The Student Room Group

Need help choosing a subject for AS level?

Well I am at sixth form college at the moment doing AS levels. At the moment I am doing the following AS levels:

Sport (predicted an A/B grade)
Business (predicted an A grade)
ICT (predicted a C grade)

I want to carry on these subjects next year into A2 so that they are A levels. I also want to do 1 new subject as an AS level next year so that I have higher UCAS points.

Then I was thinking of doing 1 new subject at AS level which would be either:
Psychology - Seems very interesting but I think Unis/employers think that it is a silly subject
Accounting - Well I am good at business studies and quite good at maths so it may be useful
Biology - It relates to sport closely and I would like a career in sport so it would be helpful. However I am only good/interested in the human body in biology and don't really care about the rest.


Could someone help me out and give me there suggestions/feedback/advice? Also, if you have any other subjects which you think I should consider could you mention them please?

Scroll to see replies

Biology doesn't 'relate to sport very closely'. It's a lot more difficult than you think...
Original post by I'mBadAtMaths
Biology doesn't 'relate to sport very closely'. It's a lot more difficult than you think...


Well there are many units in biology and one of the unit is 'the human body'. It should contain things like defending against infection, diet and exercise, drugs and health, hormones, the nervous system.


I know that biology is a subject which involves many different areas. E.g human biology, plants, animals, evolution, reproduction.

So I will learn about the human body which relates to sport. However there will also be many other areas which will not be to do with sport. I am mainly interested in the human body section. I suppose I should have said 'bilogy relates closely with sport' not 'biology relates Very closely with sport'.

Anyway............ back to my original question - can anyone help? Thanks!!
Reply 3
Original post by hamburgerandbeans
Well there are many units in biology and one of the unit is 'the human body'. It should contain things like defending against infection, diet and exercise, drugs and health, hormones, the nervous system.


I know that biology is a subject which involves many different areas. E.g human biology, plants, animals, evolution, reproduction.

So I will learn about the human body which relates to sport. However there will also be many other areas which will not be to do with sport. I am mainly interested in the human body section. I suppose I should have said 'bilogy relates closely with sport' not 'biology relates Very closely with sport'.

Anyway............ back to my original question - can anyone help? Thanks!!


An AS in Biology would undoubtedly be the most useful of the ones you're considering, but that's only if you're capable of doing well in it. For example: B in Psychology > E in Biology.

There is an A level in Human Biology, is it possible for you to do that at your college? If not, would it be worth considering taking the A level independantly and teaching it to yourself if you really can't stand other aspects of the normal Biology A level?
(edited 12 years ago)
Original post by Silly Goose
An AS in Biology would undoubtedly be the most useful of the ones you're considering, but that's only if you're capable of doing well in it. For example: B in Psychology > E in Biology.

There is an A level in Human Biology, is it possible for you to do that at your college? If not, would it be worth considering taking the A level independantly and teaching it to yourself if you really can't stand other aspects of the normal Biology A level?


I reckon if I took:
Biology - I would probably get a C or D
Accounting - Probably an A
Psychology - I have not the slightest clue what I will get. Maybe a B or C but I am guessing.


also, I am not sure if you can do just human biology as a subject at my college. If I can it would be ideal. I will try and find out!
(edited 12 years ago)
Reply 5
Is biology hard.
I do enjoy biology and i want to go further into to it.
My predicted grade is an A*
shall i take it.
Reply 6
Depends on what you are planning to do at uni really? It'd be good to do something relevant to your course in some way, as it might boost your personal statement/application a bit...

I don't think Psychology is necessarily seen as rubbishy by universities, but I suppose that depends on what universities we're talking about, and what course we're talking about. Bare in mind that Psychology generally isn't as easy as a lot of people seem to think when taking it, it is interesting, though...

Good luck!
Reply 7
Original post by Silly Goose
For example: B in Psychology > E in Biology.


What makes you say that? My friend that does both Biology and Psychology got an A and B respectively...
Original post by milkytea
What makes you say that? My friend that does both Biology and Psychology got an A and B respectively...


I think you have mis-interpreted him.

