have contacted her school as we don't have her actual mark for Maths so we can see where she's at with that in terms of the grade boundaries.
I hope they will help her on Monday at the enrolment and advise her I think it's an individual meeting.
Yes we have looked at various degrees but she can't decide at all! I think it's because she has quite a wide range of interests with Art, science and history which don't necessarily go together.

TBH if her maths is weak she will not get a higher A level grade in chemistry and therefore as she fears will not enjoy it. Biology may also be more of a struggle with the new syllabus but still possible.
She is obviously very strong at humanities and art. Does she like art enough to continue with it?
Why not History, English and Biology or possibly psychology rather than one of the others? A chemistry based degree seems unlikely but humanities, law or psychology or even some biology degrees would be possible.

She shouldn't do English if she doesn't enjoy reading. The demands are well in excess of what they do at GCSE. if she does, then it goes well with history and art.

I don't see how biology (or chemistry for that matter)by itself 'keeps her options open' any more than anything else. My understanding is that , if she wanted to pursue science at uni, she would be expected to have more than one, and probably maths.

Students increasingly choose subjects because they think they 'should' do them, especially sciences and often maths or English also. they should do what they like and enjoy , on the whole!

Perhaps organise a careers appointment, or do an online thing like Fast Tomato?

If she worked hard for those science and that maths grade I think she'll struggle with chemistry and possibly biology but that's not very maths based. I'm sure she'd get an okay grade out with a lot of graft but she would need to be prepared for a lot of work. There's not too much maths in chemistry: powers, times tables, solving equations for thermodynamics. But a 5 suggests she may not naturally gravitate to maths which can change some nice easy marks (if you like maths) into hard work which eats up time when studying and in the exam.

Her English and history grades sound amazing- it's often easier to enjoy something you don't struggle with.

It's best to take the subjects you enjoy, frankly. The step up from GCSE to A level is massive - and pupils who are taking things they did ok in, but don't really enjoy that much tend to struggle to cope with the amount of independent study they need to do. Most teachers will tell you that Y12 is the hardest one you will ever do, and struggling with subjects you are not that keen on is dispiriting.

(And she should do History - although I'm biased because I teach it ) Seriously - most uni courses are pleased to accept History as an A level - it is seen as an academic subject which teaches you to construct a logical argument, back it up with evidence and to write decent essays. Law degree, journalism, politics, economics, business, marketing - these are all keen for applicants with History. It keeps your options open

Thanks everyone. She is not that strong at maths she worked hard and had a tutor so I think Chemistry may be a struggle.
I have not heard of fast tomato I will have a look!

Universities require two science A levels for science degrees, so biology and two arts subjects will not keep her options open for a science based degree.

Psychology is seen as a science subject but many schools require a B in maths gcse.

If she goes the Arts route, how about a subject like politics?

I reckon arts, history and another. Just doo what she enjoys and feels comfortable in.

I think if I was rnrolling her at our college I would try and move her away from chemistry as it involves considerable use of maths and we don't accept below a B (6) in maths. Biology she might be OK with but looking at what students typically get nationally in biology with her grades she would likely end up with a D or C at A level. I think she might be better off getting stronger a level grades in the subjects she likes than average grades in sciences. I also agree with a poster above that shoving a science in amongst arts/humanities subjects doesn't really keep doors open and science courses at uni usually require 2 sciences or a science with maths.

I think it's because she has quite a wide range of interests with Art, science and history which don't necessarily go together.

Is there an option of the IB?

History is good for lots of things. Has she had a look at Computer Science? (yes I am biased) I was good at art and maths and computer science allowed for both. It isn't IT it is more about programming.

Thanks everyone. She has looked at law would English, history and art be ok if she went down this route or is art not seen as academic enough?
To me art is her real strength but she has is wobbling over taking it as an A level not sure why really. I think she thinks it's because you can't get a good job if you do art. I have tried to dispel this but maybe I'm wrong?

The English and History are generally seen as solid subjects, some universities don't like you to have law A level if you want to do law as a degree.

Nothing wrong with Art, Tracey Emin seems to be doing OK.

