A level subjects

Original post by legendary1

I am aware that you can practically enter many fields of study by practically studying any A-levels but I was wondering what sort of career/degree would you feel as though the following A-levels would lead to;
Maths
History
Economics
Government and Politics

Have any of you guys studied these subjects and if so how did you find it, tips????

Posted from TSR Mobile

I take Maths, and I think one of the best things to do is to make sure you understand all the concepts and background knowledge of your topics, e.g. where differentiation actually comes from. The people in my class who struggled this year were those who just rote-learnt methods, and then got stumped whenever anything slightly different to what they've seen before came up in the exams. And yes, do every single past paper possible. Sounds excessive, but it'll make the world of difference!

I don't really know much about the other ones you've chosen, but you can't go wrong with reading around your subjects. Find certain topics that interest you and explore them in more detail.

As for careers, you could probably look at banking/finance though if you wanted to go into straight Economics you'd probably want to pick up Further Maths AS at least (it's fun and not as fiendishly hard as people make out!). You could maybe look at HSPS/PPE degrees maybe? Sorry, I don't know much about these fields! :colondollar:

But stick with Maths A Level definitely. :wink:

Reply 4

daisychain_

13

Original post by _Emanuele_

Hi, I'm going into year 11 and I am taking a-level maths this year. I have used exam solutions to cover all of the C1 content for Edexcel. I was just wondering since you've done the subject, which would be a better option to take: S1, M1 or DM? I have heard that the S1 exams are easy, but I am a physics person so M1 seems appealing and I have been told decision maths is tricky. Also would you say C2 is much harder than C1?

C1 is the easiest, it's similar to GCSE but obviously more advanced. C2 is harder, yes, but manageable.
I have only done S1 (I have done AS only, not planning on doing A2) and in my opinion S1 isn't too bad. It's just a case of knowing the formulae and doing the past papers, as often the questions are the same each year with different numbers. So i would say chose S1, but if you like physics and you're planning on doing it at A level, M1 would be a useful choice because some topics will come up in physics.
But if you do the whole A level you will have to chose 2 of them anyway :smile:

Reply 5

_Emanuele_

2

Original post by daisychain_

C1 is the easiest, it's similar to GCSE but obviously more advanced. C2 is harder, yes, but manageable.
I have only done S1 (I have done AS only, not planning on doing A2) and in my opinion S1 isn't too bad. It's just a case of knowing the formulae and doing the past papers, as often the questions are the same each year with different numbers. So i would say chose S1, but if you like physics and you're planning on doing it at A level, M1 would be a useful choice because some topics will come up in physics.
But if you do the whole A level you will have to chose 2 of them anyway :smile:

Ah ok, thankyou. I guess I'll do both over two years, but I'll probably do M1 for the physics.

Reply 6

Hey guys, quick question. I just finished my IGCSEs and got 6 A* :biggrin:

I plan to study some kind of engineering in the UK, probably aerospacial or aeronautics.
I have to pick 4 A level subjects and I've decided to do Maths, Physics and ICT.
What should I do as my 4th A level, Business Studies or Chemistry? I think they are both
Edexcel.
Thanks in advance

Reply 7

Original post by leoben49

Hey guys, quick question. I just finished my IGCSEs and got 6 A* :biggrin:

I plan to study some kind of engineering in the UK, probably aerospacial or aeronautics.
I have to pick 4 A level subjects and I've decided to do Maths, Physics and ICT.
What should I do as my 4th A level, Business Studies or Chemistry? I think they are both
Edexcel.
Thanks in advance

Hi there, well done on your grades!
First off I'd say definitely go for Chemistry. It'll give you more options, as in you could even try Chemical Engineering if you found that side of things interesting, and from what I've heard it's slightly more respected by universities anyway.
Also, if it's offered by your school I would say Computing might be more beneficial to you than ICT. Saying that, have you considered taking Further Maths AS? :smile:

