How hard are these a-levels? / are they competitive enough for law??

I'm planning on studying :
Buisness
Law

as well as one from this list (haven't decided which one yet)
Politics
Polish
Sociology

Are these a-levels easy to get good grades in or should i do more competitive ones to get into more prestigious unis? THANKS

Reply 1

Referee

Original post by future_11

Those A levels are quite poor tbh, I'd take at least one or two facilitating subjects if you want to give yourself the best chance. Law A-Level is a joke btw.

Polish is a good A level, it's a language so will be beneficial. Business you can probably get away with. But you should really consider English or History or another top rated essay based subject (Politics, Sociology and Law are not top-rated).

Reply 2

future_11

Original post by Referee

Thank you can i have some more advice because im in sort of a dilemma
I either do (at one college):
Business,Law,Politics

OR (at another college):
Business, Sociology, Politics

Which is the better option? thanks
I've just realized it would be extremely difficult to do Polish A-level because it isn't done in any college near me (in Manchester). Thanks

Reply 3

BigHero6

Original post by Referee

this might be unpopular opinion but RS/RE (relgious stuides) is a really good a-level for law as it is an essay writing subject as well as you learn about ethics and morals which will be usefull for your interview and and studies

Reply 4

ChangeOurWorld

Original post by future_11

It depends on where you want to go to university. For the top ones, then facilitating subjects or 'traditionally academic' subjects will be looked highly upon. For example LSE's Law programme suggests that a mix of traditional subjects will be the best preparation for the law programme at the LSE.

I would suggest choosing more academic subjects (e.g. English, History, Geography, Philosophy etc.) particularly if they are essay based. However, you also have to weigh this up with your ability to attain good grades in these subjects, as well as what you're interested in. If you are definitly set on taking business and law, I would suggest choosing Politics out of your list for the 3rd.

Reply 5

watershower

Law a level is unserious and isn’t really respected. Nothing like you learn at uni. I think the second option with sociology and business is better.
I would suggest adding a facilitating subject like history or English. They help build your skill for a law degree like essay writing and it’s common for students to take this to do law. Best of luck

Reply 6

ChangeOurWorld

Out of curiosity why would this be unpopular? I concur, RE particularly when its focus in on philsophy and ethics would be extremely beneficial for a Law degree. In fact the basis of my law personal statement (I was successfully admitted to UCL/KCL/LSE/Queen Mary and an interview at Oxford) was about the philosophy of law which had grasped by attention through my Philosophy A Level (was technically RE but the focus was philosophy). I remember going to a Law admissions event at UCL and they told us that your application to study Law at university should be about why you want to study it and not why you want to work in that field. Particularly given the fact that most Law academics are not or sometimes ever have never actually practiced law. I don't know how true this is, but I still think its interesting advice to consider.

Original post by Dhini

this might be unpopular opinion but RS/RE (relgiousOu stuides) is a really good a-level for law as it is an essay writing subject as well as you learn about ethics and morals which will be usefull for your interview and and studies

Reply 7

ChangeOurWorld

Original post by watershower

I concur with this statement. When you choose a facilitating subject make sure you think about what you're interested and good at as well, there is no point taking a subject that you don't like and aren't good at just because it looks good. Most facilitating subjects if they are a humanities or social science will certainly help you with a law degree, choose the one you're most interested in.

For example, back in the day when AS Levels existed I took English Literature. I was good at English Literature and scored the highest in my cohort at GCSE, however I wasn't actually that interested in the subject, particularly not at A Level. I found the texts dull and the methods of assessment (unseen passages) were not compatible with my style of learning or my confidence. For the first time in my life I ended up getting a B because I just didn't engage with the subject because of a lack of interest. So interest is essential!

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 8

watershower

Yeah definitely. When choosing subjects it’s important to consider how other people view them, but its more important that you enjoy the subject. If you don’t have even a tiny bit of passion, getting a high grade will be difficult because you may not have motivation to revise it.

Original post by ChangeOurWorld

Reply 9

harrysbar

Original post by Dhini

I agree with you that RS/RE (or as it's now known at my school, RP :rolleyes:

) would be a good subject to take for Law. Although the most popular A levels for Law students to have at good Unis are apparently History and English Lit.

Reply 10

BigHero6

Original post by ChangeOurWorld

well might just be my school but lots of people go into law choose subjects such as english,history and even science but only me who chose to do RS and in my opinion it is really good and enjoyable too

Reply 11

Notoriety

Facilitating means "keeps as many degrees open as possible". If you have law set (which doesn't look for particular subjects), then it really doesn't matter.

You tend to see students with more academic A-Levels than that get offers from top unis for law, but with the selective unis they are looking at so much info. PS, LNAT and interview performance. Predictions and references. The specific subjects are not influential in the mind, presuming you impress on the others.

Reply 12

Referee

Original post by Notoriety

Facilitating means "keeps as many degrees open as possible". If you have law set (which doesn't look for particular subjects), then it really doesn't matter.

That's incorrect.

Reply 13

Notoriety

Original post by Referee

That's incorrect.

What bit?

Reply 14

Referee

Original post by Notoriety

What bit?

Your definition of facilitating.

Reply 15

Notoriety

Original post by Referee

Your definition of facilitating.

From the Russell Group website:

Some advanced level subjects are more frequently required for entry to degree courses than others. We call these subjects ‘facilitating’ because choosing them at advanced level leaves open a wide range of options for university study.

https://web.archive.org/web/20181018200031/https://russellgroup.ac.uk/for-students/school-and-college-in-the-uk/subject-choices-at-school-and-college/

You're welcome.

Reply 16

black tea

Original post by future_11

Can't comment on the others, but sociology is relatively easy if you are good at essay subjects. If you are a native Polish speaker, most universities will not count Polish and will ask for an additional A Level.