The Student Room Group

Don't know what to study for A Levels?

Basically my dream was to work as a Doctor (it was a bit the boundary for me) so I thought being a nurse would be more realistic, however I can guarantee that I probably didn't get the right grades, I saw the mark schemes after I did my science and maths papers and I think I'm averaging a C/D, for History I'm guaranteed a U as I also failed my coursework and thought also didn't revise at all, leaving bad answers, in all my other subjects I pretty much did below standard

Anyways now I'm kind of stuck,

1)I don't know what career I should look into to?

-As i said I'd love to work in the medical field however I didn't get the grades most likely and studying Biology chemistry maths for Sixth Form might be a struggle, I've done tests online which indicate that I should go into something which helps out people, and the biggest was Medicine, but it doesn't seem to be going for me, so now what do I look into? My dad says I should do IT, but I find it incredibly boring

2)I might not get to do A Levels

-I'm average, but for my GCSE I didn't bother revising and now I'm fearing C/D with only 2 B's etc, which makes means that I might have to do BTEC, and that would really be a blow, I'd love to do various A levels etc, but I'm just be limited to one A Levels

3)I haven't thought of what A Levels I want to do

-This is a problem, I have no idea what career path to take and therefore don't know what subjects, I find Philosphy, Religion, Politics interesting but I don't wish to go into a career in those kind of areas etc, so I'm stuck
Original post by Zezo
Basically my dream was to work as a Doctor (it was a bit the boundary for me) so I thought being a nurse would be more realistic, however I can guarantee that I probably didn't get the right grades, I saw the mark schemes after I did my science and maths papers and I think I'm averaging a C/D, for History I'm guaranteed a U as I also failed my coursework and thought also didn't revise at all, leaving bad answers, in all my other subjects I pretty much did below standard

Anyways now I'm kind of stuck,

1)I don't know what career I should look into to?

-As i said I'd love to work in the medical field however I didn't get the grades most likely and studying Biology chemistry maths for Sixth Form might be a struggle, I've done tests online which indicate that I should go into something which helps out people, and the biggest was Medicine, but it doesn't seem to be going for me, so now what do I look into? My dad says I should do IT, but I find it incredibly boring

2)I might not get to do A Levels

-I'm average, but for my GCSE I didn't bother revising and now I'm fearing C/D with only 2 B's etc, which makes means that I might have to do BTEC, and that would really be a blow, I'd love to do various A levels etc, but I'm just be limited to one A Levels

3)I haven't thought of what A Levels I want to do

-This is a problem, I have no idea what career path to take and therefore don't know what subjects, I find Philosphy, Religion, Politics interesting but I don't wish to go into a career in those kind of areas etc, so I'm stuck


If you did want to be a nurse for definite then "average" gcses is perfectly fine, you just need 5c's and 2 of those have to be maths and english. You ve pretty much free reign on subject choices for nursing too, although some are more suited to nursing than others(you certainly dont have to do a levels either).

I can suggest other medical related things that dont involve needing biology/chemistry/maths a levels, such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy( you may want to do pe for that) , speech and language therapist is another one.
Reply 2
Original post by Zezo
Basically my dream was to work as a Doctor (it was a bit the boundary for me) so I thought being a nurse would be more realistic, however I can guarantee that I probably didn't get the right grades, I saw the mark schemes after I did my science and maths papers and I think I'm averaging a C/D, for History I'm guaranteed a U as I also failed my coursework and thought also didn't revise at all, leaving bad answers, in all my other subjects I pretty much did below standard

Anyways now I'm kind of stuck,

1)I don't know what career I should look into to?

-As i said I'd love to work in the medical field however I didn't get the grades most likely and studying Biology chemistry maths for Sixth Form might be a struggle, I've done tests online which indicate that I should go into something which helps out people, and the biggest was Medicine, but it doesn't seem to be going for me, so now what do I look into? My dad says I should do IT, but I find it incredibly boring

2)I might not get to do A Levels

-I'm average, but for my GCSE I didn't bother revising and now I'm fearing C/D with only 2 B's etc, which makes means that I might have to do BTEC, and that would really be a blow, I'd love to do various A levels etc, but I'm just be limited to one A Levels

3)I haven't thought of what A Levels I want to do

-This is a problem, I have no idea what career path to take and therefore don't know what subjects, I find Philosphy, Religion, Politics interesting but I don't wish to go into a career in those kind of areas etc, so I'm stuck


I'm in the same boat Hun.
You don't actually know that you failed until results day really. Grade boundaries could be lower than expected. (This was me in core science)
Geography might be a good one considering you like history or English lit to broaden your choices a bit more.
Also health and social care might be a good option considering it revolves around helping people.?
Reply 3
Original post by claireestelle
If you did want to be a nurse for definite then "average" gcses is perfectly fine, you just need 5c's and 2 of those have to be maths and english. You ve pretty much free reign on subject choices for nursing too, although some are more suited to nursing than others(you certainly dont have to do a levels either).

I can suggest other medical related things that dont involve needing biology/chemistry/maths a levels, such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy( you may want to do pe for that) , speech and language therapist is another one.


