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WTF Soft a-levels

This is a useful pointer :smile:

but bear in mind that Oxford / other colleges might not be so picky. According to this list my A levels (which included Psychology) don't fulfil the criteria for the subject I studied at Oxford.

Reply 41

im so academic

15

To the OP: Do what you want (as long as it is not severly balcklisted like Media Studies) because at the end of the day, an A or even an A* will so so much better in e.g. Politics than a C or D in Maths. I say take what you want, that is as traditional and respected as possible and work from their. You never know, take a traditional subject and you could end up liking it.

Here are some specifications for numerous subjects in different subjects, because you might as well read into a bit of the subject, so you know what you will be studying, and maybe a subject's specification could end up you taking the subject.

http://www.aqa.org.uk/qual/gceasa.php
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/1419changes/alevels/
http://www.edexcel.org.uk/quals/gce/

Make sure you know what you are studying because the specification in GCSE English Lit for example could to different to what you might expect in A-Level English Lit.

Also, as long as you have at least two respected traditional subjects relating to what to might what to do at uni, and an OK not-well-respected subjects; and you get good grades in them, there is a possibilty you could go to Oxbridge.

Good Luck on choosing you A-Level subjects, and I hope you do well in them! :yep:

Reply 42

username91207

16

anyarian

biology
chemsitry
physics
maths
further maths
history
geography
modern foreign languages
english lit

All my A Levels are on this list :woo:

OP: I'd say just do what you enjoy, rather than what Oxbridge think you should do. I'm pretty sure Psychology is considered ok anyway, a friend of mine is doing it and hopes to go to Oxford to study Theology :smile:

Although tbh I'm just a 17 year old who knows relatively little about unis so there's the possibility I'm talking crap again :p:

Reply 43

peachmelba

8

Trinity College & the LSE are the biggest subject fascists/most honest. At the end of the day, it depends what course/unis you aspire to.

If you are thinking of competitive courses like English, history, economic, law or medicine at top unis, you would be better avoiding the controversial subjects. Or picking no more than one of them.

If you are thinking of say sociology at a post-1992 uni, it really won't matter.

Incidentally, the department at Durham who are behind the Alis system, have done statistical analysis to compare the difficulty of different subjects (using the whole cohort of entrants). They conclude that some A levels and GCSEs are easier than others.
http://www.alisproject.org/Documents/Alis/Research/A-Level%20Subject%20Difficulties.pdf

Reply 44

Mr Nonsense

13

jsut don't do a stupid subject like media studies, general studies, photography, accounting, holiday and tourism, etc. and you will be fine

Reply 45

aviii

9

i personally don't know why PE is regarded as a soft subject - its basically biology, history and psychology!

the same goes with sociology

the amount of stuff i had to remember for both subjects were ridiculous.

i think people should actually take the subjects which are regarded as soft, and then conclude whether its soft or not, instead of following everyone else and making assumptions

Reply 46

Quady

20

Jamstar

Surely Psychology would be useful for some sciences too... not sure why it's only suitable for arts...

Which and how?

Reply 47

Hedgehunter

12

Don't do:

Business studies
Film/Media studies
Accounting
Sociology
Photography
PE

and then a few more I don't know.

Stick to the 'traditional' subjects if you want an offer from top Unis. Though they will allow you to have one 'soft' subject out of the 3 or 4 you provide at A2.

Reply 48

Quady

20

aviii

the amount of stuff i had to remember for both subjects were ridiculous.

I think thats a main part of it, whether you have to think or just remember things.

Reply 49

Hedgehunter

12

peachmelba

http://www.alisproject.org/Documents/Alis/Research/A-Level%20Subject%20Difficulties.pdf

According to that they say that English Literature is the second easiest subject at A-level, surely thats not true?

Reply 50

bigears69

my chemistry a-level required me to learn mountains of stuff off by rote, but very little actual thought was involved.

Reply 51

peachmelba

8

According to that they say that English Literature is the second easiest subject at A-level, surely thats not true?

