Daughter stressed about A-level choices

[PoplarDreams]

My daughter will do her GCSEs next year and is predicted good grades in all her subjects. She works very hard and is naturally academic.
She's now worrying constantly about what A-levels she should choose to do next year. I know it's a while off, but she really is fretting about it because she just doesn't know what direction to take. She wanted to do medicine for a long while, which would mean science subjects and maths of course, but now she's considering degrees in journalism, law, psychology, history, something different every day, and she has no idea how to make a choice at this early stage. She prefers studying English, history and French, but she is very conscious that science subjects (which she doesn't enjoy nearly so much but is pretty good at) will open all sorts of doors.
How can I help her to feel calm and focused about this? Careers advice at school hasn't been much help so far.
For me the choice was clear cut as I really wasn't any good at maths or science, and my ability definitely lay in one direction.
If anyone has any practical tips, or good books to read to help with her decision-making, it would be great to hear about it.
Also, if there are any medics out there, what's the best way for her to find out what studying medicine would really be like? She has applied for various work experience roles, but at 15, she is still too young for most placements. She doesn't particularly enjoy studying chemistry or maths at school – but she is absolutely fascinated by medicine and always has been.

I’d wait and see what her results are first, and think about what she enjoys doing. I wouldn’t worry too much about a career beyond as I’ve seen people make that mistake, then they haven’t been good enough or have changed their minds.

She shouldn’t just choose subjects that will “keep more doors open” for the sake of it, particularly when you say she doesn’t enjoy them as much.

A-levels are hard. I think there’s always an element of you tend to do better in subjects you enjoy. It can be scary to have to whittle down your subjects to just 3/4, particularly if you have no clear idea of what you want to do for a career - and many don’t.

A good compromise could be the IB if you have anywhere nearby that offers it.

Otherwise, there are many other ways into medicine if she takes the humanities route and decides later on to change her mind. Have a look at four year graduate medicine qualifications at e.g. Warwick. It’s important she knows that whatever route she takes she really hasn’t closed doors - she might just have to take a different path to get there.

The GEM route is incredibly hard to get into for medicine, it's not really a viable option for most students.

However, for medicine, if she takes biology and chemistry, she doesn't need to do maths. It's a common myth that students must do biology/chemistry/maths, but no unis ask for it! If she wants to do English, an MFL or even history as a third option, that would be absolute fine for every UK med school.

Psychology is also a popular third choice, and she could possibly get away with Biology or Chemistry + Psychology and a third subject BUT it would narrow her options in terms of where to apply, so personally I wouldn't recommend it.

In terms of med school outreach, most of what I'm aware of is aimed at Y12 students unfortunately.

Personally, I would suggest that she picks her A-levels with medicine in mind, but if she changes her mind during Y11, then most schools/colleges will let her change for September. If she decides in Y12 that actually she doesn't want to go down the med school route, then she could potentially also restart Y12 with new A-levels.

>rk experience roles, but at 15, she is still too young for most placements. She doesn't particularly enjoy studying chemistry or maths at school – but she is absolutely fascinated by medicine and always has been.

my niece was absolutely fascinated by pharma. She become a pharmacist and is a brilliant one. Nevertheless, she wasn't that keen on chemistry and university was a pain. I think all subjects studied for A level are tough. It may be that a wise tutor will help

Hi @PoplarDreams ! As has already been said, I would wait for the GCSE results next year. They may well help.

She should do the 3 or 4 A Levels she enjoys most from her stronger GCSE results. One or more may well lead to her University Degree. This is what happened with our daughter.

Maths A Level is very different from GCSE. And I'm afraid both strong Maths and Chemistry are required for Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. But at this age kids' ambitions and preferences change and change more than once, so I wouldn't worry. Our daughter's University Subject choice changed drastically at the end of Year 12 and her career choice also changed radically after an Internship after her First Year at University.

GCSEs first!

She will probably be asked to put A-level choices on application forms for sixth form around January - this is for timetabling and absolutely doesn’t tie her to those choices. She can change her mind realistically any point up to the end of Sept Y12. Just in case she gets stressed about that!

If she studied biology, chemistry & History at A level then Medicine, Law, History & Psychology would be open to her at degree level.