What he is saying that I should choose the subject which is most important to me (in this case biology would be more important than psychology as I want a job involving sport and biology). However, if I will get a really bad grade in biology, then I should take a subject which is less useful although I could get a better grade (which would be psychology).
Just been looking at the biology courses my College offers and it says 'IB Biology'. Does anyone know what IB biology is? I have tried looking it up and it just seems the same as normal biology.
Reply 10
Original post by hamburgerandbeans
I think you have mis-interpreted him.

What he is saying that I should choose the subject which is most important to me (in this case biology would be more important than psychology as I want a job involving sport and biology). However, if I will get a really bad grade in biology, then I should take a subject which is less useful although I could get a better grade (which would be psychology).


Oh yeah, you're right, my bad.:tongue:
Can anyone else help?

I need help quite urgently as we will be discussing subjects to carry on next year with our tutor tommorow. It is not the final decision, however I need to have a fairly good idea of which subject to do.
Can anyone helpppppppppp? Look at the question above pleaseeee. I am getting really desperate for answers now!!!!
Reply 13
Original post by hamburgerandbeans
Can anyone helpppppppppp? Look at the question above pleaseeee. I am getting really desperate for answers now!!!!


IMO there would be no point taking any of the other options except Biology. Biology will be the only useful one in terms of going into sports science, so I think you should take that. Even if you think you can only get a C in it, it would be more beneficial to you than an A in accounting. I don't think the AS will be included in your offer anyway (what universities are you thinking of applying to?) so I would recommend taking Biology, or just teaching yourself human biology/ read a couple of books about biology in sport or something.
Original post by tateco
IMO there would be no point taking any of the other options except Biology. Biology will be the only useful one in terms of going into sports science, so I think you should take that. Even if you think you can only get a C in it, it would be more beneficial to you than an A in accounting. I don't think the AS will be included in your offer anyway (what universities are you thinking of applying to?) so I would recommend taking Biology, or just teaching yourself human biology/ read a couple of books about biology in sport or something.


Thanks a lot, that answer really helped a lot!!!
I discussed subjects to do next year with my tutor.

I cannot do biology because I got a C at GCSE and you can only take biology if you get a B grade or above at GCSE.

He said that the majority of people he knows who does accounting found it hard and not so interesting (this could just be them though).

He also suggested that I do economics.
I have decided to do either economics or accounting for AS level. Now I just have to make my mind up out of these two....
Original post by hamburgerandbeans
Well I am at sixth form college at the moment doing AS levels. At the moment I am doing the following AS levels:

Sport (predicted an A/B grade)
Business (predicted an A grade)
ICT (predicted a C grade)

I want to carry on these subjects next year into A2 so that they are A levels. I also want to do 1 new subject as an AS level next year so that I have higher UCAS points.

Then I was thinking of doing 1 new subject at AS level which would be either:
Psychology - Seems very interesting but I think Unis/employers think that it is a silly subject
Accounting - Well I am good at business studies and quite good at maths so it may be useful
Biology - It relates to sport closely and I would like a career in sport so it would be helpful. However I am only good/interested in the human body in biology and don't really care about the rest.


Could someone help me out and give me there suggestions/feedback/advice? Also, if you have any other subjects which you think I should consider could you mention them please?


Actually, psychology is respected as an academic subject nowadays by the majority of universities. If you chose that, it would probably be the most respected subject out of all your A-level choices.

If you want to do Sport, I'd go for a science. Psychology and Biology are both respected, so it's up to you really. It depends which one you think you'd find most interesting/be best at. It's also worthwhile checking UCAS Course search to see what universities generally want in terms of UCAS points and preferred subjects for Sports Science.
Original post by hamburgerandbeans
I have decided to do either economics or accounting for AS level. Now I just have to make my mind up out of these two....


Economics is probably more respected, because it's a more common subject. That said, I see no reason why Accounting wouldn't be respected - I've just never really heard of universities' views on it. Economics, apparently, can be quite hard though.
I am starting to go in favour of accounting because economics does sound very good but I tend to struggle on those long 10 mark essay sort of questions in exams and I have heard/seen that economics exams cosnist of big, long questions!!

Quick Reply