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Help me with my A-Level options please

In 11 days I will be picking up my GCSE results and choosing my A-Levels. I am expected to be able to study four A-Levels and hopefully that will be the case. That being said, I don't know what to do. The options are in groups and you may only choose one from each group so I'd like some advice. I've narrowed it down to the ones I'm considering, I'm definitely taking French.

Group 1- English language & literature, Business studies

I love English language but hate literature but I'm not sure about Business studies.

Group 2-German, Economics, History

Initially I wanted to study French, German, Economics and History but can not because of the group clashes. German is one of my strongest subjects and am hoping for an A* but I'm still not confident I'll be able to do well at A-Level. I'm predicted A for History and found it one of the most rewarding and interesting subjects I've ever studied, even if it was a lot of work. Studying the Economy in History was the most interesting part of the course and although it only scraped the surface I'd like to study Economics further but am torn as I don't know which will benefit me more.

Group 3- French




Group 4-Sociology, English literature

I'd rather take Sociology but was wondering if I took business in group 1 should I take English literature in group 4.

I'm undecided as to what I want to do when I'm older so I'm trying to keep my options as open as possible. I'd like to go to university but don't know what to do.
If you take literature and you hate it I will guarantee that you will not do well. A-level is so much harder than GCSE (I was shocked at the jump) so you need to put a huge amount of effort and extra time in, which you can only do if you actually enjoy the subject, which is the reason I didn't do maths!

Looking at what you've written, I'd suggest English Language, History (maybe German if you enjoy it, don't just do it because you did well at GCSE), French and Sociology :smile:
Hello,
I've just finished A2. I did English Lit, Sociology, Spanish. I dropped History after year 12.
As the poster above said, if you don't enjoy English Lit, don't do it. I really enjoyed English Lit but it is not easy and it does help if you actually take an interest in books, reading and language analysis.
I would recommend that you do Sociology instead of English Lit.
Also, I would not recommend doing 2 languages. I did one and found that quite difficult. Languages are a MASSIVE step up from GCSE and require the most amount of time, commitment and concentration to get the top marks.
I would suggest: English Language, History or Economics, French and Sociology.
Hope this helps :smile:
Don't pick English Literature if you hate it - that makes no sense! I originally picked English Lang, English Lit, Sociology and History. I hated Sociology in the first 3 weeks and chose Philosophy & Ethics instead which was so much better! I plan to drop History 'cause I also hate that!

If you detest a subject, don't pick it at A-level because obviously you'll be studying it at a harder level. So why put yourself through it?

If it is Lang & Lit (combined) then, you MIGHT get away with enjoying the lang side. For me when I picked English Lang, I hated one side of the spec, but enjoyed the rest of it. I think it's more common than uncommon to enjoy one unit/section of your AS level than the whole thing to be honest.

If you don't like Lit as a whole, STAY away from it. It's a lot of work and if you go in already detesting the subject, God only knows what your opinions will be like when you come out of it!

Just choose the A-levels you find interesting and can see yourself going to the lessons and not thinking about skipping the lesson the day before as I did with History!
Original post by WhereDidIPutMyCar
If you take literature and you hate it I will guarantee that you will not do well. A-level is so much harder than GCSE (I was shocked at the jump) so you need to put a huge amount of effort and extra time in, which you can only do if you actually enjoy the subject, which is the reason I didn't do maths!

Looking at what you've written, I'd suggest English Language, History (maybe German if you enjoy it, don't just do it because you did well at GCSE), French and Sociology :smile:


I agree.
These sound pretty good choices from what you have said and they also keep your options open.
Reply 5
Avatar for lou_100
lou_100
15
Original post by JamesJones777
In 11 days I will be picking up my GCSE results and choosing my A-Levels. I am expected to be able to study four A-Levels and hopefully that will be the case. That being said, I don't know what to do. The options are in groups and you may only choose one from each group so I'd like some advice. I've narrowed it down to the ones I'm considering, I'm definitely taking French.

Group 1- English language & literature, Business studies

I love English language but hate literature but I'm not sure about Business studies.

Group 2-German, Economics, History

Initially I wanted to study French, German, Economics and History but can not because of the group clashes. German is one of my strongest subjects and am hoping for an A* but I'm still not confident I'll be able to do well at A-Level. I'm predicted A for History and found it one of the most rewarding and interesting subjects I've ever studied, even if it was a lot of work. Studying the Economy in History was the most interesting part of the course and although it only scraped the surface I'd like to study Economics further but am torn as I don't know which will benefit me more.

Group 3- French




Group 4-Sociology, English literature

I'd rather take Sociology but was wondering if I took business in group 1 should I take English literature in group 4.

I'm undecided as to what I want to do when I'm older so I'm trying to keep my options as open as possible. I'd like to go to university but don't know what to do.


You seem very interested in learning about society, how the economy works, how people live and have lived in the past, etc...hence the interests in History, languages, sociology, economics etc. That's why I'd just advise you to stay clear of English Literature because it doesn't quite fit in and you've said you hate it, basically. I know you say you like Eng language but, if it's the combined course, there's no point hating half of the course and risk it pulling down your overall grade at the end. If you CAN take the language side alone, then do that, but it sounds like just the combined course is available right?

Unless you think you might want to study languages at Uni, don't do German because it compromises you taking up Economics or History like you wanted to. You've already got French, so I'd leave the German (even though it is an excellent language to learn and I do love it myself admittedly - but I'm saying this for my reasons explained), and go for Economics or History. If you take Business then Economics is either a good combination, or History is a good contrast. Both are essay based, so just up to you to decide on that one.

Then, Sociology is the obvious choice. No questions needed.

So basically, if it is really a combined lit/lang course in group 1, I'd go for Business Studies, History (over Economics due to it having some "economic content" overlap with Business), French and Sociology.

If you really want to give the language and lit a go, thinking you'll enjoy the lang and learn to hack the literature side, then do the English literature/language course, with French, History/Economics and Sociology.

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