If she studied biology, chemistry & History at A level then Medicine, Law, History & Psychology would be open to her at degree level.

And plenty more too, those would be a good mix - but ONLY if she can get top grades in the sciences given that the aren't actually her favourites.

Which UK med schools ask for Maths A-level? I'm also not aware of any unis that require maths for biomedical science. I agree maths skills are needed for both courses, but the A-levels are not required by any unis I'm aware of.

https://www.medschools.ac.uk/media/2877/entry-requirements-document-2022-digital.pdf

Base med school entry requirements for all UK unis, for anyone who's interested or may find it useful.

There's a lot of myths around getting into medicine in the UK!

English, history and French are hardly going to slam doors in her face, OP!

I did English, history and French and am a psychologist. We need analysts in psychology.

please reassure her she has plenty of time - some children apply for certain A levels and don't get the grades - the schools are used to making changes right up until half term of A levels. My son got his grades on the 24th August and made his final decision after getting the grades on what he wants to do.

Has she looked at other options?
Btecs, T-Levels, Apprenticeships etc.
There's loads more out there than just A-levels.

Grades also open doors. Work backwards. Have a look at a good university and see what they want subjects wise for different degrees. Yes this will involve some research and maybe a spreadsheet to keep track.

We did this with Ds years ago, looked at what subjects he was enjoying in year 10, looked at those at uni. Plus what they are also combined with so for him maths as pure maths or maths with computer science, statistics, actuarial science, physics, philosophy, or finance. It is far more broad than just chemistry.

The main thing is that she does A level subjects she loves and hopefully is good at. If she aims high then more doors are open to her.

Is IB an option? Would allow a broader range of subjects. Likely to have to put choices down for sixth form applications so suggest Biology chemistry one other and core maths if available and not taking as A level. Final decision after GCSE results.

Thanks so much everyone for your very helpful comments.

Yes, doing the subjects she loves will not slam doors in her face. Her main anxiety is not knowing if medicine is for her yet, so feeling that she needs to choose with that in mind. But chemistry, maths and biology are definitely not her favorite subjects.

It's a tough one, but I'm trying to reassure her that there's still plenty of time and that she should play to her strengths. She's lucky to be an all-rounder but it also makes choosing her direction more stressful in many ways!

Sorry she is so anxious already. She is best to focus on enjoying her studies at the moment.
Most Sixth Forms don’t ask for A level subject options until after Christmas of year 11, even then she can still change her mind even after her GCSE results.
I work in a Sixth Form and many students will change subjects up until October half term of the Lower Sixth (although not recommended).
I would say there is absolutely no need to study more than 3 A Levels (no Universities ask for more than 3, even Oxbridge). Biology and Chemistry are a must but the third can be anything within reason. I’ve known students get into medicine with PE, Geography, Psychology etc as their third.
Work experience is not easy to come by but what about voluntary work? Much of working as a doctor involves interaction with people. It’s as much about the soft skills as academics.

You don't need A level Maths to study medicine at university OP.
Has your daughter considered Red Cross or St John's ambulance cadets? This would be available for her age group.
At dds sixth form you chose 3 subjects and had another one (or 2) as a reserve.
So she could put down English Lit, History, Biology with Chemistry and French as a reserve for example.

Go to as many open evenings for 6th form as you can and see what exactly they are teaching in each subject. Get her to ask the teachers questions about which paths current and past students are taking after A-Levels. Ask them how much work they expect them to do independently outside lessons.

Science A-Levels are difficult and often 6th forms do expect at least a 6 across all either combined or triple. And the competition for uni is also enormous, it is definitely worth exploring other options outside uni or even A-Level.

If Chemistry, Maths and Biology aren't things she actually likes studying, I honestly don't think aiming for medicine is a great idea. If she isn't mad keen on these things at GCSE, she will almost certainly like them less by the time she gets to the hard stuff at degree level.

My strong advice is that she should choose A Levels in subjects where she actually enjoys doing the work.

I'm also confused why the other posters got fixated about OP daughter not liking Maths. It's all of Biology, Chemistry and Maths she's not enjoying much. I'm not sure if she really wants to do medicine in this case? Have you asked her why? If she has her eyes fixed on being medic, then she'll have to keep it in mind why she's doing those subjects at A level and beyond.