Thanks, but I'd like to get quiet full on with my work if you know what I mean, which is why I'd like to be a nurse physiotherapy sounds good too but if I was to do I'd want to be one that works in sports teams lol
Original post by Zezo
Basically my dream was to work as a Doctor (it was a bit the boundary for me) so I thought being a nurse would be more realistic, however I can guarantee that I probably didn't get the right grades, I saw the mark schemes after I did my science and maths papers and I think I'm averaging a C/D, for History I'm guaranteed a U as I also failed my coursework and thought also didn't revise at all, leaving bad answers, in all my other subjects I pretty much did below standard

Anyways now I'm kind of stuck,

1)I don't know what career I should look into to?

-As i said I'd love to work in the medical field however I didn't get the grades most likely and studying Biology chemistry maths for Sixth Form might be a struggle, I've done tests online which indicate that I should go into something which helps out people, and the biggest was Medicine, but it doesn't seem to be going for me, so now what do I look into? My dad says I should do IT, but I find it incredibly boring

2)I might not get to do A Levels

-I'm average, but for my GCSE I didn't bother revising and now I'm fearing C/D with only 2 B's etc, which makes means that I might have to do BTEC, and that would really be a blow, I'd love to do various A levels etc, but I'm just be limited to one A Levels

3)I haven't thought of what A Levels I want to do

-This is a problem, I have no idea what career path to take and therefore don't know what subjects, I find Philosphy, Religion, Politics interesting but I don't wish to go into a career in those kind of areas etc, so I'm stuck


Maybe BTEC's will be a good thing? Exams only get harder at A level and the pressure increases dramatically. BTEC's won't limit your university choices hugely and you could always do a mixture such as 2BTEC's and 1-2 A levels.You say you didn't revise at all during GCSE, well what if you do the same at A level, at least with BTEC it's a lot easier to get the top grades (even though you still do need to work hard doing a BTEC).

The choice of subjects is all down to you and what you are interested in, i would keep a variety of choices such as a mixture of humanities and sciences if possible.
Reply 5
Original post by aamirac
I'm in the same boat Hun.
You don't actually know that you failed until results day really. Grade boundaries could be lower than expected. (This was me in core science)
Geography might be a good one considering you like history or English lit to broaden your choices a bit more.
Also health and social care might be a good option considering it revolves around helping people.?


thanks, my school doesn't do health and social care though, but thanks for the suggestion, though I'm not too keen on geography I wouldn't mind working abroad in different enviroments etc
Original post by Zezo
Thanks, but I'd like to get quiet full on with my work if you know what I mean, which is why I'd like to be a nurse physiotherapy sounds good too but if I was to do I'd want to be one that works in sports teams lol


Yeah i get what you mean:smile:
If you wanted to do physiotherapy, i d pick a level pe if you cant do biology. If you wanted to do nursing, then subjects like sociology, psychology, religion and ethics and health and social care are good ones to go for if you do want to do biology or maths, or you could do a btec in health sciences or health and social care (i m doing mh nursing myself in september)
Reply 7
Original post by Kash24411
Maybe BTEC's will be a good thing? Exams only get harder at A level and the pressure increases dramatically. BTEC's won't limit your university choices hugely and you could always do a mixture such as 2BTEC's and 1-2 A levels.You say you didn't revise at all during GCSE, well what if you do the same at A level, at least with BTEC it's a lot easier to get the top grades (even though you still do need to work hard doing a BTEC).

The choice of subjects is all down to you and what you are interested in, i would keep a variety of choices such as a mixture of humanities and sciences if possible.


Thanks, I was considering doing BTEC I.T and BTEC business, but I'd dislike them both, I wouldn't mind working in the city as a trader, but I'm not sure if that's cut for me, I.T bores me, my school pretty much offers just solely one BTEC and there are only 4 to choose from, I hear that A Levels is quiet hard, but I guess my main drive is to not make the mistakes I made at GCSE, but I'm being really and i'm on the fence whether A level is right for me.
Reply 8
Original post by Zezo
thanks, my school doesn't do health and social care though, but thanks for the suggestion, though I'm not too keen on geography I wouldn't mind working abroad in different enviroments etc

You could still do nursing if you want to. Read the above responses, they're all good advise.
Original post by Zezo
Thanks, I was considering doing BTEC I.T and BTEC business, but I'd dislike them both, I wouldn't mind working in the city as a trader, but I'm not sure if that's cut for me, I.T bores me, my school pretty much offers just solely one BTEC and there are only 4 to choose from, I hear that A Levels is quiet hard, but I guess my main drive is to not make the mistakes I made at GCSE, but I'm being really and i'm on the fence whether A level is right for me.


Would need AAA or higher at A-level and a degree from a top 20 uni at minimum for that... or "connections", unfortunately :frown:

If IT bores you, absolutely don't do it. You will lose faith and hope in all humanity by the end of Year 13.
Reply 10
Original post by Катя
Would need AAA or higher at A-level and a degree from a top 20 uni at minimum for that... or "connections", unfortunately :frown:

If IT bores you, absolutely don't do it. You will lose faith and hope in all humanity by the end of Year 13.


I didn't think I'd have the knack for it anyways, I guess I will still have to look round for careers, to be honest, I don't mind living an average/modest lifestyle, all I want really is financial security.
Reply 11
Sorry for bumping but I'm still very stuck, I'm perhaps looking for someone who was in a similar situation
Reply 12
haha looking back i actually did pass all but chose a BTEC instead

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