Reply 8

Original post by drowninginsound

Hi there, well done on your grades!
First off I'd say definitely go for Chemistry. It'll give you more options, as in you could even try Chemical Engineering if you found that side of things interesting, and from what I've heard it's slightly more respected by universities anyway.
Also, if it's offered by your school I would say Computing might be more beneficial to you than ICT. Saying that, have you considered taking Further Maths AS? :smile:

Yeah I have, the problem is that my school has a very poor range of A level subjects and Further Maths and Computing are not offered. I have considered self teaching further maths but I just don't know where to start :wink:

Reply 9

yt7777

18

Original post by legendary1

I am aware that you can practically enter many fields of study by practically studying any A-levels but I was wondering what sort of career/degree would you feel as though the following A-levels would lead to;
Maths
History
Economics
Government and Politics

Have any of you guys studied these subjects and if so how did you find it, tips????

Posted from TSR Mobile

MORSE, PPE, Economics/Finance?

Reply 10

Original post by leoben49

Yeah I have, the problem is that my school has a very poor range of A level subjects and Further Maths and Computing are not offered. I have considered self teaching further maths but I just don't know where to start :wink:

Ahh I see, that's annoying. Self-teaching Further Maths is, according to people I know, not as difficult as you might think. Have a look at this website, it's designed to help people who's schools don't offer the A Level: http://www.furthermaths.org.uk/ I'd talk about it with your teachers as well though! So long as you're dedicated then self-teaching shouldn't be a problem. You could also consider picking it up as an AS while doing your A2s and you have a bit more Maths knowledge in general, and doing ICT AS for now?

Reply 11

Chlorophile

20

Original post by drowninginsound

Ahh I see, that's annoying. Self-teaching Further Maths is, according to people I know, not as difficult as you might think. Have a look at this website, it's designed to help people who's schools don't offer the A Level: http://www.furthermaths.org.uk/ I'd talk about it with your teachers as well though! So long as you're dedicated then self-teaching shouldn't be a problem. You could also consider picking it up as an AS while doing your A2s and you have a bit more Maths knowledge in general, and doing ICT AS for now?

The reason why those people are saying it's not that hard is because, since they're self-teaching Further Maths, they're likely to be incredibly good at Maths in the first place. Self-teaching Further Maths is only a good option if you're already really, really excellent at Maths. I'm sorry, but to say that dedication is all that's required is simply misleading and wrong. Most people would not be able to cope with Further Maths with ordinary lessons, never mind self-teaching. I'm not saying that leoben won't be able to do it, but I am saying that it's definitely nowhere near as easy as you're making out and unless s/he is extremely confident with their maths, I would not recommend it.

Reply 12

Original post by Chlorophile

The reason why those people are saying it's not that hard is because, since they're self-teaching Further Maths, they're likely to be incredibly good at Maths in the first place. Self-teaching Further Maths is only a good option if you're already really, really excellent at Maths. I'm sorry, but to say that dedication is all that's required is simply misleading and wrong. Most people would not be able to cope with Further Maths with ordinary lessons, never mind self-teaching. I'm not saying that leoben won't be able to do it, but I am saying that it's definitely nowhere near as easy as you're making out and unless s/he is extremely confident with their maths, I would not recommend it.

I AM confident with my Maths but I am not sure if I would achieve an A* in the subject. Would it be better to get an A or a B in Further Maths than to just say that my school doesn't offer it? That is my dilemma

Reply 13

Original post by drowninginsound

Ahh I see, that's annoying. Self-teaching Further Maths is, according to people I know, not as difficult as you might think. Have a look at this website, it's designed to help people who's schools don't offer the A Level: http://www.furthermaths.org.uk/ I'd talk about it with your teachers as well though! So long as you're dedicated then self-teaching shouldn't be a problem. You could also consider picking it up as an AS while doing your A2s and you have a bit more Maths knowledge in general, and doing ICT AS for now?

Thank you

, will check it out!

Reply 14