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Are my A level choices bad?

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Original post by siidrraah
I want to get into Primary School Teaching :smile:


Don't quote me on this but I think you need to do English language A level if you want to be a teacher
Original post by siidrraah
Also what Levels have you chosen?


I chose Biology, Chemistry, History and Mathematics. I chose the first three because I wanted to study biochemistry at uni and I chose history because I really enjoyed all the different topics we covered in it, especially the civil rights in the USA section & the debate about who was responsible for World War One.
Reply 22
Original post by kc_chiefs
However, most universities (and all of the good ones) are not going to look kindly on the OP's choices for a biology degree. In fact for some universities those choices are probably an automatic rejection.


Tbh I'm still learning and I will make mistakes which could make it harder for me in the future however I'm personally going to work my arse off in all the subjects I chosen and get the best grades.. Cause tbh I haven't planned my life out; maybe I may not want to pursue teaching or go University however if I do I'm pretty sure ill find away in achieving my ambition :smile:

Also thanks for the reply much appreciated x
Reply 23
Original post by Dannyboy2015
I chose Biology, Chemistry, History and Mathematics. I chose the first three because I wanted to study biochemistry at uni and I chose history because I really enjoyed all the different topics we covered in it, especially the civil rights in the USA section & the debate about who was responsible for World War One.


Which subject did you enjoy the most? and which subject did you dislike most? and also why ahah?
Reply 24
Original post by Pine3278
Don't quote me on this but I think you need to do English language A level if you want to be a teacher


Aaaaahhh!! Oh gosh English is my worst subject :0 I don't know why I just struggle with this and also I prefer subjects with yes or no answer ahah
Reply 25
Original post by Ribenas
Biology is fine as long as you can memorise facts! :biggrin:


I have a very big head xD I will try and stuff facts in there! No but seriously my had is massive (sunhats are my worst nightmare :biggrin:)
Original post by siidrraah
x


Hahah xD
Original post by siidrraah
Which subject did you enjoy the most? and which subject did you dislike most? and also why ahah?


Hm that is a tough question, I really enjoy all of my subjects a lot. My most enjoyable subject probably has to be maths because after actually doing some work before the lessons I understand how things work and don't just try to remember a formula. That and (this is probably a little sad but eh) I tend to get really excited when I get a question right and understand what I am doing.

My least favourite I would say is history, I love the content and the class discussions on the different topics. Heck I make some pretty good points during these discussions, but my essay writing is terrible and unless I keep practising throughout the entire year it won't be good come exam time.
Reply 28
Original post by Dannyboy2015
Hm that is a tough question, I really enjoy all of my subjects a lot. My most enjoyable subject probably has to be maths because after actually doing some work before the lessons I understand how things work and don't just try to remember a formula. That and (this is probably a little sad but eh) I tend to get really excited when I get a question right and understand what I am doing.


Trust me that's no weird at all!! I love maths when I can understand and your exactly like me ahah I tend to get so excited when I understand something in maths and can complete all the questions
It depends, you should check UCAS. Normally for primary teaching you need a minimum of 280 to 300 UCAS points with 2 weeks work experience.
I know a girl who did health and social care, psychology and sociology from the year above and she got into University of Birmingham to do primary teaching!
You also need to practise your Maths and English for the tests they give before you start the course.

You can PM me anytime!

Hope this helps :smile:

Good luck!!!
I wouldn't do health/social care. Despite what unis say they will still look at it unfavourably especially if they would be stuck between giving you an offer or someone with maths or a humanities subject. Also media and biology is a quite strange mix. If you like Maths then I would highly suggest to do that even until AS when it is not that hard at all. Sociology, Economics, Biology, Geography, History and Maths are ones that I would do alongside Biology.
Original post by morgan8002
For biology you need to know how to spell(eg. they're, good, photophosphorylation, acetylcholinesterase) and use punctuation.


