Hi, this is my first post here and I joined because I am currently in dire need of some help.
To make a long story short, I've just had my first day full of lessons and am not all happy with how things are looking. I want to change one (or more) of my options and could really use some advice.
My current options are:
English Literature
Psychology
Economics
Film Studies
The ones I may be switching around are English and Economics. I did originally want to take History, but I was strongly advised against it, as been as I haven't done it at GCSE. I haven't done Economics at GCSE either, but I was told that Economics would be significantly easier to get into and catch up on than History. I was also told that people have been in my position before and took A level History without having done it at GCSE and failed miserably due to the overwhelming amount of extra work on top of the heavy workload that comes with History. I believe it was something to do with "exam technique" that took students two years to perfect in order to be ready for A levels. After hearing all this, I was thoroughly disheartened.
However, after searching the web for some other people's perspectives, looking at places such as The Student Room, I did in fact find some opinions that would contradict what I had heard. Although they did not go into great detail, they did suggest that it would be entirely possible to do A level History without a GCSE in it. Considering the casual way it was phrased, with no foreboding side note to accompany it, it did seem as if it wouldn't be much trouble at all. I decided I would come here to ask the question again and try to gain some clarity on the situation. Basically, from the perspective of a student who has been through a similar situation or feels that they can provide some helpful input, is taking A level History possible having not done so at GCSE, and if so, how difficult would it be to bring myself up to the same level as everyone else? How much extra work would be involved and how difficult would it be to learn the "exam technique"?
Any response would be very greatly appreciated and I am thankful to anyone who would take the time to try and help me out.