Bit of advice needed for A/S options!

Hello! I've just received my GCSE results and selected some A/S subjects at my local sixth form. The teacher at the sixth form practically chose 2 of my subjects for me and didn't give me much advice- and now I'm panicking because I don't think they're right for me!

I wouldn't usually post for help in a situation like this, as I know many do! But I am super stressed and confused & am not receiving much advice from sixth form- all the teachers are pretty biased toward their own subject!

I want to go in to either teaching, sport science or nursing in the future.

My GCSE results are;
A* - English Language
A - English Literature
AA - Health and social care (Double)
B - Physics
B - Biology (painfully close to an A!)
B - Maths
B - Religious Studies
C - Chemistry
C - ICT (I forgot to hand in 50% of the coursework!!)

And the A levels I was put down for are;
English Literature, Physical Education, Psychology(Urgh) & Buisness Studies (Urgh)
Are these A levels really suitable for what I want to do?! If not what should I swap?

Thank you so much! I'm panicking!

Hello! I've just received my GCSE results and selected some A/S subjects at my local sixth form. The teacher at the sixth form practically chose 2 of my subjects for me and didn't give me much advice- and now I'm panicking because I don't think they're right for me!

I wouldn't usually post for help in a situation like this, as I know many do! But I am super stressed and confused & am not receiving much advice from sixth form- all the teachers are pretty biased toward their own subject!

I want to go in to either teaching, sport science or nursing in the future.

My GCSE results are;
A* - English Language
A - English Literature
AA - Health and social care (Double)
B - Physics
B - Biology (painfully close to an A!)
B - Maths
B - Religious Studies
C - Chemistry
C - ICT (I forgot to hand in 50% of the coursework!!)

And the A levels I was put down for are;
English Literature, Physical Education, Psychology(Urgh) & Buisness Studies (Urgh)
Are these A levels really suitable for what I want to do?! If not what should I swap?

Thank you so much! I'm panicking!

Firstly, congratulations on your amazing results!

As for the A-level choices, they're extremely varied, which can be a good and a bad thing. As your not completely sure what you're wanting to do yet in terms of future education (Which, you shouldn't really stress out about at his point) these variety of subjects are a great thing!

For example, Psychology falls in perfectly to teaching, sport science and nursing, it's a extremely varied subject that covers various sectors. It's a subject I'd highly recommend to study.

English Lit falls into teaching nicely

Physical Education clearly falls into sport science nicely

And business studies is an all rounder. It teaches you some good life skills in terms of understanding businesses and in some cases, finance (depending on the exam board)

I would say your choices cover what you are planning to do, however, if you don't have an interest for Psych or Business, they'll prove them self to be more difficult. If you're utterly against the idea of these two subjects then you have to make it clear that you're just not willing to do them as you'll under-perform due to the lack of interest. However, I think it would be worth while to look into the two subjects specifications and maybe some past papers, to see what you think of them.

At the end of the day you have no reason to panic, if you're not in support of these subjects the teachers cannot force you to choose them, and if you're willing to branch out and try something you may not have considered before, then you may enjoy it

If you're just looking at it in terms of what will suit for the future, the majority of courses at university do not specify (Unless you're heading for specific subjects in top Russel Groups of course) the subjects they require. Most just ask for grades

I hope this was of some help and I wish you the best of luck in your AS year!

Awh thank you so much! Without sounding ungrateful I was a little bit disappointed with Biology & Religious studies haha!
Thanks for the advice! I wouldn't of thought Buisness & psychology would be so applicable to some of the further education paths I was looking at!

The only issue I had with Buisness was reputation, I was told that by
doing both PE and Buisness I'd be looked down at because they're apparently "soft" subjects!

You're definitely correct about the variety of my A levels haa! I think because of the difference in the careers I want to do in the future my teachers where struggling to give me a combination of subjects which would cater to each path!
Thanks again for the advice, it's definitely given me peace of mind!

No worries!

I personally study psychology and am totally in love with it, and I've been told numerous times about how much it applies to so many subjects! In fact, I plan to mix both Psychology and Sport for my future study as it's just so wide of a subject.

