A level dilemma; please advise

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DS has chosen three A levels; history biology and economics. Seemed reasonable until he started looking a little deeper into degree options. He's veering towards a biology degree and found that the vast majority want a second science, which he wouldn't have. His other possible avenue would be an economics degree but most require maths A level.

He's adamant he doesn't want to do maths A level; he feels it's just too difficult. He's an average student who doesn't like to exert himself too much, but he does ok. DH and I think he should swap economics for chemistry to facilitate a biology degree. He's a bit nervous that chemistry will be too difficult. He quite likes chemistry; he's not passionate about it but he's laid back about all his subjects. I"m not a scientist so find it quite hard to give advice.

His plan was to wait until results day and if he gets a 7 in chemistry he will take the A level; he's borderline 6 and 7. Now though he's obviously not taking the exam and not doing any revision for it; we feel he should decide now, especially as his school will start an introductory course to the A levels in the summer term.

Please advise.

If there is anywhere near you that offers it would he be interested in the Applied Science Btec?

My DS got a A* at GCSE and was thinking of doing A Level. Having spoken to the Chemistry Dept it put us right off. Really hard A Level and you have to go further than the course to get a good grade. Its not just a question of learning the sylabus

I love psychology, have a degree in it, have taught it and mark the A level, but as a supporting subject for biology, I'm not convinced by it.

I'm inclined to agree. Some universities see it as a "soft" science. DD did psychology to AS level, and hated it. She was glad that she was studying 4 subjects because she could drop it.

OddBoots a lot of universities won't accept applied science for science degree subjects, although it does depend on the university and the degree.

My students have not had any problems doing what they want to do, I should say, grades permitting. And my DD is planning on doing it and I'm happy about that. But I'm not sure why it's considered any more use for biology than another A level (except maths and chemistry, which are definitely useful).

As someone who did bio chemistry and maths al
-level I can say chemistry was definitely the hardest. I did biochemistry degree and the chemistry turned into maths and the biology turned into chemistry. If he doesn't like chemistry now he will certainly not like a biology degree!

I thought I might like forensic science (thanks Silent witness) but I did a taster career day that included all aspects of 'forensics' and it made me realise just how repetitive and dull it was, not to mention poorly paid, except if you were a pathologist but they deal 90% with drugs overdoses and cancer autopsies.

Equally the graduates from my cohort went on to medical type post grads, research or lab based work, or accounting/consultancy/law conversions so he would need to think about that. Biology is very generic as a degree that doesn't have an obvious career option but there is huge scope in terms of grad recruitment that will include biology.

I did biochemistry first too, and chemistry was the required A level for that. Other biology-related degrees will have much less chemistry in them.

I did an Economics degree and there was quite a bit of maths. Does your school do A-level Statistics? That would be useful for Economics and a science degree and an alternative to Maths.

Could he consider geography A level in place of economics? It sits well with biology & a lot of biology courses will take geography as the second science.

Also look into PE A level if he plays sport. A careers evening explained that it is heavy on physiology and sport psychology.

Iirc you don't need A-level Economics to do a degree in it ?

Yes that's correct @nellythenarwhal, Maths is what they need usually.

Have school given him any advice OP?

DS2 started Economics A level and dropped out after half a term as it was so heavily maths based which wasn't his strong point.

DS1 took Chemistry A level and said the jump is huge from GCSE.

Would something like Psychology be compatible with Biology? Or Geography? What aspect of Biology does he most enjoy? Maybe that he'd prefer a degree where his knowledge of Biology supported the subject rather than being the key subject.

DS2 started Economics A level and dropped out after half a term as it was so heavily maths based which wasn't his strong point.

This is always a gamble when taking an A level in a subject that hasn't been studied before. DD really, really wanted to do psychology. The reality was that she found it boring and unchallenging, and a lot of work. Obviously this was only the first half of the A level course - she dropped it after AS level, much to the psychology teacher's disappointment.

Teacher here (History) Biology A level is widely considered to be the most difficult A Level (no idea why, but I've worked in 3 schools and it's always been the same) I've seen kids do History and get a B in that and a E in Biology. Maybe he can email his prospective teachers and have a chat with them about his options. They will be happy to help.

ElsieDear when DD was considering her A level options she was told that the jump from biology GCSE to A level was higher than that for physics and chemistry.

I suspect that some students might wrongly assume that biology is "easier" than chemistry or physics which are often perceived as hard (IMO all A level subjects are hard), and probably those with an aptitude for chemistry and physics are more likely to choose them over biology anyway.

I am not sure it is the most difficult, more that the wrong people opt for it : it is regarded as the more people focused 'fluffier' science (inaccurately, I must add!) and , therefore, the less able opt for it, especially girls, in part due to this drive to get more people into STEM, regardless of whether that is where their ability lies. It is still true that physics has a cachet that means the more able end opt for it. I have had numerous conversations with students who have named biology as the one science A Level they are taking : when I ask why that one , they often say they couldn't possibly do chemistry or physics because they aren't clever enough. They clearly aren't scientists at all but are drawn to biology because they think it is more accessible.

In my school, the statistically worst results at A Level come from all three of the sciences, psychology and economics.

Nationally, the hardest subjects to get very top grades in remain arts subjects.

You put it better than I did Piggy

The best advice we've had was to choose a combination

eg 3 from

1. English Lit, Philsophy, Classics/Latin, History
2. maths, further maths, physics
3. maths, physics, chemistry
4. chemistry, biology, maths
5. 2 x MFL, Latin
6. politics, economics, maths, geography
7. history, politics, economics, philosophy, maths
8. biology, psychology, maths

etc..

and then add a random other as the 4th if you want. MFL or maths is always a good 4th option and goes with everything.

Both the physics and chemistry department at our school told dd (who should get 8s or 9s in them) that they didn't want her choosing these A levels unless she had a science combination. To get decent grades you need support of the other subjects, and maths.

You say he’s interested in genetics. I work in genetics. It’s very computer programming heavy these days. Is computer science an option?
I’ve no idea how comp sci is viewed for uni admissions, but computer skills are a good combination with biology in modern research.

I previously missed the fact that he has dismissed or can’t do other ‘second science’ possibilities of geography and psychology.
He thinks maths and chemistry are too difficult for him. He may well be right although in the case of chemistry is his GCSE level due to lack of effort or problems with conceptual understanding? Taster lessons would help decide that. Computer science as mentioned by previous PP would be an option to consider.
Biology can of course be found interesting by non- scientists but that does n’t mean they will be able to or want to tackle a degree in it if they can’t do other sciences.
Biology A level would support social science degrees or anthropology/ archeology (as he is keen on history). Obviously the latter degrees are usually for academic interest rather than careers but then so are most degrees.

Does this sort of degree or similar appeal?www.dur.ac.uk/courses/info/?id=26263&title=Health+and+Human+Sciences&code=B991&type=BSC&year=2021#admissions

CaptBarnacles thanks for your input. DS is very interested in computer science; computing is one of his gcse subjects but his school does not offer A level computer science; there weren't enough students interested in it.

What was your degree and how did you get into genetics?

TeddTess the combinations you've listed sound very sensible. I"m a little disturbed that DS's school hasn't indicated to him that there is a problem with this choices. He will be talking to the school.

I completely agree that a science combination is needed.

sendsummer thanks for your thoughts. I think DS would be capable of chemistry A level if he found it sufficiently interesting; he tends to put full effort into some areas: only he can judge that. Taster lessons are a great idea; he's talking to the school.

Thanks for the thoughts re biology supporting social science/anthropology. At the moment DS would prefer to do a degree which he sees as being more directly related to a job, that may change.