Actually, what they are showing is how a candidate with an average of B at gcse would perform on average across different subjects. It's not quite as straightforward as easy/difficult and in reality will vary according to a candidate's previous GCSE score, aptitude/motivation for different subjects.

I was surprised at the Eng lit result too - maybe people do better because they enjoy it more! That might also explain why people do worst in General Studies.

There's about one grade difference in expected result between the highest and lowest of the 17 subjects they show

Reply 52

Jamstar

14

Quady

Which and how?

I've always classed psychology as a science (albeit more a social science)rather than an art... it's a natural science along with Biology I would say...

Psychology would surely be useful for courses such as Neuroscience which share many links and themes, and how the brain works. I might be totally wrong though, I'm no expert, but I would have still thought that psychology would have its uses.

Reply 53

nothingspek

3

I think this whole soft A Level malarkey is absolute ****, it's making people not want to do the subjects they most enjoy because they feel it won't be worth as much.

OP, do psychology if you want to, I took it, but dropped it after half a year as I found it dire.

Reply 54

Hedgehunter

12

peachmelba

Actually, what they are showing is how a candidate with an average of B at gcse would perform on average across different subjects. It's not quite as straightforward as easy/difficult and in reality will vary according to a candidate's previous GCSE score, aptitude/motivation for different subjects.

I was surprised at the Eng lit result too - maybe people do better because they enjoy it more! That might also explain why people do worst in General Studies.

There's about one grade difference in expected result between the highest and lowest of the 17 subjects they show

I know, so I'm not sure how they can 'rank' them like that.

Reply 55

ashy

17

lucho22

I'm surprised Economics isn't included on that list.. It really was a piece of piss..

It is. "Business Studies (see also Economics)"

Reply 56

Crimson Black

13

Toffee_Kid

but take it, it's grrrrrrrrrreat!

Bleedin' 'eck, the OP's choosing A-levels, not a cereal. :biggrin:

I'm slightly saddened to see Government & Politics on that list under "B" (all my other A-levels were on the "A2" list). I found it harder than history and much more work... but there you go I guess. Too many people don't have a clue about our and the world's political processes, but I guess it's a "new"-ish A-level.

Also, to iterate what others have been saying: the blacklisted subjects are thus because of the amount of stuff necessary to learn by heart; it doesn't necessarily foster analytical skills that you'll retain when you forget all the stuff you've learned. I'm not saying learning stuff by heart isn't difficult - it is - but to universities your memory capacity just isn't relevant, and by and large your ability to reason is.

Reply 57

free_the_mind

1

To the OP just do what you enjoy and need to get into uni with.

Reply 58

ashy

17

peachmelba

Trinity College & the LSE are the biggest subject fascists/most honest. At the end of the day, it depends what course/unis you aspire to.

If you are thinking of competitive courses like English, history, economic, law or medicine at top unis, you would be better avoiding the controversial subjects. Or picking no more than one of them.

If you are thinking of say sociology at a post-1992 uni, it really won't matter.

Incidentally, the department at Durham who are behind the Alis system, have done statistical analysis to compare the difficulty of different subjects (using the whole cohort of entrants). They conclude that some A levels and GCSEs are easier than others.
http://www.alisproject.org/Documents/Alis/Research/A-Level%20Subject%20Difficulties.pdf

That's actually really interesting. I did mostly the hardest subjects, then :biggrin:

Reply 59

The_Lonely_Goatherd

20

HereIstand

This sounds ridiculous surely an A in psychology looks just as good as one for biology or English language or something considered more traditional. These soft a-levels are really bugging me because I know if I take psychology and sociology and they aren't regarded as high by uni's i won't feel like putting in the work because I will be pissed it's not worth as much. Are these soft A-levels true. Can you get into oxbridge with these kinds of subjects if you get AAAA or maybe a star in there. This is really tearing me up as i don't know what to pick for my forth A-Level , please help rep for an answer that helps the most on offer. :smile:

Are you thinking of applying to Oxford or Cambridge (or are you just asking out of interest?) and if so, what subject are you thinking of applying for? Have you looked at their tables showing essential/recommended A Level subjects for the degree subject you have in mind? :smile:

WTF Soft a-levels

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