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Should I take Government and Politics or Philosophy and Ethics?

I know this is only a decision I can make but I'm honestly torn between the two. For the whole year, I've been wanting to do Government and Politics because I have a keen interest in politics. However I don't want it to be tedious and boring.. I just wanted opinions on what people have to say that have taken them and what one I should go for.
My other A-levels I've chosen at English Lit, History and Sociology. Thank-you if you can help.
OH and also! What is more respected? Govt + Pol. or RS/ Philosophy and Ethics? My school states it as Religious Studies (Philosophy and Ethics) so I don't know if this course is different to Philosophy and Ethics or whether that's what Philosophy and Ethics is anyway?
Yeah thank-you anyway if you can help me :smile:
(edited 9 years ago)

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Are you sure about sociology? the more selective unis would prefer more academic a levels - both of which politcs and rs are. Also pretty sure the name is slightly different because of the board: at my school students do the same and its slightly less theology based but still interesting
Reply 2
I would personally drop out sociology and do both philosophy and ethics - both are far more useful and sociological themes and theories can be learnt in ethics and english literature or even just in general, you don't need to study sociology academically to become informed in it. I do history, english, philosophy and classical civ and can assure that Philosophy and Ethics is an incredible subject and is respected by universities; it comes under the umbrella of 'religious studies' along with new testament and developments in Christian Theology. Good luck with making a decision :smile:
Reply 3
Original post by Jasey
I would personally drop out sociology and do both philosophy and ethics - both are far more useful and sociological themes and theories can be learnt in ethics and english literature or even just in general, you don't need to study sociology academically to become informed in it. I do history, english, philosophy and classical civ and can assure that Philosophy and Ethics is an incredible subject and is respected by universities; it comes under the umbrella of 'religious studies' along with new testament and developments in Christian Theology. Good luck with making a decision :smile:


Oh I didn't know that! I do Sociology at GCSE and I've enjoyed it but I totally get what you mean. I think I will do Philosophy + Ethics. But I'm not sure about dropping Sociology.. I might, but I don't want to do 4 completely boring / historical subjects, you know? Though I really am considering that. What do you think I should do? :smile:
Reply 4
Original post by xcartoonheart
Are you sure about sociology? the more selective unis would prefer more academic a levels - both of which politcs and rs are. Also pretty sure the name is slightly different because of the board: at my school students do the same and its slightly less theology based but still interesting


Okay I'm definitely considering dropping Sociology. Yeah I see :smile: So you think I should do History, English Lit, Govt + Pol & Philosophy and Ethics?
Original post by lonerism
Okay I'm definitely considering dropping Sociology. Yeah I see :smile: So you think I should do History, English Lit, Govt + Pol & Philosophy and Ethics?


You're allowed one lesser A level so taking Sociology with those subjects is absolutely fine. It would be best if that's the one you dropped at A2, but again, most unis will accept it with 2 other 'proper' subjects so you'd be fine with Sociology. It won't make a difference as a fourth AS level subject either.

[e] if it helps my fourth AS level subject was Psychology, so equally as iffy with regards to being a proper subject or not, and I got law offers from UCL, Warwick, Nottingham, Southampton and York. So speaking from my own experience on that point.

I started AS levels with Gov Pol and dropped it almost immediately for Philosophy. I would highly recommend Philosophy, it was my favourite subject. Really interesting. I personally didn't like the politics course but my teachers were both very left wing and I didn't agree with them most of the time, so it wasn't for me.
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by lonerism
I know this is only a decision I can make but I'm honestly torn between the two. For the whole year, I've been wanting to do Government and Politics because I have a keen interest in politics. However I don't want it to be tedious and boring.. I just wanted opinions on what people have to say that have taken them and what one I should go for.
My other A-levels I've chosen at English Lit, History and Sociology. Thank-you if you can help.
OH and also! What is more respected? Govt + Pol. or RS/ Philosophy and Ethics? My school states it as Religious Studies (Philosophy and Ethics) so I don't know if this course is different to Philosophy and Ethics or whether that's what Philosophy and Ethics is anyway?
Yeah thank-you anyway if you can help me :smile:


