Any knowledgeable people out there, advice on A-levels

[bishbashbosh78]

DD2 is about to choose her A-levels shortly (just finished her mocks, awaiting results). She seems to want to do Maths and will probably do a science but is also quite keen on Economics, English or Business Studies. Predicted 8s and 9s (more 9s, including in the Sciences, Maths and English), although this might change depending on recent mocks.

She's looking to do Maths plus either Biology, Chemistry or Physics plus either English or Economics and maybe FM.

Ultimately, it's her choice but we are keen to know:

• Which of Bus Studies, Economics or English would be more 'highly regarded' (if at all) by uni admissions?
• If students are strong in English and Maths, would English be a more enjoyable subject compared with Economics e.g.?
• Of course A-levels are a real step up but, which of the following would you regard being the biggest step up if you did them at GCSE: Biology, Chemistry, DT, English, French, German, Latin, Maths, Physics?

Thanks in advance.

Hi OP - I see you have mentioned MFL which is my subject, I think the A level is a big step up from the GCSe, even though the GCSE is a better prep for the newer spec A level than the pre-reform GCSE (which was last sat in 2017).

My DD took French and did more work for it than her other two (Eng lit and Geography) put together. In addition, if someone is considering French or German, other things being equal I would cynically advise German - not just bc it is more unusual, but bc based on grade boundaries (and assuming AQA board) it is a lot easier (hah!) to get a higher grade in than French. Check the marks for French and German needed t get a grade B or A over the last few years.

Wrt your other queries - is that eng lit or Eng lang? They are very different (and Eng lang is very different from the GCSE). Eng lit takes you to a uni degree in Eng Lit, whereas economics is not needed for any degree (economics degrees need maths not econ), so in that sense Eng lit keeps a door open - it may not be a door your DD wants to push against tho. Economics seems like a good idea if you are thinking of it as a degree to see if you like it - but I have no direct experience there.

Maths and a science will keep open doors to study that science at university; if she adds FM it will also keep open doors to maths at uni and engineering (but check which science - physics better than biology for that. If she took maths, FM, physics and economics she would really have to LOVE maths as that's a lot of what she would be doing.

DS2 took maths and biology and found maths a big ask - he got an 8 back in 2019 (so I mean he sat the exams) and worked very hard for his B at A level. Biology came a bit easier - but otoh I believe it is a challenging A level - he is just really keen on it (degree choice).

HTH - sorry for essay

• Which of Bus Studies, Economics or English would be more 'highly regarded' (if at all) by uni admissions?

I'm no expert, others will be better qualified to answer but my 50 cents. Economics and English both highly regarded. I believe business studies may be slightly less so (in terms of academic uni applications).

• If students are strong in English and Maths, would English be a more enjoyable subject compared with Economics e.g.?

Not necessarily. I think economics can be a really interesting subject for many. Real life case studies; applied mathematics; even philosophy. English is great too if you love reading but some find the reading of Shakespeare etc, long essays etc. onerous tasks. What are your child's real passions?

• Of course A-levels are a real step up but, which of the following would you regard being the biggest step up if you did them at GCSE: Biology, Chemistry, DT, English, French, German, Latin, Maths, Physics?

Not really sure on the last question but overall I think you'd do well to get a couple of uni brochures/careers books and get a sense of longer term goals. This will help to give an idea of best for subjects/which not to drop. For, example to study psychology you do not need maths a level but I think it makes it a lot easier for students at university if they do have it.

If they want to be an engineer: Maths, Further Maths, Physics, chemistry etc would be most valuable; A banker: maths, further maths or computing, economics, a language maybe; a lawyer: English would be a good one; a nurse: chemistry, biology; marketing: English, maths and economics/business studies or psychology maybe. Psychology: maths, psychology, biology. Do they want a well paid business career or a caring/giving back, rewarding but possibly less well paid, career, or a creative career, practical career etc etc.

