The Student Room Group

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Reply 1
nicely poised the poll
Reply 2
Maths!
Reply 3
getting interesting now.
Reply 4
English by far.
Mr power
Which one out of the above would you say has more value and is more academic. I would call it a draw personally.


Without a doubt Maths, on both catagories. Without Maths, this poll would not exist, neither would the keyboard I'm typing on, the chair I'm sitting on, or the screen I'm looking at. Maths is integral to everything. If we're honest, the study of English, while undoubtedly interesting to some, and irrefutably academic, is fundamentally pointless. The skills learnt can be applied practically, but only to a frivolous end, e.g. journalism, fiction, whereas maths can be used to actually further the quality of life for billions.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that English is not worth studying, just that the study of it will not have great value, other than that of personal pleasure.

Oh, and please no one reply with the horribly trite "life is nothing without the arts" argument, it's just tiresome.
Reply 6
maths. anyone can read a book and anyone who is well educated can write an enthralling essay if they put their mind to it- often mathmos are just super clever and quite lazy- hence they like maths as it is a very economical way of getting top grades. doesn't mean they can't do english too. whereas even though i can write an essay, i almost definitely cannot do advanced maths.
Reply 7
I would say Maths, but English is still important!!
I'd say equal because I wouldn't say either is more academic.. although actually imo maths seems more useful after GCSE!
jokeroid
Basically summarised by

"GCSE and below: same value

Above GCSE: Maths"


But good explanation nonetheless:smile:

English by miles.
English definitely, but I took it for A-level and gave maths up after GCSE, so I'm not trying to pretend I'm not biased :p: Both are very academic and very useful, but in different ways and it depends what you do in the future. For example, I want to teach languages, so English will be vital for me because I'll need excellent communication skills (and if I can't even speak my native language properly, how would I cope with foreign languages??) but I can't think of a time I'd ever need to use maths. But for an aspiring physicist, maths would, obviously be more useful.
Reply 11
cielo
maths. anyone can read a book and anyone who is well educated can write an enthralling essay if they put their mind to it- often mathmos are just super clever and quite lazy- hence they like maths as it is a very economical way of getting top grades. doesn't mean they can't do english too. whereas even though i can write an essay, i almost definitely cannot do advanced maths.

sadly not true, illiteracy and ennumeracy are still rife in in so called 'first world' countries.

Personally speaking, good English skills are more important for day you day things. you know just getting by. Acadmically speaking, Maths would be more valuable, much wider range off appications I would say, as it is base of a most if not all other sciences.
Aceofspades2345
Without a doubt Maths, on both catagories. Without Maths, this poll would not exist, neither would the keyboard I'm typing on, the chair I'm sitting on, or the screen I'm looking at. Maths is integral to everything. If we're honest, the study of English, while undoubtedly interesting to some, and irrefutably academic, is fundamentally pointless. The skills learnt can be applied practically, but only to a frivolous end, e.g. journalism, fiction, whereas maths can be used to actually further the quality of life for billions.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that English is not worth studying, just that the study of it will not have great value, other than that of personal pleasure.

Oh, and please no one reply with the horribly trite "life is nothing without the arts" argument, it's just tiresome.

Since your breaking down Mathematics to its essential core, you could argue that without English we wouldn't even be able to partake in this discussion at all, adopting individual language styles and lexicons. Heck, the keyboard would be just a collection of buttons without any characters upon them without the English language. And of course even this very forum was coded by vBulletin which is fully composed of English characters. Seems pretty useful too me.

It seems to me as though you are completely overlooking the importance of English in every day situations. You seem to be claiming that Mathematics is completely relevant to everyday situations, but in all fairness the majority of GCSE and A-Level syllabus taught is actually completely irrelevant. (I mean who needs to learn about Trigonometry, Differentiation, Integration etc ... ) When you are outlining the usefulness of English in everyday situations you seem to be pinning it down to only that taught within the classroom. You could argue that without a good English education behind you, your ability to communicate, negotiate and essentially earn those billions could be severely tarnished.

