Another A level combination question!

[TheLetterZ]

Sorry I know there are quite a lot of these but could do with some other points of view.

Daughter is very academically able, got very good GCSEs and looking at top unis. Her plan is to start with 4 A levels and see how she gets on. She is doing Classics, DT, History and English.

She is really not liking the English set texts (Great Gatsby and Grapes of Wrath) so thinking of not starting English, or giving it a go but it is quite likely to be dropped.

So my question is are history and classics too similar? Husband thinks it is, I’m not sure.

Current Uni plans are to read anthropology.

Those will only be 2 of the 6 texts, but if she doesn't like the reading list, I'd suggest not starting Lit.

Thanks, she really isn’t liking the books so far. They have just changed to OCR so I don’t know what else is on the list. I think it will be hard to get a good grade if you don’t like the texts though.

I teach the OCR spec and love it - but I teach the other paper. One class does American for paper 2 and the other dues dystopia. I can't stand Gatsby, so I'm with her on that!

Classics is v different to the history syllabus my DD was looking at, though there seemed to be a lot of different history permutations, down to the individual school.

My DD considered doing history, politics and sociology, then one day said, "Wait! Am I doing the same A level three times?" as there was loads of overlap! She was doing Eng lit and lang instead of lit to avoid some texts.

@MrsHamlet what is the other paper like? I know it is poetry and Shakespeare. My daughter would love to do dystopia but they don’t seem to have a choice.

I think Classics and History sound a good combination for Anthropology.
Am not sure how DT fits in with the above, but guess it's because your dd enjoys/is good at this subject.
I assume you mean English Lit. There is also English Language A level.
I don't think the joint Lit/Lang is still available for new students due to A level reforms.

Ours don't have a choice - it depends which of the two groups they're in.
My paper is the OLD stuff. It's got Shakespeare, drama and poetry - so I do Marlowe and Milton with Shakespeare.

www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/as-and-a-level/english-literature-h072-h472-from-2015/specification-at-a-glance/

If English Language is available, that's fantastic. I get excited teaching it.

I don't think History and Classics are too similar (Ancient History and Classical Civilisation would be but I think schools and colleges teach one or the other) but I also agree English language might be worth a look. I would have done it if it had been on offer in my day.

Modern history and politics are quite similar and have some cross-over but lots of kids do that combination.

She needs to ensure she is doing two facilitating subjects and check specific entry requirements for the unis she may apply to. DT does seem an unusual choice. Has she thought about Sociology or Geography? I don’t think it’s necessary to have done Geography GCSE to pick it up for A Level.

I don't think universities look at "facilitating subjects" any more, just the right subjects for the degree.

Apart from DT all the other subjects are quite essay heavy.

Another consideration is that some unis view Anthropology as a Science so may have a slight preference for a Science A Level to be added to the mix

@Ginfordinner If by top unis the OP means Oxbridge, LSE etc then they do tend to prefer the subjects on the facilitating subjects list.

Russell Group ditches ‘facilitating subjects’ A-level list

Yes I know. My point is that in spite of this certain unis still favour certain subjects.

I don't disagree with you there.

Facilitating subject were just a list that kept open as many doors as possibly, rather than subjects that are ‘better’ than others. It was then interpreted as a list of better subjects which is why the list was dropped.

DT is a non-negotiation, she loves the subject and it is really good for her, something not essay based as well.

Presuming by classics you don’t mean A level Latin or Greek and therefore yes there is going to be overlap with History. If she is serious about anthropology then Biology should be included in her A level combination even if it is not an entry requirement.

I think on unifrog or it could be ‘complete university guide’ online you can type in the course and the uni and it tells you which A levels most students have when they’re admitted. May be a useful tool to see what is generally accepted if there are no specifics given.

Oxford like a combination of science and arts/humanities A levels. So maybe DT isn’t strong enough for them. However Bristol are not prescriptive. So most RG universities would be in range one would think.

Studying Arch and Anth has been a long standing way to get into a top university without the grades required for Law, History or English. Oxford want AAA and Bristol AAB. So I think what she wants to do is ok but not the best combination. But it might not need to be for a course which is often not as competitive as, say, Law, English or History.

I'd have suggested Biology or Geography for Anth rather than English, depending on her interests -
Social Anth or physical Anth.

Studying Arch and Anth has been a long standing way to get into a top university without the grades required for Law, History or English. Oxford want AAA and Bristol AAB. So I think what she wants to do is ok but not the best combination. But it might not need to be for a course which is often not as competitive as, say, Law, English or History.

This is the biggest thing putting her off the subject. She is genuinely interested in the subject but is worried about the lower grade entry.

My DD is also doing history and classics. Classics is way different with absolutely no overlap whatsoever-it sounds fascinating tbh. She’s added in maths and English literature, so will wait time see on workload. I suspect one will get dropped at some point. Her 6th form also offer English Lang/lit combined (so it is still available) and she was really interested in that but didn’t like the texts on offer for it so went for straight literature.

My son is about to start 6th form with Biology, Chemistry, Latin A levels and Classics for AS level.

Latin was his favourite GCSE subject, but of all the bridging work, Classics has been the one he has enjoyed most.

I’d say it is more like English than History, just in terms of how much of the work load is reading plays. (I did Ancient History as part of my degree.) DS’ teacher was very interesting when we met to discuss subjects: he was saying that Classics is a lot of reading, and the best students do a lot of reading around the subject - so if you don’t like reading then Classics might be more of a struggle than anticipated.

Your daughter’s choices sound very interesting, I wish her an enjoyable 6th form.

DD is year 13, doing Eng Lit, History and Class Civ. She dropped Biology.

No overlap in subject matter, but they are all obviously essay subjects. Her Eng Lit is Tess, Wuthering Heights, Street Car, Revolutionary Road, Hamlet, and Modern Poetry Anthology. For History, Tudors, Russian Revolution, English Empire and Gender History. Class Civ is prob 50/50 ancient history/Literature. So she is covering Odyssey, Aenied, Religion, plus Greek Theatre which is Frogs, Oedipus, Bacchae.

DD loves her choices, but it is a lot of reading, and quite a lot of cross over with Theatre and Drama too (which she did for GCSE, as well as Class Civ GCSE).

By overlap I mean core skills learnt in the A level rather than exact content covered.
Anthropology is a broad subject but usually degree content has a lot of social science. I would therefore favour starting with DT, two out of English or Classics or History and biology or, as titchy suggested, geography instead of biology.