Photography or Psychology?

EDITED: Have just received GCSE results and got 9 in Photography.... more confused than ever now!

I am about to start A levels. Have chosen Comp Sci, Chemistry and Psychology. However, I am now wondering if I should do Photography instead of Psychology. I did it at GCSE and really enjoy it and am told I'm quite good! Have never studied Psychology before but chose it as it really interests me. Any thoughts from any one who has done either of these A levels? (Info point.... I want to study Game Design/Development at uni)

(edited 8 months ago)

Hi Harrison,

If you want to study Game Design at University I think either would be useful - psychology will play into the consumer behaviour side of Game Design, Photography more the physical creation elements - it depends what pathway you want to go down.

Ultimately, I would choose the one you think you will enjoy dedicating your time to most, as you just need qualifications to get your foot onto the next rung of the education ladder!

Good luck and whatever you decide, I am sure you will be brilliant!

Jenny
Arts University Plymouth Rep

http://aup.ac.uk/clearing ⁠
💻 Email us at [email protected]⁠
☎️ Call us on 01752 203402⁠
📱 Whatsapp us at 07722 744184⁠

Reply 2

Aceful

9

Original post by HarrisonRJ

I am about to start A levels. Have chosen Comp Sci, Chemistry and Psychology. However, I am now wondering if I should do Photography instead of Psychology. I did it at GCSE and really enjoy it and am told I'm quite good! Have never studied Psychology before but chose it as it really interests me. Any thoughts from any one who has done either of these A levels? (Info point.... I want to study Game Design/Development at uni)

I did A-Level Photography (Eduqas exam board) and I enjoyed it, compared to exam subjects I feel like it takes a lot more of your time but I also found it as a nice way to de-stress because I would take my camera and travel to places with friends for photoshoots and gallery visits which made it fun.

I'm not sure how it is like at GCSE since I never did it but in A-Level there are two projects:

Component 1 - Personal Investigation which includes a 1000-3000 word Personal Study essay which is analytical writing. Your project will focus on a theme which you explore in-depth with experimentation, research, analysis and ending with a final piece. This is worth 60% of your grade.

Component 2 - Externally Set Assignment which you get given a set of briefs from the exam board where you have to create a project relating to one of them. You get a preparatory period for research, gallery visits etc but you only get 15 hours for your final piece which would be conducted in class without any assistance from your teacher. This is worth 40% of your grade.

Majority of the first year is used to get everyone up to spec with the skills required for the course. Learning about the exposure triangle, Photoshop skills, composition elements and more.

I suggest picking the subject you believe you will enjoy the most. Game Design/Development at university does not have any specific entry requirements but having a mix of sciences + arts would be beneficial.

Any more questions feel free to ask :smile:

Reply 3

6085

16

Original post by HarrisonRJ

I am about to start A levels. Have chosen Comp Sci, Chemistry and Psychology. However, I am now wondering if I should do Photography instead of Psychology. I did it at GCSE and really enjoy it and am told I'm quite good! Have never studied Psychology before but chose it as it really interests me. Any thoughts from any one who has done either of these A levels? (Info point.... I want to study Game Design/Development at uni)

A-level is not easy. Pick a subject you are willing to spend time and effort doing. Check the subject requirement for Game Design. If there are no required subjects simply pick what subject you are more likely to enjoy and get a good grade in. No one is going to ask what a-level subjects you do. If they ask they only ask about the grade.

Reply 4

HarrisonRJ

OP

3

Original post by 6085

A-level is not easy. Pick a subject you are willing to spend time and effort doing. Check the subject requirement for Game Design. If there are no required subjects simply pick what subject you are more likely to enjoy and get a good grade in. No one is going to ask what a-level subjects you do. If they ask they only ask about the grade.

Thank you

Reply 5

HarrisonRJ

OP

3

Original post by Aceful

I did A-Level Photography (Eduqas exam board) and I enjoyed it, compared to exam subjects I feel like it takes a lot more of your time but I also found it as a nice way to de-stress because I would take my camera and travel to places with friends for photoshoots and gallery visits which made it fun.