I guess what i am trying to say is that aspects of English permeate nearly every aspect of everyday life and interaction. Whereas a weakness in Mathematics can quite easily be overcome with a handy calculator nearby. Oh, and dont think that i am baised to either subject. I enjoy both Mathematics and English, taken them both at GCSE and currently studying them both to A Level as well :smile:
Reply 13
Maths, but it really depends on whether you mean language or literature
Reply 14
I would probably say maths, but that is probably because i enjoy it the most! :smile: From what i've heard, maths is harder and more respected at A Level than English but they are obviously both very important!
I would say they are equally academic but maths probably has more importance to the world we live in, but then again, the world would be quite bad without English.
Reply 16
What about Spanish :p: We don't need English
Well... maths. We all grow up speaking English, and at A-level, English (language) is just history and psychology, and English lit is the ability to write essays. Both very good subjects, of course... but not really as 'academic' as maths. :confused: I dunno, I'd be inclined to say maths, but I can't really back it up. English is an amazing subject. But it doesn't seem as 'heavily' academia-based. There's a lot of margin for error, and the distinction between right and wrong answers is a blurry one... I would expect academics to at least agree on simple things.

But when did they ever do that. :rolleyes:

Edit: I'm not voting on the poll, I think they're equally important.
Reply 18
One would really need to break down the debate into the different levels of education and how we view the population to be educated. I'd split the former into up to or after GCSE while we can consider the latter in terms of the usefulness of the subject to the world overall and to an individual.

Considering education up to GCSE level one would think of the two as being equally valuable when considered as a skill in a population overall but for an individual it's perhaps more important to be fundamentally literate than numerate, though the two are both essential to being considered well educated in modern society.

After GCSE education I would consider mathematics to be perhaps more valuable overall due to the sheer number of applications. To an individual not in a job of a mathematical nature though a higher understanding of English might be more advantageous.

As for which is more academic; I think they can both be very abstract but I'd consider Mathematics to be moreso.
Reply 19
Aceofspades2345
Without a doubt Maths, on both catagories. Without Maths, this poll would not exist, neither would the keyboard I'm typing on, the chair I'm sitting on, or the screen I'm looking at. Maths is integral to everything. If we're honest, the study of English, while undoubtedly interesting to some, and irrefutably academic, is fundamentally pointless. The skills learnt can be applied practically, but only to a frivolous end, e.g. journalism, fiction, whereas maths can be used to actually further the quality of life for billions.

Just to be clear, I'm not saying that English is not worth studying, just that the study of it will not have great value, other than that of personal pleasure.

Oh, and please no one reply with the horribly trite "life is nothing without the arts" argument, it's just tiresome.


English - fundementally pointless? Without literature, without history, philosophy - where would our identity come from? Maths can tell you an awful lot of things - but what would it mean? Without meaning - what is anything? English manipulate minds, communicate conflicting opinions and stories and facts and information. Maths cannot do that. You can say y=mx+c and it wouldn't mean a damn thing. English can twist meanings and therefore dangerous - why on earth do you think throughout history there're ruler upon ruler burning books, banning writing, banning publishing of some sort, and using propaganda, which is usually used in the form of advertising, media and writing?

English is fundementally important and not everyone can appreciate its beauty and the necessity of it and its importance. I would say English is far more valuable by miles. English is priceless. Literature is so powerful. Why do you think oppressive governments are always worried about books, newspapers, posters, what people read?

English is something you cannot do without imagination, creativity, depth, logic and an analytical mind, as well as good command of language and organisation. A scientist cannot necessarily write a good essay. A mathematician might be brilliant but if he cannot communicate his ideas and discoveries, he is useless. So where would Maths be without English?

However, I'd say Maths might be more academic, and harder in a sense cus I have no talent in Maths - but it is not more important than English. Never in a million years.

But if you say they are equal in value and importance, I would agree :smile: But if you must have one above the other, English, immeasurably.