I think, butt I am prepared to be corrected, that with 2 solid old fashioned A levels and a 'fun' one would be OK.

I have one son who took art and is now doing fine art at uni and one just about to start (with textiles). If she is really good at it I would encourage her to do it. Lots of excellent uni courses in art/ art related things.

Yes I have tried to encourage her down the Art route as I think she has a natural aptitude for this. Unfortunately she doesn't always listen to me!

There are only a few universities left with 'banned' subjects (bastards : one of them used to be comms A Level which was a genuinely fascinating subject :at A2 they learnt about feminism, Marxism, post colonialism and market liberalism : not many other subjects opened the minds of students in that way, but hey ho) and to my knowledge Art has never appeared on any such list.

However... if she wishes to do law, some universities (the most competitive ones) might have a preference for students with a certain range and type of A level subject so she should look into that. English and history are the absolute classic subjects for law, but the range is widening , as is the number of unis offering it to degree level.

for example, for York Uni - they have no preferred subjects at all.

However, at a good uni , of the type your DD's GCSEs suggest might be in her reach, the entry requirements are very high. So, if she wants to do law , she should follow the subjects (rather mercenary this) in which she has the best chances of securing A*s and As. And work bloody hard.

I wish I'd done law now but was put off by the fact that everyone arty clever at my school applied to do it and was driven by a desire to be different...

Don't fall into the trap of thinking biology is an 'easy' science. Lots of people thought that when I was in the sixth form, took it in conjunction with two arts subjects and got bad grades in biology.

Good advice thanks. She is a worker and will put the work in to get the grades but like you said it seems very competitive now and the grades required seem so high. It's changed so much from when I applied when I had offers with requirements to get Bs and that was from places like Leeds and Edinburgh.

Dd got A in science GCSEs with biology being her best mark. She asked school about changing her a level option from RS to biology and they've advised against it. Said unless she wants a degree or career where she needs biology then not to do it as it's a big step up in level. They also said something about what's the point in taking one science.

MN is full at the moment of all these schools trying to prevent able students form doing certain subjects!! I teach a subject perceived as soft : this is how I ended up with my classes! Sixth form HOYS saying ' oh ye, go and do piggy's subject; that's really easy.! What's that you say? You can't read and write and hate writing essays and doing research? Never fear! Piggy will sort you out!'

Sigh.

And , on the flip side, school should not be discouraging girls (who want to) form pursuing STEM subjects.

English, History and Art is an academic combination for someone interested in humanities subjects at University and AAA in those three would be far preferable to ABC in History, Biology and Chemistry. She should play to her strengths. Subject choice matters but so does the grade you're likely to attain. To often I see kids pick subjects they think are better or more respected even though those are their weaker grades only to do badly and have to resist year 12 or struggle to get uni places. I've got a year 13 this year who wants to drop history at A Level to continue with 3 science subjects that she got D, E, U in at AS. She got a solid C in history, hopefully the Head of Sixth will talk some sense into her.

I work in a girls school and we don't have any problem with the number of girls taking STEM subjects. Maths, the sciences and psychology are our biggest subjects. But we do have a problem with girls who have results that clearly show that sciences are their weakest subjects insisting they want to do 3 sciences and then coming out with Es and Us when they could have done far better in History or English. I'm all for encouraging girls to do STEM subjects as long as we don't make them think that they are less academic if their strengths lie elsewhere. I would and have had the same conversation with girls with amazing maths and science results but middling English and humanities results when they try to sign up for three essay subjects.

My DD has just finished her A levels. She did Chemistry because it was her favourite subject at GCSE, but she really struggled with it. When it turned out that she didn't need it for her degree choice we really wished she'd picked something less challenging. She had an A at GCSE and a B in maths, incidentally. She got a C at A level.

The biggest problem was maths, especially at A2. She found that she was the only one in the A2 class not doing Maths A level and although the maths element was not necessarily beyond her, the others picked it up so quickly that she was left feeling at a considerable disadvantage.

On the basis of our experience, my advice would be not to choose Chemistry unless she really needs it for her degree choice.