I do Government & Politics and it definitely isn't tedious and boring! If you're already interested in politics then it should be really enjoyable - personally, I've loved studying it as it's great to be able to use things you've read in the news in essays and that makes it different from other subjects (I do History too!). For AS you'll study UK politics and if you're on edexcel (and I doubt the other exams boards are that different) then you'll cover the constitution, Parliament, the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister, democracy (issues such as the monarchy and the Lords and thinking about how democratic the UK is), political parties, pressure groups and elections. The exam structure is quite straightforward and you get quite a lot of choice with the questions which is really nice. For A2 different schools pick different topics to study but I do US politics which is also really interesting and provides a nice contrast with the UK side.

Hope this helps!
Reply 7
Original post by infairverona
You're allowed one lesser A level so taking Sociology with those subjects is absolutely fine. It would be best if that's the one you dropped at A2, but again, most unis will accept it with 2 other 'proper' subjects so you'd be fine with Sociology. It won't make a difference as a fourth AS level subject either.

[e] if it helps my fourth AS level subject was Psychology, so equally as iffy with regards to being a proper subject or not, and I got law offers from UCL, Warwick, Nottingham, Southampton and York. So speaking from my own experience on that point.

I started AS levels with Gov Pol and dropped it almost immediately for Philosophy. I would highly recommend Philosophy, it was my favourite subject. Really interesting. I personally didn't like the politics course but my teachers were both very left wing and I didn't agree with them most of the time, so it wasn't for me.


That's good, I didn't even realise Sociology wasn't respected if I'm honest. So basically you're saying it won't be a hindrance? I probably am going to take Philosophy :smile: The teachers at the school that I'm going to seem really biased too - I hope that doesn't happen to me! I probably am going to drop Sociology though for Philosophy, or just switch it with Government. + Politics. Thank-you for your help, by the way! x
Original post by lonerism
That's good, I didn't even realise Sociology wasn't respected if I'm honest. So basically you're saying it won't be a hindrance? I probably am going to take Philosophy :smile: The teachers at the school that I'm going to seem really biased too - I hope that doesn't happen to me! I probably am going to drop Sociology though for Philosophy, or just switch it with Government. + Politics. Thank-you for your help, by the way! x


It's not that it's -not- respected per se...it's just seen as a less rigorous subject. But like I said, having one less rigorous one combined with any three from politics, philosophy, history and english will be absolutely fine and will not hinder you whatsoever. Especially if that's the one you drop at A2. But yeah politics, philo, history and english is even better :smile: will be a lot of work though. I'm sure you'll really enjoy philosophy, it's really thought-provoking and not at all like RS at GCSE :smile:
Reply 9
Original post by iheartdjokovic
I do Government & Politics and it definitely isn't tedious and boring! If you're already interested in politics then it should be really enjoyable - personally, I've loved studying it as it's great to be able to use things you've read in the news in essays and that makes it different from other subjects (I do History too!). For AS you'll study UK politics and if you're on edexcel (and I doubt the other exams boards are that different) then you'll cover the constitution, Parliament, the Supreme Court, the Prime Minister, democracy (issues such as the monarchy and the Lords and thinking about how democratic the UK is), political parties, pressure groups and elections. The exam structure is quite straightforward and you get quite a lot of choice with the questions which is really nice. For A2 different schools pick different topics to study but I do US politics which is also really interesting and provides a nice contrast with the UK side.

Hope this helps!


