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Advice on 4th Subject for A-Levels

i start sixth form in September and must chose my subjects soon, I aim to get into a decent university after my A-Levels so i almost certainly must do 4 A-Levels, 3 of which I am fairly certain of: Maths, Geography and Business Studies, however I am struggling to decide on the 4th
I originally thought on choosing graphic design because i enjoyed it at GCSE, however I have heard that it is considered a "soft option" because it is more practical arts and craft rather than a hard subject with heavy content.
After looking through the althernative subjects I could choose the only one that stood out was sociology, however I have not studied this at GCSE, is this also considered a "soft option" by unis?
The third option i have would be to do further maths rather than a 4th option as maths is most definately my strongest subject, would this be regarded as a 4th option by unis or would I have to do this plus either graphics or sociology to get into a good university. any advice please on what you would do?
Thanks in advance
Original post by jack_madle
i start sixth form in September and must chose my subjects soon, I aim to get into a decent university after my A-Levels so i almost certainly must do 4 A-Levels, 3 of which I am fairly certain of: Maths, Geography and Business Studies, however I am struggling to decide on the 4th
I originally thought on choosing graphic design because i enjoyed it at GCSE, however I have heard that it is considered a "soft option" because it is more practical arts and craft rather than a hard subject with heavy content.
After looking through the althernative subjects I could choose the only one that stood out was sociology, however I have not studied this at GCSE, is this also considered a "soft option" by unis?
The third option i have would be to do further maths rather than a 4th option as maths is most definately my strongest subject, would this be regarded as a 4th option by unis or would I have to do this plus either graphics or sociology to get into a good university. any advice please on what you would do?
Thanks in advance


If I were you I'd get rid of business studies. It's not very well regarded by the 'good universities' (I assume by that you mean Russel Group). Two 'soft' subjects would not stand you in particularly good stead.

However, maths and geography are both good and as for further maths, only do it if you get an A* at GCSE.

Good luck!
Depends on what you want to study... if you want to do maths at a top Uni then you'd be better off doing further maths. Places like Oxbridge consider design and sociology as soft subjects. Look at the Unis you want to apply for, they usually specify on their site what is considered a "soft" subject. I was advised by several Unis to take an essay based subject to show that I am capable of writing essays and sociology was the only one that fitted into my timetable, it's a pretty easy A if you know a few tips and have the right mindset :smile: Some people really struggle with it though.

Keep in mind the work load though, how many subjects are 100% exam? how many have coursework? what percentage? IDK about graphic design but product required a lot of coursework that = 50%, we didn't cover theory in class even though that was the other 50%, a lot of people seem to struggle juggling design/art with their other subjects because of time you have to dedicate in order to get a good grade. If the graphic design workload is the same as Fine Art, I pray for you and your sanity.
Reply 3
Original post by ZeniB
If I were you I'd get rid of business studies. It's not very well regarded by the 'good universities' (I assume by that you mean Russel Group). Two 'soft' subjects would not stand you in particularly good stead.

However, maths and geography are both good and as for further maths, only do it if you get an A* at GCSE.

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice,
I know that physics is considered a hard A-Level and it would be much more respectable than business and graphics, do you think if i were to do 3 hard subjects (Maths, Geography, Physics) plus further maths it would be possible to maybe get into a russell group?
Reply 4
Original post by AlphaDog0127
Depends on what you want to study... if you want to do maths at a top Uni then you'd be better off doing further maths. Places like Oxbridge consider design and sociology as soft subjects. Look at the Unis you want to apply for, they usually specify on their site what is considered a "soft" subject. I was advised by several Unis to take an essay based subject to show that I am capable of writing essays and sociology was the only one that fitted into my timetable, it's a pretty easy A if you know a few tips and have the right mindset :smile: Some people really struggle with it though.

Keep in mind the work load though, how many subjects are 100% exam? how many have coursework? what percentage? IDK about graphic design but product required a lot of coursework that = 50%, we didn't cover theory in class even though that was the other 50%, a lot of people seem to struggle juggling design/art with their other subjects because of time you have to dedicate in order to get a good grade. If the graphic design workload is the same as Fine Art, I pray for you and your sanity.

Thanks for the advice,
I know that physics is considered a hard A-Level and it would be much more respectable than business and graphics, do you think if i were to do 3 hard subjects (Maths, Geography, Physics) plus further maths it would be possible to maybe get into a russell group?
Original post by jack_madle
Thanks for the advice,
I know that physics is considered a hard A-Level and it would be much more respectable than business and graphics, do you think if i were to do 3 hard subjects (Maths, Geography, Physics) plus further maths it would be possible to maybe get into a russell group?


That would be a good combo if you take all of them to A2. Definitely all respected subjects

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Original post by jack_madle
Thanks for the advice,
I know that physics is considered a hard A-Level and it would be much more respectable than business and graphics, do you think if i were to do 3 hard subjects (Maths, Geography, Physics) plus further maths it would be possible to maybe get into a russell group?


That would be a brilliant combo in my opinion, if you can do well in it! If you're good at maths then you should be fine :smile:

I wish you all the best with your AS levels.
Original post by jack_madle
Thanks for the advice,
I know that physics is considered a hard A-Level and it would be much more respectable than business and graphics, do you think if i were to do 3 hard subjects (Maths, Geography, Physics) plus further maths it would be possible to maybe get into a russell group?


That should be fine :smile: Just make sure you do a subject you enjoy though, sometimes taking an easier subject can be like a massive breath of fresh air. e.g. if you had just completed a long physics task that had tired you out you could do some design to chill out :biggrin: Design isn't hard as far as the work you do, it's just the amount but if it's anything like product you can spend maybe 20mins a day writing up what you've done, if that, and get a good grade.

My brother did AS music, maths, physics and design, and A2 maths, physics, design and sat further maths AS whilst doing his A2s. He's at Warwick now, which I believe is a Russell Group :smile:
You really need to think about what you want to do in university as the choices you make now will change what you can do in university.
Reply 9
Really depends on what you want to do.

But majority of universities really dont care about the 4th AS tbh.

And it really doesn't matter if your taking all 'faciliating' subjects. The idea that having a subject like Psychology / Sociology / Politics etc will mean very little unis will take you seriously is just false. Pretty overrated advice.

Original post by jack_madle
Thanks for the advice,
I know that physics is considered a hard A-Level and it would be much more respectable than business and graphics, do you think if i were to do 3 hard subjects (Maths, Geography, Physics) plus further maths it would be possible to maybe get into a russell group?
(edited 9 years ago)

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