I believe the sciences can be made easier by doing more due to the overlap. My school advised to do chemistry as the central science to add biology/physics to

Thank you, really helpful. Useful to know that both English and Economics are well regarded. I'm still not sure I know the difference between English Language or English Literature! Can you take either at A-level?

For DD who has 9s predicted in English (both Lang & Lit) and Maths, do you then think it would be better with Maths + Physics/Chem or Biol + English instead of Economics (looks like she will rule out Bus Studies)?

I think English Literature is what most students know - studying and analysing fiction texts etc.
What are her favourites? Is she into reading lots, writing essays etc or more technically minded?

But what dues she want to study at uni? That would be my first question.
And I'm sure someone will suggest that website where you put in various A level combinations and it suggests careers - it's useless (my daughter is doing art, history and psychology and the outcome was really varied).
And doing well and being interested in a subject are two different things.
She should pick an area (say civil engineer, as 'engineer' is too vague) and look at the entry requirements and work back from there.

It depends on her career preferences. I teach Business Studies A Level and the AQA syllabus is more academic than you might think. There are lots of essays and case studies to analyse, and it can always be useful.

I have taught both Business Studies and Economics at A Level. In my opinion, Economics is rated much higher purely because it requires a more analytical mind - it is more maths based. Business Studies is not rated highly by accountants for example, because it doesn't require much mathematical ability, but it is good if you want a career in HR or the soft side of business.

I would say maths and physics are the biggest step up for A level. It depends of course on whether your DC is naturally good at maths or has to work hard at it. It might be worth checking with their teachers in those subjects.

I agree that economics is a good subject to study, depending on what they want to do as a degree. It might be worth doing English if they're not sure of the direction they want to go in, but only do it at Uni if they love reading as you have to read shed loads of books but I do know two people who switched to English at Uni after hating their other subjects.

Have you thought of geography A level? A lot of people at my son's school ended up doing a geography degree as you can specialise in the social science side or the science side, depending on your interest.

OP I don't know a massive amount about eng lang at A level but I believe it is a lot less about the things that are on the GCSE syllabus and a lot more technical, about analysis of how language is used. (V smart ) mate of DD's took it and hated it tho I thought it sounded interesting when she spoke about it! She also took maths and psych and did a psych degree fwiw. Eng lang not required for any specific degree but I can see might be useful if you were leaning towards marketing for example.

YY re eng lit degree - for big readers only. DD finished her degree in the summer and in her first semester of year 3 she did three modules - for one of those she had to read about 10 Victorian texts (I mean Dickens, Eliot, Hardy - not easy stuff)

I teach biology at A-level, and it is a big step up from the GCSE- at GCSE I would say for many it's the "easiest" science, and so students find it enjoyable- but the jump to A-level is wider (in my opinion) than chemistry and physics. Chemistry and physics usually start with content that's a bit more familiar and then build on it, biology is often more "in at the deep end".

There's also a lot of content to learn, especially if she's not doing another science. Biology and chemistry really support each other at A-level. She's also not necessarily keeping science at uni open as an option by only doing one science. Really you need to figure out if she might want to do sciences in the future- if she does, doing only one science will drastically cut down options.

I'm not saying that she won't do well, with 9s, but it may not be the best 3rd choice.

I'd consider English, economics and maths as a possible combination too- a lot of unis will want maths if she wants to take the economics further anyway.

You can do language or literature as A-levels. You can also do combined lang and lit - I think it's slightly less respected by unis if she wanted to go down an English route, though. Teachers will be able to advise about English language A-level, I think it's quite linguistics based and different to the GCSE, but it's worth speaking to her teachers.

In terms of what she'll enjoy, what does she enjoy now? Students who enjoy sciences and maths at GCSE tend to enjoy them at A-level. Students who like English/humanities at GCSE tend to like more essay based subjects at A-level. Maths especially I do think you have to really love it to want to take it past GCSE, it's not enough to just be good at it.

Not sure how much this helps, but I'd get her to consider broad uni options and work backwards from there!

