How are my A-Level options looking?

I recently changed my A-level options for the 7 millionth time and i think i'm comfortable. They are: Maths, English Literature, Economics and Philosophy(and Ethics). Any comment on difficulty, enjoyment and tips would be appreciated

Philosophy and ethics is interesting and fairly easy. That's the only one I can really speak for.

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The only reason that I'd change it is that i'd most likely be the only boy to take it... none of my friends

I recently changed my A-level options for the 7 millionth time and i think i'm comfortable. They are: Maths, English Literature, Economics and Philosophy(and Ethics). Any comment on difficulty, enjoyment and tips would be appreciated

I do English lit which is great except for the coursework, but I think they are getting rid of that now - lucky you! I do straight philosophy which must be similar to philosophy and ethics. Only thing I will say is, if you are considering philosophy because you think it will be easier to get a good grade - DON'T! On the board I do (AQA) philosophy is one of the subjects with the lowest % of students achieving an A or A* grade. You'd be much better off doing religious studies if you are looking for an easy A.

Thanks, that's really helpful! I love everything about English so that's not going anywhere! I'm a pretty good essay writer and enjoy philosophical concepts, so I would take it for the grade and enjoyment... only thing is that i'm not sure how far the grade would get me in the future.

I would really reccommend it, but then I am planning to study philosophy at university. It is counted as a facilitating subject by all universities, including Oxbridge so I wouldn't worry about it closing any doors. What would you take instead?

Philosophy and English are also a great combination. I have been able to use a lot of what we study in philosophy relevant to context in English lit e.g. Aristotle's virtue ethics really widened my understanding of the revenge tragedy genre.

I did philosophy and ethics last year and as much as I enjoyed it, I ended up dropping it at A2 I got a B but there were other factors that put me off continuing it (mostly the bad teaching of it)
It is a really good subject because it's so interesting but I just preferred my other subjects over that

Did any of your friends take it with you? +is it quite essay based?

That last part has made me want to take it even more now! Instead of Ph&E it would most likely be a science (which I've heard is extremely difficult at A-level and a huge step up from GCSE) or Business Studies, which is a bit of a drab to be honest. I really like the sound of it now, but the only things that could potentially prevent me taking it are shameful; opinions of others and 0 friends taking it.

Go for it, you will love it! If you're in to English, I can't tell you how valuable studying philosophy has been to my English essays haha.

When I started studying philosophy, 3 of my friends were also taking it. Within 3 weeks, they had all dropped it (not to put you off) but I made new friends in my class. There's only 4 of us studying it at A2 and we're s tight knit group which is nice.

Doing a science would open more doors in that it would enable you to study that science at university. But, unless you want to do a degree which requires a science A-level I don't see the point if you won't enjoy it as much. Business studies is fine too, though some universities won't count it as a facilitating subject.

I think that I maybe feel as though a science could be too much in addition to Maths and Economics?
And to add, I'm a boy, and it's very likely that all others taking it will be girls which could make the lesson pretty awkward for me... but who knows, could be a positive aha.

Don't let it bother you, we don't bite :P and if it makes you feel any better, every single philosopher you study in any depth is pretty much guaranteed to be male!

I have friends who study a science with maths and economics but they are either planning to do economics or a science at uni. Do you have any idea of what degree you would like to pursue? If essay subjects are your thing, you will enjoy philosophy. If not, have you considered history?

One of my close friends took it as well and she's continuing it this year but I don't think she's enjoying it much anymore; our class began with around 20 people and it ended up being 8 because so many people dropped it in the first few weeks of AS because they didn't like it
And I did edexcel and it was all essay based you'd do 3 30 markers in one exam and then one 50 marker in the other (if I remember rightly)



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Do you think it matters about friendships at A-level? People are always saying not to base subjects that you take on friends/ teachers :/

Aha don't worry I'm far from sexist, but obviously if I'm the only boy it could(!) make things less enjoyable... I'll find out if there are people that I like that may take it. In regards to uni, I don't mind the idea of Economics considering how beneficial it is in the future to have a degree in it. English lit would be great if it could get me a nice job, but teaching isn't really my thing. And I didn't study History at GCSE wish I had though.