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Are these good A levels to do?

Hiya, I need to pick my A levels soon and I wanted to know if these are good A levels to do. I think I need to study subjects which I can relate to with the world because I think I will do better at them.
1. Philosophy
2. Psychology
3. Economics
4. Film Studies (I really want to do Film Studies but do you think this will be a waste of time?)

I'm not sure what I want to be/do but I have a few things in mind for example a degree in criminology, or be a script writer, or start up my own business (I understand that you don't need business studies A level to do this, but I do business studies gcse so I think it will be enough if I decide to go down this route). These are just what I am thinking about but my mind might change so I want my options to give me lots of opportunities.
At the moment I am just picking subjects which I might enjoy/be good at but I need to know if these subjects are good enough.
Thank you
Your subject choices relate well to your options - you should perhaps choose at least one facilitating subject though - maybe swap film studies for English or something more academic. However, don't be put off taking less academic subjects if you think you will achieve better grades in them and enjoy them more. Good luck, :smile:
Reply 2
Original post by Hello11
Hiya, I need to pick my A levels soon and I wanted to know if these are good A levels to do. I think I need to study subjects which I can relate to with the world because I think I will do better at them.
1. Philosophy
2. Psychology
3. Economics
4. Film Studies (I really want to do Film Studies but do you think this will be a waste of time?)

I'm not sure what I want to be/do but I have a few things in mind for example a degree in criminology, or be a script writer, or start up my own business (I understand that you don't need business studies A level to do this, but I do business studies gcse so I think it will be enough if I decide to go down this route). These are just what I am thinking about but my mind might change so I want my options to give me lots of opportunities.
At the moment I am just picking subjects which I might enjoy/be good at but I need to know if these subjects are good enough.
Thank you


From experience, (I chose the wrong subjects first year so re-did AS) choose 2 respected subjects such as psychology and then 2 that have coursework or are less time consuming in terms of work load. All 4 you must enjoy and look at the syllabus to see if it interests you. But it's all about time management so I chose ICT as my fourth due to coursework factor. Hope this helps!:smile:
Reply 3
Original post by SaskB
From experience, (I chose the wrong subjects first year so re-did AS) choose 2 respected subjects such as psychology and then 2 that have coursework or are less time consuming in terms of work load. All 4 you must enjoy and look at the syllabus to see if it interests you. But it's all about time management so I chose ICT as my fourth due to coursework factor. Hope this helps!:smile:


Hiya, thank you so much. Media studies is 50% coursework so I might pick it. And this is my first time using this website so I am not sure if I replied to you properly :-) Thank you
Reply 4
Do what you like and what your good at. A-levels are challenging and if you dislike a particular subject you will have little or no motivation to revise it. Also does your school do A-level taster sessions where your allowed to try a particular A-level subject for a day ? That would be really helpful because then you'd know if you like the subject and whether you would like to continue studying it.
Reply 5
Original post by Hello11
Hiya, thank you so much. Media studies is 50% coursework so I might pick it. And this is my first time using this website so I am not sure if I replied to you properly :-) Thank you


You replied perfectly:smile: you're very welcome. I know psychology is a lot of work so try and balance that with a subjects that you have a real passion for and ones that don't take as much time. I chose politics as it's always in the news so easy to get examples and so it's not as time consuming as just sitting there reading a text book.
Reply 6
Original post by hvfzz
Do what you like and what your good at. A-levels are challenging and if you dislike a particular subject you will have little or no motivation to revise it. Also does your school do A-level taster sessions where your allowed to try a particular A-level subject for a day ? That would be really helpful because then you'd know if you like the subject and whether you would like to continue studying it.


Unfortunately our school doesn't offer A level tasters so it is quite difficult to know what I'm good at but I do know that I am better at subjects which I can relate to the world with (I do business studies and geography GCSE and I am quite good at them.)
And I understand what you mean about picking A levels I will enjoy and I know I will enjoy film studies because I love films. I also know I will love psychology because I have always been interested in it. My only worry is that you need to memorise a lot of case studies. Thank you for your advice.
Reply 7
Original post by Nooglepop
Your subject choices relate well to your options - you should perhaps choose at least one facilitating subject though - maybe swap film studies for English or something more academic. However, don't be put off taking less academic subjects if you think you will achieve better grades in them and enjoy them more. Good luck, :smile:


Thank you, the sixth form that I am interested in does both English lit and English combined and I might change film studies for one of those. However I always thought that philosophy was a facilitating subject but I guess I was wrong. I still want to do philosophy as it interests me a lot. Thanks for the advice 😀
Reply 8
Original post by SaskB
You replied perfectly:smile: you're very welcome. I know psychology is a lot of work so try and balance that with a subjects that you have a real passion for and ones that don't take as much time. I chose politics as it's always in the news so easy to get examples and so it's not as time consuming as just sitting there reading a text book.


I don't want to seem annoying so you don't have to answer this but what A levels did you end up picking.
Politics seems quite interesting so that might be good for me as well
Reply 9
Original post by Hello11
I don't want to seem annoying so you don't have to answer this but what A levels did you end up picking.
Politics seems quite interesting so that might be good for me as well


It's not annoying at all, happy to help! I chose Geography, Geology, Politics and ICT...
Geography interested me so revision seemed easier not a chore. Geology was something I also enjoyed and linked in with physical geography. (Always good to have a link!) politics is common knowledge so easy to remember and ict was coursework based which took less pressure for exams.
Think about whether you like essays or not? Whether you enjoy the subject at GCSEs? Do the subjects link so easier to revise?
Reply 10
Original post by SaskB
It's not annoying at all, happy to help! I chose Geography, Geology, Politics and ICT...
Geography interested me so revision seemed easier not a chore. Geology was something I also enjoyed and linked in with physical geography. (Always good to have a link!) politics is common knowledge so easy to remember and ict was coursework based which took less pressure for exams.
Think about whether you like essays or not? Whether you enjoy the subject at GCSEs? Do the subjects link so easier to revise?


Hiya, I just realised that none of my subjects link together (unless I decide to do media which would link well with film studies.) I might do sociology as that would link very well with psychology however I know someone who did both and she said that she got some topics confused with each other in both subjects so it was difficult for her. This might happen to me as well because when I was in year 8 I decided to learn French and Spanish and I got them both confused in my work a number of times. Therefore I think it would be better for me to do quite different subjects but it is something I will need to think about.
I think I enjoy essays as every time I get one I always try my hardest on them so I guess I can do essay subjects quite easily (I know that psychology, film and philosophy are essay based so I need to be able to do essays well.) Thank you very much.
Original post by Mr...
Philosophy and Economics are both facilitating subjects


They're not listed as facilitating subjects on the websites I've looked at... nevertheless, philosophy, economics and psychology are all well respected and considered very useful subjects - I'm not suggesting that you should be put off any of your subject choices. For my final option, I'm choosing between geography, English lit, psychology and philosophy: not sure which I'd enjoy the most - I've been assured they are all as useful as each other.

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