It does help, thank-you! I do really like Politics so I might just drop Sociology for Philosophy and Ethics as I do think I'll enjoy it! The school I'm going to also do US politics, so maybe I will enjoy it as much as you. The topics seem good - thank-you again for your help :smile: x
Reply 10
Original post by infairverona
It's not that it's -not- respected per se...it's just seen as a less rigorous subject. But like I said, having one less rigorous one combined with any three from politics, philosophy, history and english will be absolutely fine and will not hinder you whatsoever. Especially if that's the one you drop at A2. But yeah politics, philo, history and english is even better :smile: will be a lot of work though. I'm sure you'll really enjoy philosophy, it's really thought-provoking and not at all like RS at GCSE :smile:


Thank goodness it's not like Religious Studies at GCSE! Can you tell me more about it please? I know this sounds rude and pretty stupid too, but I'm really curious as to what you study and the topics. I really hope I enjoy it! I didn't hate R.S but it was so boring. Thank-you again by the way (: x
both of them were my favourite subjects by far at A level - if you can you should try and take those two and substitute one of them for another subject you were going to do, but that's just my advice, and I guess not everybody would agree
Reply 12
I do Government and Politics now and it is good but a lot to take in it. There is a lot to cover and revise. It is very informative though and I've probably learnt the most from it as a subject. I find that Politics at A2 is a lot more interesting. I'm doing Ideologies and US Government.

I don't really get why Sociology is deemed as soft when both Cambridge and LSE offer it. Both of which are prestigious Universities.

If you like Sociology, take it. I took two soft subjects (dropped one) and from my experience they didn't affect my chances of getting offers.

Do you know what you want to do at University?


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I've found AS G+P fascinating. It has cemented my interest in politics, certainly a brilliant subject.
Original post by lonerism
Thank goodness it's not like Religious Studies at GCSE! Can you tell me more about it please? I know this sounds rude and pretty stupid too, but I'm really curious as to what you study and the topics. I really hope I enjoy it! I didn't hate R.S but it was so boring. Thank-you again by the way (: x


It depends what board you take, I did Edexcel and it was called Religious Studies but I barely had to write about anything religious. So my course was split into philosophy and ethics, ethics was absolutely amazing. Things like existentialism, medical ethics, sexual ethics, basically things kind of to do with morals and where morals come from if not from religion. Even the religious side of it was interesting, it was things like miracles and life after death. Plus there was a lot of scope to ignore topics you don't like, and at both AS and A2 there is a 'research' kind of paper where you answer one very long question. I loved that, I got 100% both times because you can really show off your wider reading and extra knowledge.

My friend took AQA and said it was more religious, but she went to a Catholic sixth form so that could be why. Maybe go and have a chat with one of the teachers about it and find out what you'd be learning :smile:
Reply 15
I think your advice is great. I'm gonna do that for sure. Thank-you :smile:

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Reply 16
Original post by corax
I do Government and Politics now and it is good but a lot to take in it. There is a lot to cover and revise. It is very informative though and I've probably learnt the most from it as a subject. I find that Politics at A2 is a lot more interesting. I'm doing Ideologies and US Government.

I don't really get why Sociology is deemed as soft when both Cambridge and LSE offer it. Both of which are prestigious Universities.

If you like Sociology, take it. I took two soft subjects (dropped one) and from my experience they didn't affect my chances of getting offers.

Do you know what you want to do at University?


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I don't have a clue! Yeah I might, I just don't want to do something that isn't really helpful. I think I probably am going to do both P&E and G&P! I hope I enjoy it like you have :smile: and thank-you for your advice

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Reply 17
I will chat to the head of department. I'm so thankful it's not as religious as I thought because that's the reason I backed off originally, but now I know it's not like that as much so yeah I'm more than likely to drop Sociology! Again, thank-you loads for your help! I really appreciate it :smile:

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Reply 18
Original post by RayApparently
I've found AS G+P fascinating. It has cemented my interest in politics, certainly a brilliant subject.


I'm probably gonna keep taking it! Thank-you, hopefully I enjoy it as much as you

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Reply 19
Original post by lonerism
Oh I didn't know that! I do Sociology at GCSE and I've enjoyed it but I totally get what you mean. I think I will do Philosophy + Ethics. But I'm not sure about dropping Sociology.. I might, but I don't want to do 4 completely boring / historical subjects, you know? Though I really am considering that. What do you think I should do? :smile:


English and philosophy aren't at all boring! And well it's your choice, i would personally drop out Sociology but i can only advise.

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