ive got a bit of a problem

I'll cut right to the chase - I'm taking biology, chemistry, maths and further maths (year 12) and im getting straight a's in all of them.
My predicted grades will either be A*AA or A*A*A (im not doing further maths at a level)

The thing is, my parents originally forced me to do these courses - I'm much more interested in history and english. I don't want to spend the next 3 years of my life at university doing a science course but I don't know if I'm able to switch to doing a completely different path this late in college.

So far I've considered:
UCL
Lancaster
Sussex
Cardiff

for university, but I need to do further research into their courses - specifically history and politics as that's what I want to do

any advice for my situation?

Reply 1

University of Sheffield Students

Official Rep

14

Original post by Aqa hate page

I'll cut right to the chase - I'm taking biology, chemistry, maths and further maths (year 12) and im getting straight a's in all of them.
My predicted grades will either be A*AA or A*A*A (im not doing further maths at a level)

The thing is, my parents originally forced me to do these courses - I'm much more interested in history and english. I don't want to spend the next 3 years of my life at university doing a science course but I don't know if I'm able to switch to doing a completely different path this late in college.

So far I've considered:
UCL
Lancaster
Sussex
Cardiff

for university, but I need to do further research into their courses - specifically history and politics as that's what I want to do

any advice for my situation?

Hi,

I'm sorry you're having to study courses that aren't to your interest. I would say that most English and History courses will require you to have an A-level in English or History as a pre-requisite, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't still consider them.
You would probably either have to restart college/sixth form next year, and choose different A-levels, or complete a foundation year in the relevant subject before starting your degree. This will depend on the university and course requirements.

You'll probably have more degree options in the long run if you do the A-levels you want to do, although science A-levels are very versatile and well-respected, it depends whether you think you could get through the exams. You might be able to study politics having done science for example, but I do think history would require a history A-level. That being said, history A-level may also require history GCSE.
The pros of a foundation year would be that you get to live at the university and be independent, if this is something you're interested in.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any further questions.

Safi
2nd year English Language and Linguistics

Reply 2

Aqa hate page

OP

5

Thank you so much Safi!! I've done a bit of research and there are some History and Politics courses that look interesting and don't require any specific subjects. In case it helps, I did History GCSE (got an 8) as well as 10 other GCSEs at 8-9 level. On the politics side of things, I'm involved in the student association at my sfc - this might help my personal statement?

The only thing I'm really worried about is how to write a personal statement that explains why I made the 'sudden' switch. Ideally I wouldn't be retaking my first year at college, but a foundation year may be helpful.

Original post by University of Sheffield Students

Hi,

I'm sorry you're having to study courses that aren't to your interest. I would say that most English and History courses will require you to have an A-level in English or History as a pre-requisite, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't still consider them.
You would probably either have to restart college/sixth form next year, and choose different A-levels, or complete a foundation year in the relevant subject before starting your degree. This will depend on the university and course requirements.

You'll probably have more degree options in the long run if you do the A-levels you want to do, although science A-levels are very versatile and well-respected, it depends whether you think you could get through the exams. You might be able to study politics having done science for example, but I do think history would require a history A-level. That being said, history A-level may also require history GCSE.
The pros of a foundation year would be that you get to live at the university and be independent, if this is something you're interested in.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any further questions.

Safi
2nd year English Language and Linguistics

Reply 3

Emmanuel AA

2

Original post by Aqa hate page

I'll cut right to the chase - I'm taking biology, chemistry, maths and further maths (year 12) and im getting straight a's in all of them.
My predicted grades will either be A*AA or A*A*A (im not doing further maths at a level)

The thing is, my parents originally forced me to do these courses - I'm much more interested in history and english. I don't want to spend the next 3 years of my life at university doing a science course but I don't know if I'm able to switch to doing a completely different path this late in college.

So far I've considered:
UCL
Lancaster
Sussex
Cardiff

for university, but I need to do further research into their courses - specifically history and politics as that's what I want to do

any advice for my situation?

Hi; my name is Emmanuel. I am a 3rd Year student of History & Politics at Lancaster University and planning to do a Master's degree there so I hope I can be of assistance. It is a Joint Honours degree involving a 50/50 split between the two subjects, but you can attain credits in a range of ways over the course of the 3 years. In your 1st Year, you have the opportunity to partake in both of these subjects and a Minor Module. The Minor Module can be in many different subjects across our FASS (Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences) department and is an opportunity to understand how studying certain academic areas at uni can differ a lot from doing so in Sixth Form. Even if you've never taken History or Politics before coming to Lancaster (the latter was the case with me) you receive an introduction to core concepts in both areas that cover a range of times and places and allow to understand the demands of studying at University. 2nd and 3rd Year provide opportunities for more freedom. I took 8 modules (split 4 each between History & Politics) in my 2nd Year; only 2 of those were compulsory. These modules gave me a lot of theoretical frameworks and conceptual material to put together my dissertation in 3rd Year. Since I did my dissertation in History, I have only taken 2 other History modules this year and 4 Politics modules, but you could do it the other way around— and it is not necessary to do a dissertation if you would prefer. There is a lot more I can go into about the options at your disposal; I hope this introduction has helped and please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any more questions about what Lancaster offers.

ive got a bit of a problem

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