Should I take RS as an a level?

For my a levels in September I'm planning on taking history and sociology but I need to choose one more, I was planning on taking English literature but I thought about it and it seems like a lot of writing and work considering the other subjects ive chosen. I had a taster day recently and went to the RS (religious studies) taster as a time filler. To my surprise I found it really interesting, I'm unsure whether I should actually take it I'm not a religious person although I found it interesting. Do you think this is a good a level to take along with my other subjects or do you think I should stick with English literature?

I'd like to add that I don't have a particular goal for when I complete my a levels im undecided when it comes to going to university since I don't have a particular career I want to pursue. So I'm not sure whether I'm actually going to go on to university. With this in mind do you think I should stick with English literature or RS?

(edited 6 years ago)

Reply 1

999tigger

Original post by Kleigh01

It depends. I think its more manageable and easier to get a better grade in . Grades really matter for getting into uni as a better grade is usually better than a poor one in a good subject.

English lit is a facilitating subject so well respected academically and would go nicely with History..

If you think you can get a good grade in English lit do that but if not interested or bored then do RE.

Do check out the syllabus as well as looking for entry requirements for degrees at unis you are interested in.

http://russellgroup.ac.uk/for-students/school-and-college-in-the-uk/subject-choices-at-school-and-college/

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

Some of the topics from RS come up in Philosophy, which is more commonly "accepted" as a preferred A-level from top tier universities, and approaches those topics from a more general perspective. There are also other topics in that as well, which you may find interesting.

But as previously stated, unless you're aiming at the few "elite" universities which tend to be slightly more preferential about A-level subjects, as they get so many applications from people with the necessary grades already they need a way to filter those a bit more, it won't make much of a difference. For most "arts" subjects (i.e. humanities and social sciences) they aren't too choosy about specific subjects taken provided you do well in the ones you do take.

It does depend somewhat on what you want to do at uni (if you want to go at all for that matter, as it's not actually a requirement by any means, despite being made out as much by much mainstream media - fortunately, unlike in the US, there are a lot of roles you can pursue without a degree, many of which lead to career level positions) however. If you want to do e.g. Economics then you'd probably want to take Maths to put forth the strongest application. For the sciences, you need to consider which science subjects are required for the degree you're interested in - usually the named science of that degree (e.g. biology for bioscience courses, chemistry for chemistry courses) and many have additional requirements of other subjects (e.g. maths as well for physics, chemistry is required for a number of biomolecular "themed" courses, e.g. genetics, biochemistry, biomedical sciences).

Reply 3

Rose997

I've done English combined and Religious studies at A-Level. I liked Religion in the fist year, but my course was 'philosophy and religion' so it did get really complicated and detailed. It was too deep for me, but it was basically different philosophers like Aquinas, Aristotle, Russell etc sharing their beliefs on different arguments like the cosmological argument (argument for existence of God) and there's also a part on ethics, utilitarianism, virtue ethics and what these philosophers thought of these. I'd say English was more of a stronger subject to go for and I found it more straightforward to understand but you're the one that has to go there, so study what you want and what you'll enjoy :smile: