How did you choose your A-Levels

I chose my A Levels by looking ahead to what I might like to do as my degree and made sure I chose subjects to meet the entry requirements (luckily for me, Law does not require any specific subjects).

I then looked at what I enjoy doing at GCSE and what I think I would be good at at A Level and I basically made my decision that way.

I took Business last year (AQA) and we learnt about things such as quality control, operations management, managing HR including theories and methods of motivation, business objectives, marketing strategies, etc.

I also took English Lit (again AQA) and we studied tragedy last year, reading Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Othello and Death of a Salesman, as well as doing some poetry work. This year the theme is political and social protest writing, so we're reading The Kite Runner, The Handmaid's Tale and some Blake poetry, as well as doing some coursework on the literary canon and Rossetti's poetry. However, the specification includes other books as options so you may not study the same books even if you have the same exam board.

Lots of sensible TSR advice here : http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/wiki/A_guide_to_choosing_your_sixth-form_subjects

Read it ALL carefully!

Thanks for the advice - i'm looking into english lit, are you enjoying it??

I am in year 11 and I have 2 months, before my first 6th form application, to decide what A-Levels I should take. I have narrowed it down to 6 but I don't know what to pick.
I know that when I am older I would like to be a film director or a marketing manager (I know two completely different career choices) and so I have made sure that the small list I have made can help me in someway towards those two careers.
These are the short-listed A-Levels:
- English
- economics
- business studies
- psychology
- philosophy and ethics
- maths
I know that some of these are similar but this is where I need advise.
If anyone takes these A-Levels and can give me idea's on what you do, or if anyone can share exactly how they chose their A-Levels I would be so appreciative.
Thanks 8)

Yeah it's good. I love reading and I like analysing the meanings behind texts and seeing how writers create the masterpieces they do! Class debates are interesting, when we all have different theories as to why the author made the characters the way they are or what the character should have done in a situation instead.

For me Maths was my top option, I was always going to take it.

Biology I found really interesting, especially in B3, so I was like hey why not do an A-level in it.

History and Politics were however snap decisions out of the blue. I went to my sixth form's open evening and decided to have a quick look at history while my sister was asking questions. Looked at the modules and for AS they were perfect! Politics was decided upon when Economics was withdrawn, had no real prior knowledge just a casual interest.

Initially I was going to take Maths, Biology and Politics to A2, however I found Biology too much and so took Maths, Politics and History. If you told me 15 months ago I was going to be doing those A-levels I would have laughed at you.

I'm in year 11 as well, I knew what I wanted to do since year 10, I didn't start by looking at A levels, I started by going onto university websites, to find entry requirements. At first, I thought that I would like to do physics at uni, but the entry requirements wanted maths at A level, and I'm not even good at GCSE maths, so I scrapped that idea and turned to chemistry, the entry requirements were fairly simple for the uni's that I want to go to(Nottingham/manchester). if you know what you want to do at uni then look at their entry requirements.

Having 2 facilitating subjects stands out on applications especially for Russell group universities. Maths, English and another would be great.

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when i chose my a levels, i was still undecided between a career as a paramedic or a geologist (2 totally different paths ik!) so i chose biology, geology, geography and physics. currently in my second year at college, i want to be neither and instead an architect, which had been a dream job when i was younger.
now i am staying for an extra year to do an art and design qualification.
a lot can change in a couple of years, you may change your mind again and again.
i'd say pick a mix of subjects that can be applied to both careers you are interested in.

thats actually really different compared to what i thought it was.. thanks 8)

Well it is different to GCSE in that the focus is more on writer's craft and the messages the author is giving, etc, as at GCSE the focus was more on plot, social context and the characters themselves from my experience (although these elements are still important at A Level). Out of interest, what were you thinking it would be like?