A level options

Hi Im a year 11, and im doing my gcses soon. Which also means I will go on to six form with my chosen A level Courses. I'm just troubled because I dont know what to do for my future career. I love chemistry, computer science and product design. Obviously those three dont go with each other and many people warned me that I will have a really hard time in year 12 and 13 if I chose those courses for my future. Even though I don't have an idea for my future career, I would like to work in an STEM related industry.Any suggestions on what I should choose?

btw I did history,product design and computer science for my gcses

(edited 3 months ago)

Reply 1

Lancaster Student Ambassador

Official Rep

15

Original post by mintchalk

Hi Im a year 11, and im doing my gcses soon. Which also means I will go on to six form with my chosen A level Courses. I'm just troubled because I dont know what to do for my future career. I love chemistry, computer science and product design. Obviously those three dont go with each other and many people warned me that I will have a really hard time in year 12 and 13 if I chose those courses for my future. Even though I don't have an idea for my future career, I would like to work in an STEM related industry.Any suggestions on what I should choose?

btw I did history,product design and computer science for my gcses

Hi

When I chose my a-levels the deputy head held a meeting with my Mum and I to convince me to swap my third subject as in his words "I wouldn't get on a degree course with my combination". When I decided on my a-levels I picked the 3 subjects I enjoyed the most as I wasn't sure which route I wanted to take or job sector to go into and I knew that I'd get better grades taking these subjects than picking a subject that fit better or was recommended (in my case they wanted me to swap to Physics but I wasn't very good at it and would've done poorly). The 3 I chose were Maths, Pe and Computer Science and as I'm sure you can guess it was Pe I was encouraged to change. 3 years later, I'm at Lancaster studying a Computer Science degree and the odd choice of Pe has actually come in useful with the ethics and morals modules as well as HCI so don't be worried!

I have had a quick look online and found this: "Entry requirements for STEM subjects vary, but generally, a strong academic background in subjects like mathematics, physics, chemistry, or computer science is necessary. For undergraduate degrees, you'll typically need a high school diploma or equivalent, along with standardised test scores." STEM Courses in UK: Eligibility, Career Options and Scope (studyin-uk.com) so having both Chemistry and Computer Science you should be perfectly fine for a career in STEM! But, looking at this What is STEM? (thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk) "At least one science-based A Level will be needed for most science courses. Some courses will require two, with a minimum grade ranging from A to B. A Maths A Level is a minimum requirement for most Technology, Engineering and Maths courses. You may also need a science-based A Level" you might need to consider studying maths too.

I would recommend studying the subjects that interest you most and that you enjoy the most as these subjects you will be more willing to study for and therefore get better grades in. Your choices of subjects go better together than you think. Computational chemistry may be of interest to you What Is Computational Chemistry? (with pictures) (allthescience.org) and there are a lot of product design and technology courses which may also be of interest!

Hope all this helps.

Ella (Lancaster University Student Ambassador)

Reply 2

McGinger

18

Have a look at this Careers website - 100s of careers and job descriptions : Job profiles | Prospects.ac.uk
NHS job roles - Explore roles | Health Careers
Royal Navy roles - Role Finder | Royal Navy (mod.uk)
Even if this gives you an idea of 'a job a bit like .....' or 'that sounds interesting' - its a good starting point.

Just be careful about doing Chemistry without another science subject or aiming at Computer Science without Maths.
This could limit the sort of degrees or apprenticeships open to you.

Reply 3

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by mintchalk

Hi Im a year 11, and im doing my gcses soon. Which also means I will go on to six form with my chosen A level Courses. I'm just troubled because I dont know what to do for my future career. I love chemistry, computer science and product design. Obviously those three dont go with each other and many people warned me that I will have a really hard time in year 12 and 13 if I chose those courses for my future. Even though I don't have an idea for my future career, I would like to work in an STEM related industry.Any suggestions on what I should choose?

btw I did history,product design and computer science for my gcses

The default set of options that I recommend people who don't know what they want to do is: Maths + 3 sciences.

If you want to know what the entry requirements are for the degrees in the above subjects:
Chemistry - Chemistry + 2 other subjects
Computer science - Maths + 2 subjects for any degree, but some would accept computer science/physics instead of maths, and there are some that would accept 3 A Levels in any subjects
Product design - it varies. Some would ask for any 3 A Levels/or Art + 2 subjects (more design than engineering), some would ask for Maths/Physics/Both (more engineering than design).

So, the subject combination to leave you open for the above are: Maths, Physics, Chemistry, and Art and Design. The minimum should be Maths, Physics, and Chemistry.

With the above combination, you wouldn't be eligible for half of the life science degrees out there (missing biology), a few English degrees, some history degrees, a few geography degrees, classics, modern languages (usually European), and some art degrees (depending if you do art at A Level). music.

If the above is OK with you, then Maths, Physics, and Chemistry would be a good combo.

(edited 3 months ago)

A level options

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