Business is one of those subjects that just comes in handy in a working adults life (Which can't be said for most subjects) and it helps greatly with understanding the world we live in, in terms of economies, working environments, etc. Say for example you end up working in sports science, may that be a firm or independently, your business knowledge will come in handy greatly here!

The 'soft subjects' debate only really comes into play when you're applying for the top universities, and even at that, they dismiss things like general studies, not Business and PE.

I think they have chosen some fantastic subjects that cover a wide range of area's, which is great in your scenario!
No problem!

Thank you! I can't help but feel that maybe biology would be more suitable than Business studies though! Especially as I didn't study business at GCSE but I did study Biology?
And that sounds like an awesome combination of study! I would have never thought they would mix well but after some research I've realised they do!

Thank you! I can't help but feel that maybe biology would be more suitable than Business studies though! Especially as I didn't study business at GCSE but I did study Biology?
And that sounds like an awesome combination of study! I would have never thought they would mix well but after some research I've realised they do!

do biology, not business

The thing about business is, it's identical to GCSE (In my school at least) with just added detail. Is it applied business studies or just normal business? If it's applied, this leaves room for easy marks. Applied subjects have coursework, which is completed throughout the year until the final exam, and if this is applied business studies, you can get an easy A in this coursework with some effort. So in that, 66% of your final AS grade is already an A, without you even opening a test.

These subjects are good when you have more than 3 other A-levels to concern yourself with as you only have one written examination for 33% as opposed to two for 50% each in you AS year.

If you feel more comfortable doing Biology then that's something I'd absolutely bring up with the teachers, however that is a tremendous work load with Bio, Psy, Eng Lit and PE. However if you feel more comfortable in tests rather than coursework (I absolutely do not) then that may appeal to you!

I'm not saying one subject is easier than the other, because that's completely subjective, but it's generally regarded that the sciences are more difficult than all other A-levels but if you feel comfortable doing Biology in place of Business then I encourage you to go for it! If you're not too concerned, then business is also a good choice.

The AS business class in my school had 32 pupils in it last year (AS year of around 60 pupils) and it had 7 for GCSE (Including me). I have not spoken with one individual who didn't get an A in their AS business year, and only around 4 of them had studied it previously at GCSE, so don't let the fact that you haven't studied it deter you!

Would it be too similar to PE though?so I'd be doing 2 subjects whereas only 1 of them Is needed for Uni entry?

That sounds really appealing! Especially as business would most likely be the one I'd drop at A2! An A at A/S would be super helpful!
I did think the workload with biology would be huge! I'm considering doing extended project also, so I'd be adding to it even more!

& it's exam based Business not Applied, I hated Health & Social care because It was coursework based! I'm not too good with handing stuff in on time and "using my initiative" as my teacher said!!

No

Unless you'll learn about biochemistry and cells in PE

Haha okay sorry!
Will consider it! Will I still be able to do well at A/S even though I got a B at GCSE though?

Probably can get an A if you work hard.

Haha I will try! Do you know anything about the jump from GCSE biology to A level in terms of course content and difficulty? I have looked at the (OCR) specification and it doesn't mention much regarding how demanding it is?

If it's exam based business then its your decision really. If you think you are capable of doing well at Biology in AS then I recommend choosing that (I recommend looking up the spec and some past papers to have a look at what you'll be learning and the layout of the exams) and if you think that you are able to do well after looking at both of those, then I say go for it.

It would be regarded more 'Highly' than business and can arguably help you more with the options you have chosen for the future, (Nursing, sports and teaching would all benefit greatly from it, and some top universities may require an A in a science)

It still varies your A-levels greatly and therefore can lead to various different study options for the future!

Thank you! I did like the idea of biology as it would be a science a level for my applications for Uni, but was unsure psychology and PE regarded as sciences?

Thank you! I did like the idea of biology as it would be a science a level for my applications for Uni, but was unsure psychology and PE regarded as sciences?

Nope. Some rarely accept psychology as a science, but not pe.