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A Levels for journalism?...

I want to be a gossip/magazine journalist, preferably with a magazine such as heat, closer ect. So, my question is, which degree is better journalism with magazine broadcasting or english. For A Levels I was thinking of taking

-english literature
-history
-sociology
-geography

are these okay?
Maybe Media?
I'd say your subjects are ideal for print journalism. Perhaps you'd consider Graphics or Fine art as well? For the design side of magazines etc.
Reply 3
Original post by michaelhaych
Maybe Media?


I didn't want to take it as it is seen as 'soft' and I really want to go to a RG uni.
Yeah, definitely don't take media. I wanted to be a journalist and, being 15 and naive, thought media would be the perfect subject, but it turned out it was just making magazine covers in ****ty old MS software and filming the opening sequence of a film. As long as you have English and a few other solid humanities subjects, you'll be fine.
Reply 5
Original post by Vampire90210
I'd say your subjects are ideal for print journalism. Perhaps you'd consider Graphics or Fine art as well? For the design side of magazines etc.


My sixth form don't offer those. here is a list of what they offer.

eng lang
eng lit
sociology
media
psychology
law
maths
bio
chem
physics
ICT
german
french
business
geography
history
philosophy
Reply 6
Subjects seem good, make sure you're building up your portfolio and contacts at the moment. Good luck with it all :smile:
Original post by BenWood!X
My sixth form don't offer those. here is a list of what they offer.

eng lang
eng lit
sociology
media
psychology
law
maths
bio
chem
physics
ICT
german
french
business
geography
history
philosophy


Well even if you can't take up a design/art related A level, your combination is absolutely perfect.:smile: If you find any of your four options to be difficult/boring etc. I'd advise you to change one or two of them to Psychology or Philosophy( Media could be useful but isn't respected by top unis). I actually had three of your subjects in my A levels (Lit, History and Sociology). I really enjoyed History, found sociology to be rather easy and hated Lit, it was nothing like GCSE where I got an A*. Got a C for AS level Lit.:rolleyes: Philosophy or Psychology(which I had) are good replacements for Lit or any other of your subjects should you hate one/ want to drop one.
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 8
Original post by BenWood!X
I want to be a gossip/magazine journalist, preferably with a magazine such as heat, closer ect. So, my question is, which degree is better journalism with magazine broadcasting or english. For A Levels I was thinking of taking

-english literature
-history
-sociology
-geography

are these okay?


Scrap sociology

Take the following: Maths, History, Geography (and a fourth of your choice preferably English Literature)
I'd choose English Literature, English Language, ICT (Everything done on computers these days, skills will be very useful) and also something like Sociology? or a language if offered? Then you could work for magazines/tabloids in other countries.
Original post by isp
Scrap sociology

Take the following: Maths, History, Geography (and a fourth of your choice preferably English Literature)


Wow, you'd place Maths higher in terms of importance and relevance for journalism instead of English literature?

Wow..
what about english lang and ict? :smile:
Reply 12
Have you considered English language as well, as you actually look at writing articles etc. in your first year, so that might be useful as well?
Reply 13
I'm hoping to be a journalist (one day), although I'm looking to go into political journalism. If I were you I'd swap Sociology for something like Philosophy or even Maths. RG Unis see Sociology as something as a 'less facilitating's subject. Infact, carrying on a language would be very useful. Still, if you're super interested in Sociology, i'd say go for it, its much better to do what you enjoy.

Secondly, I wouldnt recommend a Journalism degree. Every person in the industry I have spoken to doesnt rate them, and would prefer you study a more academic degree such as English or History (I'm doing PPE). Once you've finished your degree you can do a one year NCTJ (National Council for the Training of Journalists) accredited course which will teach you ALL the practical elements you'll need. You really do not need a 3 year course to study the practical aspects of Journalism.

Hope that helps, and good luck!
Law could be good. I covered a lot of law/ethics stuff in my journalism course.

Although I think your chosen subjects are fine. Try to contact local media companies/publishers for some good work experience to help you really stick out when you're applying to universities :smile:
Reply 15
Original post by Calum93

Secondly, I wouldnt recommend a Journalism degree. Every person in the industry I have spoken to doesnt rate them, and would prefer you study a more academic degree such as English or History (I'm doing PPE). Once you've finished your degree you can do a one year NCTJ (National Council for the Training of Journalists) accredited course which will teach you ALL the practical elements you'll need. You really do not need a 3 year course to study the practical aspects of Journalism.

Hope that helps, and good luck!


That's a good point OP. What do you want to study? If you want to study
- English Lit: you will need English Lit and History or a Foreign Language would be helpful
- Social Sciences: Maths, History and Politics, a Foreign Language will be useful
I think English Language would be slightly more aimed towards journalism than English Lit. I know that at my college the coursework for it involves something vaguely journalist-y.

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