Where do I find information about A levels subjects

[Anewearth]

DC is a bit loss on what they want to study.

Where do I find useful information on each subject? The information on the prospectus is not very comprehensive.

We are going to one open day so hopefully will be get more information there.

Find out which exams board the school/ college uses for each subject, often available on their website. Then you can literally look up the syllabus for that subject on the exam board website. Some subjects will have options so you would need to ask the school which option they do.

Obviously none of the above tell you how it will be taught. Go to open days/evenings and get DC to talk to subject staff to see if it's something they might be interested in.

Can you get to a Waterstone's? They usually have a range of textbooks for each subject, and there is also a series of books by Dorling Kindersley called 'Big Ideas Explained Simply' for the sixth form subjects like Psychology, Sociology, Economics, Philosophy etc. Browsing those will give your child a good idea if the courses would be attractive or not.

Thank you

I hope it will become more clear on the next month or so

I would expect the staff at a sixth-form open day to explain in detail tbh.

Many subjects at A level follow on from the GCSE but at a higher level. Some do not. English lang is not much like GCSE. Subjects like Eng lit, history, MFL, use similar skills and the work is at a much deeper level.

Obviously new subjects like (for many) sociology, philosophy, psychology, politics are a different matter. I agree with looking at the specs online to get an idea. Many YP take the subjects they loved at GCSE – what subjects might they take?

If you hunt around, some sixth form colleges may have more detailed information. During covid, at least one of our local colleges made videos about each subject in lieu of an open evening, and they seem to have maintained and updated those on their website.

One of my children was very undecided about A level choices. They looked at three sources of info to help whittle things down:

The summary syllabus for the subject under the appropriate exam board (available online).

The most recent published exam papers (available online, note latest year is usually not accessible).

Some of those GCP style study guides to give a little more flesh on the bone.

Note that some subjects allow the school to choose different options within the syllabus, so find out what the school or college will select; this can have a big impact on the relative appeal.

We’ve just started going to open days. The subject leads have been giving quite detailed information on the syllabus, exams, how the course is taught etc. However, there’s only really been time to go to about 4 talks, so there’s a need to narrow down which ones you want to go to. It might be different where you are though

Open days for sixth forms in schools are all in October where I live. Obviously not where you are but just wanted to flag that the ship may have sailed on this one for @Anewearth

Colleges still have events coming up though.

Will look at this. Thank you

I mean it's a nice aspiration. We are expecting 3,000 people to our open evening next week...

That’s amazing. But I wonder how many of them will really not know what they want to do and need to discuss in a detail?

How big is your sixth form? If those numbers are representative there must be lots of staff. My dc’s school has about 120 a year in sixth form and we were certainly able to discuss A level choices in lots of detail.

We have 4 x your numbers and two teachers of the relevant subject, both part time.

Realistically, no-one is getting detailed information on the night (unless they get it from one of my student volunteers).

*relevance of part time being one of them doesn't even work that day and if they turn up, it'll be out of the kindness of their heart!

My subject is MFL and we had six MFL teachers, all but one FT, in a school of about 1200, sixth form of about 100-120 in a year. We would all go to the sixth form open evening (though we were not all teaching sixth form at any one time) so I guess I'm going off that (and as I say, my DCs' school which was similar) – there were certainly plenty of us to talk to anyone interested in taking either MFL A level! (typically about 2-3 a year).

(edited as I realised I had a different thread in mind and this one is not specifically focused on MFL, sorry. Still vaguely relevant tho)

Yes, so those are subjects taught to years 7-13 whereas a lot of the subjects parents and students have the most questions about - the new ones - are staffed by a couple of people. A classic supply and demand mismatch in fact!

@Phineyj yes that makes sense. Sociology is not going to be a huge dept is it, nor psych or politics.

@Anewearth if you can tell us what subjects are under consideration i am sure there will be helpful posters here with good specific knowledge. FWIW I don’t think it’s a great idea to take three totally new subjects at A level, in case that is under consideration. I have seen it go wrong more than once.

Thanks.

I don’t think DC has thought this properly. They said they will do more research. They have mentioned:

Psychology
Photography
Computer Science: I don’t think this is a good idea and they will find it hard
Economics. I am not sure about this subject either for DC

They mentioned being an architect or state agent; but at this age they change their mind every day.

I am thinking photography, psychology, Business Btec may be a good mix.

There is also graphic design Btec which they may enjoy as they are creative, have good eye for detail,

OK so for architecture, art and DT are recommended subjects, tho AFAIK not compulsory, Architecture is a big undertaking though with a long training period, so make sure they have considered that. Do they study either of these subjects at GCSE?

Do they do CS GCSE @Anewearth ? I am assuming so. What grade are they likely to get? They will also need a strong maths GCSE grade. CS at uni without maths A level is somewhat limited as well if that were an option.

I am assuming they don’t currently study economics, photography or psychology GCSE. What is the motivation for choosing three new subjects? I hope it is not “I hate all my GCSEs and these are new so might be fun” as that’s when it ends badly IME. Graphic design – do they take graphics GCSE?

Business Btec is a good shout if that is something they are interested in. Again, do they take business GCSE?

If all of these are new subjects then I would suggest they look carefully at keeping at least one subject currently studied – based on their choices and possible future ambitions I suggest maths, geography, art or DT.

They have expressed interest in the construction industry. It's worth them exploring other jobs in that sector they may be less familiar with such as surveying or planning and then looking into the qualifications needed. Maths, art or design and geography as suggested by @clary are all good options. Worth thinking ahead too as it's a sector that often offers apprenticeships.

@clary's suggestions are good.

I'd add that BTEC and A-level are very different styles of course and it's likely one style would suit your DC more than another. Some schools allow students to mix and match.

Another issue with Computer Science is that schools really struggle for teachers. Courses may be stopped or taught by a non specialist or students may have to trek to a different school for the lessons.

A quick leaf through some Economics books would soon reveal if the young person would find it interesting. Or a couple of Tim Harford's podcasts Understand: The Economy on the BBC would do the same job.

My niece is studying Architecture at University following an A* in DT, and A and B in two science subjects.

There is info on UCAS under the header 'qualifications you can take'.

It really helps to understand a) which careers need very specific things b) which a-levels are classed as facilitating or enabling subjects c) what all the other options are.

Start with their likely GCSE grades - are they better at STEM (sciences, engineering,maths) or SHAPE (social sciences, humanities, arts) or the same level across both groups? Do they prefer one or the other?

Learndirect has an article on 'subjects that open the most university and career pathways' - if your child knows what they want to do for a job research that, if they don't then encourage them to keep options open.

It really helps to research uni options just to understand what is most versatile.

The combination of psychology, photography, business - I don't understand the reason for this combination? What do you expect it to lead to?

What is your child already good at?
What are their likely GCSE grades?
Any evidence they dislike exams or excel at coursework?

They are better at science but said they don’t like science 😂

They are creative and have a good eye for detail but not doing art or DT GCSE

It would be easier for people to discuss in more depth if you felt able to give some info about possible predicted grades.

If they are MUCH better at science it is different to if they are A BIT better iyswim.