Read some words of wisdom from our intern Katie Farquhar.

Once the GCSE exams come to an end for soon to be sixth-form students, there comes the task of choosing subjects for A Levels. This is not a decision to brush off and make hastily at the last minute and it should be carefully considered to ensure that you set yourself up right for your future.

At the end of Year 11, having just experienced the stress of completing your GCSE exams and now faced with the daunting task of picking your A Levels, it is perfectly normal to feel a bit uncertain perhaps about what your path after school will be. If this is the case, it may be valuable to consider that some subjects are better than others if you wish to keep your options open. The Russell Group is a collection of twenty-four top universities across the United Kingdom, including Oxford, Cambridge and Durham among others, and they have released a list of subjects that are especially useful for keeping your degree options open and are those most frequently needed for course admissions. These subjects are referred to as ‘facilitating’ subjects as they allow for some flexibility in your future course – they are as follows:

Biology

Chemistry

Physics

English literature

Geography

History

Modern and classical languages

However, if you do have an idea of a future career path or of what you wish to study at university, then it is important to take time to research which subjects these may require. For example, a degree such as Pharmacy will generally need Chemistry as well as at least one from Maths, Biology and Physics and so you should be sure to check out the full entry requirement details for university courses that you are interested in applying to – especially as these may vary slightly for different universities.

In a similar vein of thought, it is also worthwhile to research whether a university or course that you are contemplating has a list of subjects that they will not accept as an official A Level or will deem ‘non-preferred’. Cambridge, for instance, do not consider Critical Thinking to be an acceptable subject to in their offer requirements and in general, subjects such as General Studies, Critical Thinking and Home Economics will be viewed as less desirable than other subjects by top universities.

Many universities also advise you to not choose to study subjects that are too close in nature, such as Business Studies and Economics, as there is too much overlap in their content. The University of Edinburgh, for example, actually specifies that ‘Subjects of study in closely related areas or which contain a high proportion of common material (such as biology and human biology) will not normally be counted separately.’ and so this should definitely be taken into account when making your decision.

Fortunately, many courses after A Levels will consider an extremely wide range of subject choices and do not necessitate a certain subject or combination of subjects in particular. These include degrees such as Classical civilisations, Law and Public Relations and therefore there is much more flexibility in choosing your A Levels for these, especially when compared to courses that more rigidly require certain subjects, such as Engineering.

Whilst the choice of each individual A Level subject is significant in itself, the overall combination as a whole is just as substantial. Some science subjects are best when combined with related subjects – for example, physics with maths, biology with chemistry, etc. In fact, if you know that you want to go into the scientific sphere but are not quite sure of where you would specialise, it may be sensible to take as many science subjects as you can in order to keep your options open and to allow you time to figure out which avenue would best suit you. For some people, they may prefer to have a range of subjects so that they’re not perpetually having to do a vast amount of essays and reading (due to, for example, studying a combination of English literature, history and drama) or also just to keep a balance of arts, social science and science subjects where appropriate. Whilst most A Levels are now linear, meaning that your overall A Level grade depends wholly on the exams taken at the end of your second year, there are some exceptions like Art and Design that require coursework and this should be noted when deciding as a coursework component does not appeal to everyone.

A Levels are a great step up from GCSEs, especially in terms of workload, and so it may also be worth considering the subjects that you find you are most proficient in – this can be usually gleaned from your performance in the subject so far at school or in similar subjects if you are contemplating a new subject that was not available for study at GCSE level. Yet ultimately what is paramount in making these decisions is to evaluate which subjects you would most enjoy studying. Whilst good grades are important, it is very difficult to achieve these if you are not enthusiastic about what you are learning. It is really tricky to motivate yourself to put in the hard work needed for A Levels if you do not feel a genuine interest in the subject you have chosen. By choosing subjects that stimulate you and that you love, you will undoubtedly make the education process all the more enjoyable and worthwhile.

Reference

https://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/undergraduate/entry-requirements/scottish-qualifications/highers