Which A-Levels should you take?

March 17, 2018

• A Levels

Picking the subjects you will study at A-level is an important and often difficult decision. There are many different things to consider, not least whether you like and are good enough at the subjects! Most students will take 3 or 4 A-levels, although it is possible in some schools to do more. As most universities base their offers on three a-levels (AAB, for example), there is no need to take more unless you want to.

28% students surveyed in 2016 by Which? Said that they wished they had taken different A-Levels, and 41% wished they had thought more about what they needed to get into university when they were picking their subjects. To help you make your decision, we’ve made a list of some of the things you should consider when picking you’re a-levels.

1. Are you good enough at them?

Whether you are going to university or not, it is important to do well in a-levels. This is because both universities and employers will look at you’re a-level grades when you apply to them. Therefore, it might be a mistake to take biology if you only got a C at GCSE. Whilst all a-levels are a step up from GCSE, some are generally considered to be harder than others. This may also be something to consider. Some of the hardest subjects at a-level are: languages, physics, further maths, and history.

However, sometimes you may have to take these hard subjects, or subjects that you are less naturally good at in order to get into the university of your choice. This may just mean you have to put some extra work in to some of your subjects. If you are really struggling, consider a tutor. Tutors can help to improve your understanding of subjects you struggle with, and can help you to get the grades you want by giving you more time to work through the syllabus.

2. What do you need for the university/career of your choice?

This is also linked to how good you are at each subject, however choosing you’re a-levels should not be based solely on potential grades alone. Certain career paths and university courses require you to have taken specific subjects at a-level- do your research!

Whilst many courses at university are more flexible- such as psychology- many courses are not. This will narrow down your options at a-level. For example, engineers should take maths and physics, whilst future-medics should take biology, chemistry and maths. Many subjects accept a greater variety of a-levels than you would think. To go into accountancy or economics at many universities, you do not need to have taken maths or economics.

There are certain subjects that appeal to universities in general because of their academic reputation. These subjects are: maths, science, history, languages, geography and English. If you’re applying to a top university, it is worth considering taking more of these than the ‘softer’ a-levels such as business studies. However, don’t worry if you want to take subjects outside of this list- the key is to achieve the right balance for you. Therefore, taking one or two ‘hard’ subjects and one or two ‘soft subjects’ is often fine. Do you research into specific universities- for example, the London School of Economics has a list of subjects it doesn’t like students to have taken.

4. Do they complement each other?

A-levels require a lot of hard work, so it is useful to consider your workload when picking your subjects. If you choose to take all humanities, can you cope with the volume of reading and essays you will be required to do? If you want to go into science, is it a good idea to only take one science combined with humanities?

5. Do you like them?

This is an important factor that many students don’t consider. A-levels take two years and a lot of hard work to complete- make sure you are taking subjects that you will enjoy putting in the work for, and the rest should follow.

Based in London, Kings Tutors can offer local private tuition for a-level students living and studying in London. We can help teach you the skills needed to improve your understanding- and your grades- to help you get into the university of your choice.

References

https://university.which.co.uk/advice/a-level-choices/these-are-the-10-most-popular-a-levels