Don't forget methicillin resistant staphyloccocus staphylococcus aureus (SO CLOSE)
Reply 32
Original post by kit2016
I see nothing wrong at all with your choices. I think the first 3 are definitely valuable subjects, and it's always great to have a 'fun' one.

Everybody seems to have a belief that you need 4 hard-core academic subjects to get very far in life, but the only subjects that unis tend to not accept are General Studies and similar options. I know plenty of people who went down similar A Level routes as you and were accepted into top 20 universities :smile:


I applied for a science course and one university isn't allowing Media Studies in my offer it doesn't say this anywhere on the website. :eek:
Reply 33
Original post by ombtom
I applied for a science course and one university isn't allowing Media Studies in my offer it doesn't say this anywhere on the website. :eek:


Yeah I guess science courses are often exceptions, but if the OP sticks to primary teaching or something similar I doubt media studies would affect their chances :biggrin:
Original post by siidrraah
To be absolutely honest I'm really not sure because I have tendency to change my mind a lot.. I felt that maybe when I start my A Levels it could help me have a better idea of what I want to do...

At the present I would like to become a Primary school teacher if that helps :smile:


dw its completely fine.
Biology is a great subject, and the rest aren't too bad either. If your gonna drop media studies probably, you should be alright, as that's probably the weakest out of the four. Maths may have helped your cause here, but it's really up to you.

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Original post by InadequateJusticex
Don't forget methicillin resistant staphyloccocus staphylococcus aureus (SO CLOSE)


I think for our board we could get away with MRSA.
Original post by siidrraah
Aaaaahhh!! Oh gosh English is my worst subject :0 I don't know why I just struggle with this and also I prefer subjects with yes or no answer ahah


You don't need English A level for primary teaching - you will need English, Maths and Science GCSE at C or higher though (and B or higher in english & maths for some Welsh courses....so try to get Bs or higher if you can it will give you more options).
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/teacher-training/getting-started/entry-requirements

Primary education is very competitive but your subjects should be fine - the real requirement is to get as much work experience as you can (they're overwhelmed with applications from idealistic 17 year olds who think it will be a lovely job working with cherubs and not at all prepared for the realities).

Those A levels would also put you in a good position if you wanted to go into a whole range of healthcare degrees (nursing, occupational therapy, speech therapy etc etc) and social work if that's something that might interest you. You'd also be able to go into psychology and social science degrees (like sociology, anthropology, criminology etc) and possibly Law (although some law depts get a bit snooty about health & social care and media). Or you could go straight into a combined degree and job like https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/psychological-therapies/psychological-wellbeing-practitioner
Reply 38
Original post by PQ
You don't need English A level for primary teaching - you will need English, Maths and Science GCSE at C or higher though (and B or higher in english & maths for some Welsh courses....so try to get Bs or higher if you can it will give you more options).
https://www.ucas.com/ucas/teacher-training/getting-started/entry-requirements

Primary education is very competitive but your subjects should be fine - the real requirement is to get as much work experience as you can (they're overwhelmed with applications from idealistic 17 year olds who think it will be a lovely job working with cherubs and not at all prepared for the realities).

Those A levels would also put you in a good position if you wanted to go into a whole range of healthcare degrees (nursing, occupational therapy, speech therapy etc etc) and social work if that's something that might interest you. You'd also be able to go into psychology and social science degrees (like sociology, anthropology, criminology etc) and possibly Law (although some law depts get a bit snooty about health & social care and media). Or you could go straight into a combined degree and job like https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/psychological-therapies/psychological-wellbeing-practitioner


Omg thankyou so much!!! The careers you listed are the exactly the ones I would like to get into!! this has been a major help for me because I did choose health&social so I could have more opportunities for example speech therapy seems an interesting career and I didt know I was able to do such degrees with my specific A levels so thankyou for helping me!!! xxx
Original post by PQ
... and possibly Law (although some law depts get a bit snooty about health & social care and media).

I don't think snooty is the word you are looking for.

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