Post-College Question: Psychology, Biology and Art

These are the 3 A-levels I want to take this September but I don’t know if they can provide stable jobs or help to boost my career in the future.

I am currently unsure of what route I can take and I don’t know how to start research for uni requirements are needed etc. I have heard Psychology doesn’t take you far and neither does Art - I don’t know how true it is.

Plus many unis look for facilitating subjects so I am picking between Biology and English Language and that is possibly the only “accepting” course unis will see I have. It is daunting because Psychology and Art are one of my strongest courses and Biology compliments well but I don’t know how far it will take me career-wise, especially since many uni’s can see Art as a “soft” subject.

Could I go to Oxford, Cambridge, King’s College, Edinburgh etc. with these courses and help to boost me far in the career world? Any tips or recommendations?

Thank you!

I am currently unsure of what route I can take and I don’t know how to start research for uni requirements are needed etc
In terms of careers, it's kind of speculative - your degree doesn't guarantee you a specific job.

I think it's prudent to start with what sort of career you want (or at least know which field/industry that you want to go into). Even if you don't know, it's good to start off with knowing:

Generally speaking, with any degree, you can:


If the specific job that you want requires a specific degree, then you need to make sure you have the right sort of degree (some might require it to be accredited by certain professional bodies).

Once you know what degree you want, you can then look at the entry requirements of the degree.

The sort of websites that I would prioritise using are:
National Careers Service is the UK's official government website, whereas the others are from other organisations and companies.

I have heard Psychology doesn’t take you far and neither does Art - I don’t know how true it is.
You will require a degree in psychology for specific roles related to psychology e.g. becoming a clinical or nonclinical psychologist, mental health practitioner. However, the roles are scarce and there is intensive competition.
You don't need a degree in art to call yourself an artist, although they do teach you things on the degree.
Again, you can use these degrees to go into teaching or jobs that accept any qualifications (because they generally don't need a degree to go into the profession to begin with).

Do note, art therapy is a thing (see: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/art-therapist)

Plus many unis look for facilitating subjects so I am picking between Biology and English Language and that is possibly the only “accepting” course unis will see I have
Facilitating subjects (or rather required subjects because the specific terms have changed) are only required if you intend to go into specific fields of study. For example, I wouldn't go into life sciences without knowing a thing about biology. Likewise, it's going to be very silly to go into difficult maths degrees without having done a thing in maths.
If you don't intend to go into specific fields of study that require specific subjects, then you're free to pick whatever subjects you want (although the top end universities tend to prefer specific academic subjects over others).
The general key areas to note for required subjects are:

Note: for architecture and some healthcare related degrees, you won't require specific subjects, but you would generally need specific degrees accredited by specific bodies in order for the degree to be of any use in their respective industry.

If none of the above is of particular interest to you and you don't intend to go to a top end uni, I think you're free to pick whatever A Levels you want. If the above does, then you would need to look at the entry requirements for the specific degrees that you want i.e. more personal research is needed.

It is daunting because Psychology and Art are one of my strongest courses and Biology compliments well but I don’t know how far it will take me career-wise, especially since many uni’s can see Art as a “soft” subject.
Again, the degree doesn't determine how well you fare in the world of work. If your degree is specifically required by law in order to go into specific professions, then yeah it's important. Otherwise, there's no guarantee that you would do well in any particular career.

If you want to know what sort of degrees that you can apply for with your subjects, then you could go into some areas of life science where Biology is a required subject e.g. biological sciences (although I suspect some will ask for chemistry on top), biology, paramedic sciences, nursing, optometry, midwifery, zoology, or anything that generally ask for 2 sciences (if they consider psychology a science).
Art may be required for certain art and design degrees, although their acceptance tends to depend more on your portfolio and how you fare in your interview than what grades you got.
Then, you can apply for degrees that don't require specific subjects, which can include:

Do note, the sectors where you generally require to have degrees for certain roles include: healthcare, education, academia/research. Whilst you can go into the following with just A Levels (e.g. apprenticeships, professional qualifications), you would generally end up with the equivalent of at least a degree of some description: law, accounting, engineering, actuary, architecture, medicine, urban planning, economics. Finance is an area where you should get a professional qualification over a degree, and the entry requirements are generally next to nothing for a number of roles.

Could I go to Oxford, Cambridge, King’s College, Edinburgh etc. with these courses and help to boost me far in the career world?
I can't specifically comment on your success getting into any of these top end unis (they can reject you even if you have the right grades and subjects). However, some of the degree course pages are somewhat explicit if which subjects they accept and which they favour less. This can vary from course to course, so making broad generalisations will not help.

If you want the 4 A Levels that would likely open the most doors, they are likely the 3 sciences + maths, with maths being the subject I think that's the most requested and respected (according to a number of blogs). However, if you don't intend to study specific subjects that involve these 4, then it's not going to help much.
Likewise, I can tell you the roles that generate the most money are sales, areas in finance, specific areas in tech and engineering, and business; however, that doesn't mean you would enjoy any of these jobs or would ever want to go into them.

If you can be a lot more specific about what you want, this can be a lot easier.