I'm not sure how it is like at GCSE since I never did it but in A-Level there are two projects:

Component 1 - Personal Investigation which includes a 1000-3000 word Personal Study essay which is analytical writing. Your project will focus on a theme which you explore in-depth with experimentation, research, analysis and ending with a final piece. This is worth 60% of your grade.

Component 2 - Externally Set Assignment which you get given a set of briefs from the exam board where you have to create a project relating to one of them. You get a preparatory period for research, gallery visits etc but you only get 15 hours for your final piece which would be conducted in class without any assistance from your teacher. This is worth 40% of your grade.

Majority of the first year is used to get everyone up to spec with the skills required for the course. Learning about the exposure triangle, Photoshop skills, composition elements and more.

I suggest picking the subject you believe you will enjoy the most. Game Design/Development at university does not have any specific entry requirements but having a mix of sciences + arts would be beneficial.

Any more questions feel free to ask :smile:

This is really helpful, thanks

Reply 6

HarrisonRJ

OP

3

Original post by ArtsUniPlymouth

Hi Harrison,

If you want to study Game Design at University I think either would be useful - psychology will play into the consumer behaviour side of Game Design, Photography more the physical creation elements - it depends what pathway you want to go down.

Ultimately, I would choose the one you think you will enjoy dedicating your time to most, as you just need qualifications to get your foot onto the next rung of the education ladder!

Good luck and whatever you decide, I am sure you will be brilliant!

Jenny
Arts University Plymouth Rep

http://aup.ac.uk/clearing ⁠
💻 Email us at [email protected]⁠
☎️ Call us on 01752 203402⁠
📱 Whatsapp us at 07722 744184⁠

Thanks, I just don't know which I'd prefer as Psychology is all new to me. I appreciate your advice. H

Reply 7

ChiefBrody

20

any reason you cant start 4 subjects?

- my daughter is planning to do that. She is starting Biology, Chemistry, Geography and History with the expectation she will drop 1

She was actually looking at Photography rather than History for number 4 for similar reasons to you, a mix of sciences and arts is (i) fun to study (ii) more flexible when looking to Uni choices - but chose history because she didn't like the Photography teacher at GCSE . . .

Reply 8

HarrisonRJ

OP

3

My school don't offer the chance to start with 4 so I have to choose now. Thanks for the thought though.

Reply 9

ChiefBrody

20

thinking outside the box - if you know which Uni subjects are targeted then you could fulfil your interest in the arts side through other means such as:

•

extra curricular activities, joining clubs, going on courses etc

•

self directed learning / As level etc (does your school allow you to do qualifications they haven't put you forward for?)

•

doing an EPQ?

•

Freelancing?

Reason for mentioning is that these (and other things) give you knowledge and experience as well as stuff to talk about on your CV - all good when it comes to applying

Reply 10

student2409

7

Hi! I just finished psych and fine art but i was in a joint class for fine art with photographers. Honestly I found psychology a lot easier, it was more interesting and took way less time at home, photography is a subject you do mainly outside of school and unless you know you will have the motivation to be going out far to take photos it’s hard to keep up with the workload.

On top of that, the grade boundaries are insane for photography, an A is 89% (OCR 2019) whereas for psych it’s 63% (AQA 2019). Another reason for psych is that it’s seen better by top unis, only the top 10 (oxbridge level) care about it but they have preferred and non preferred subjects and photography is a non preferred subject whereas psych is preferred.

Overall if you did really well in GCSEs for photography and you have a passion for it and will start work IMMEDIATELY (you can’t catch up like in psych cause it’s coursework starting from yr12) it’s definitely manageable. Otherwise, I’d opt for psych (unless you struggle with memorisation and heavy content, then i’d pick photography). Hope that helps.

(edited 8 months ago)

Photography or Psychology?

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