She's also not necessarily keeping science at uni open as an option by only doing one science. Really you need to figure out if she might want to do sciences in the future- if she does, doing only one science will drastically cut down options

While I agree that broadly, English is a bit of an outlier, actually for any uni place to study science, maths counts as a science. I know this bc ds2 is studying science and did biology and maths, no other science (don't think PE counts!)

Cambridge have this to say about Business Studies:
However as Cambridge does not typically offer vocational subjects, A Levels such as Business, Photography or Media Studies may not be as appropriate.

My dd is taking maths, further maths，chemistry and biology. At the sixth form open evening the teachers advised that chemistry is the biggest jump up from GCSE and dd would agree with that. Maths and FM is a heavy workload but content so far is manageable.

The most competitive unis will consider Economics more academic than Business studies (most unis won't care, however).
At my daughter's school the less academic pupils were encouraged to take Business studies because it is seen as an easier option than Economics.

My DD is currently doing Chemistry and it's a total bitch. She regrets ever taking it. Really struggling through it so I'd say you need to be proper strong at GCSE to take that forward.

Also, if Maths is her favourite subject then Physics is the natural partner to Maths.
So she will probably be advised by her school to take Maths, Physics & one other subject, possibly Economics or English Lit.
Plus FM if she thinks she might want to do a maths based course at Uni like a Maths or Engineering degree.

Really helpful advice and comments, thank you all!

DD really doesn't know what she wants to do at uni let alone for a career. It is therefore difficult to work 'backwards' with her teachers suggesting she does something she is likely to both enjoy and be good at.

As she's enjoying and doing well (so far) in both Maths and English (as well as the sciences, but particularly Physics), it's hard then to know whether Economics might - as suggested further up thread - will mean a lot of maths vs perhaps a more well-rounded mix of Maths, 1 Science (likely Physics) and English.

It seems Economics is quite popular so DD may opt for that but I'm not sure whether she fully understands the content.

For someone who is strong in Maths/English, which would be the 'harder' (or with more workload) - English or Economics?

My son did Maths, Physics, English & Economics A levels.
Economics was much easier for him than English Lit. Though if your daughter loves reading for pleasure plus writing long essays she may enjoy it more than he did.
He didn’t do much revision for Economics and never too much homework but still got an A. English Lit he sweated for months over the coursework and revised more but still got a B. I guess everyone’s different though.

This is tricky (I speak as a parent and ex English teacher). If you love reading, Eng Lit will seem easier - if it’s a chore it will be hard. Lots of schools only offer Eng Lit A level so that may restrict choices

If you want to do sciences, more focus is better. If you fancy Social Sciences/Arts breadth is good.

Your school should offer ‘taster’ lessons post GCSE to experience the subjects and there’s usually time to swop in the first few weeks of year 12.

Beware the teachers who are to boost numbers on their courses!

You say that you're dd is not yet sure what she wants to do later. That is usual but I do think that it's worth you investing some time with her to think about it and which careers most appeal. It will avoid her dropping a subject that will rule out a future career choice. Eg. Physics is dropped by a lot of girls and can make them ineligible to apply to engineering courses later. It's also a good thing to have some long term goals in mind anyway. I didn't and as a result did a hopscotch of a levels and a drifting career path!

Your not you're ruddy autocorrect!

Hi,

Just a thought if your DD enjoys Maths she may find Economics easier than English. That might mean a higher grade at the end of the day.

My DC Is in year 12 studying Economics, English and Maths. Out of all these subjects Economics seems to involve the least work.

She hasn't even got her mock gcses to go on yet! It's a lot different t o homework and end of topic tests.
I think you need to wait

Kids I know who have done economics have found it hard without maths and/or if they got a 7 or under at gcse maths. It's tricky but therefore highly regarded.

Languages are a big jump from GCSEs, especially if you don't have a natural aptitude and are instead just intelligent/hard working. Back when a levels were a bit easier I got an A* at gcse but then struggled to get a B at a level!

Economics will help your dd to make sense of this crazy world we live in..Its a valuable tool for life.