University choices I can do with my A-Levels

So, I know my choices aren’t the best and I have a few hiccups durning my GCSEs so it held me back hence why these options mix is weird. But can anyone let me know which degrees/careers I can go into uni and have the highest acceptance chance of? Any help would be great.

I’m doing BTEC food, BTEC health & social care and A-alevel English (and let me know if I should change any subjects)

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by 252636Jae

So, I know my choices aren’t the best and I have a few hiccups durning my GCSEs so it held me back hence why these options mix is weird. But can anyone let me know which degrees/careers I can go into uni and have the highest acceptance chance of? Any help would be great.

I’m doing BTEC food, BTEC health & social care and A-alevel English (and let me know if I should change any subjects)

Yep, they're random. More interestingly, why did you pick these subjects other than the fact you're didn't get the grades?

have the highest acceptance chance of?
I think this is the wrong attitude to go about this. You're going into a degree that takes up at least 3 years of your life, costs at least £27000, and you would only get student finance for once (you get finance for your first master's and first PhD as well). I would think very carefully about what degree you actually want to do and whether you should go and do one (many careers won't require one).

which degrees/careers I can go into uni
The sort of degrees that you can do with BTEC food tend to be in food since; most unis that offer food science seem OK with this BTEC, but a lot of them are asking for the extended diploma as opposed to the certificate, so you would need to check.
Health and social care BTEC is never really much of a requested BTEC, but you can generally go into care related degrees e.g. nursing, midwifery.
English A Level would generally allow you to go into English degrees at top end unis, but most other unis that offer English courses don't ask for English A Level. Just to check, is this English Lit or some other type of English A Level?

You then should be eligible for any degree that accepts Level 3 qualifications in any subjects, which generally include:

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Anything in business expect for financial mathematics and actuarial science (for obvious reasons)

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Law

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Anthropology

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Archaeology

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Sociology and criminology

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Most psychology degrees

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Some degrees in creative writing and English literature

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Nonquantiative economics degrees

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Education

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Theology

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Politics

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Philosophy

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Linguistics

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Agriculture

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Some art and design degrees, including architecture

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Some geography degrees (usually ones with emphasis on human geography)

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Film

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Game design

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Hospitality

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Property and urban planning

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Journalism

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Media studies

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Nursing

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Paramedic science

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Social work

You would need to check the entry requirements of the individual degrees though as not all unis accept BTEC certificates.

In terms of careers, there are roughly 600+ careers that you can go into. Only about 200 careers would require a degree of some sort, and sometimes in specific subjects.

General scope of careers include those in:

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Administration

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Government services

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Social work

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Some areas of healthcare

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Most areas of business (HR, marketing, accounting, sales)

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IT roles

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Some areas of construction

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Most areas of property

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Most areas of beauty and wellbeing

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Creative/design and media (if you're good)

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Theatre and film (if you're good)

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Music (if you're good)

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Anything related to writing (if you're good)

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Storage

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Logisitics

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Armed forces and police force (if you pass certain tests, have a clean record, and are of a certain age range)

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Some environmental services

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Hospitality

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Manufacturing

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Management (if you have the relevant experience)

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Retail

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Care work

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Travel and tourism

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Charity

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Entertainment (if you're good)

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Translation (if you are fluent in more than one language)

If you decide to go back to college (adult college), then you can do courses that are relevant to the following:

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Animal care (other than vet)

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Some areas of construction and certain trades

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Some areas of beauty and wellbeing

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Some areas of engineering

You can go into the following areas with specific professional qualifications (irrespective of what previous qualifications you have):

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Accounting

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Law (CILEx)

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Most areas of finance

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Delivery and transport (licences)

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Sports coaching

If you have certain needs from an ideal career or the sort of sectors that you would like to work in, this would significantly help narrow things down, because I am not going to go through all 600 individual careers without the use of AI.

Reply 2

252636Jae

OP

1

I had to choose these mix of options as all the subjects at my sixth form got filled and they didn’t tell me until a few days before school started. So they made me take these subjects. I can put a request to change them and the careers I’m into are nursing and ux/ui design (or anything similar to that) Tysm for your help, this is easing my stress about the future

Reply 3

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by 252636Jae

I had to choose these mix of options as all the subjects at my sixth form got filled and they didn’t tell me until a few days before school started. So they made me take these subjects. I can put a request to change them and the careers I’m into are nursing and ux/ui design (or anything similar to that) Tysm for your help, this is easing my stress about the future

Nursing requires 3 A Levels in any subject, so long they are of high enough grade. You should be fine with the qualifications that you have, but I would double check with the individual universities whether they accept your BTEC certificates.

UX/UI similarly doesn't care about the specific subjects you did usually. Some might be picky about whether you have art and design A Level, but that's a minor point. More importantly, you don't need a degree to get into UX/UI. See:
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/ux-designer
https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/ux-designer
https://www.careerpilot.org.uk/job-sectors/media/job-profile/ux-designer
Like with nursing, I would double check with the individual unis to see if they accept you based on the BTEC certificates that you have.

I find it a little funny that English is one of the subjects that they have spaces for.

My personal preference would always be to do 3 A Levels instead of BTECs + A Level. I would also avoid doing BTECs in food and health and social care where possible. However, that's up to you.

(edited 7 months ago)

Reply 4

252636Jae

OP

1

yeah it was really weird, I’m thinking of keeping health and social care and changing out the other two. Any recommendations?

I’m building a portfolio for ux/ui for UCA (university of creative arts) but I just want to double check if I needed any alevels for it so thanks for clearing that up!

Nursing is sort of my 2nd option after. I got a 5-5 for science, 5 for maths and 6 for English if that helps with recommending me any alevels

Reply 5

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by 252636Jae

yeah it was really weird, I’m thinking of keeping health and social care and changing out the other two. Any recommendations?

I’m building a portfolio for ux/ui for UCA (university of creative arts) but I just want to double check if I needed any alevels for it so thanks for clearing that up!

Nursing is sort of my 2nd option after. I got a 5-5 for science, 5 for maths and 6 for English if that helps with recommending me any alevels

I’m thinking of keeping health and social care and changing out the other two. Any recommendations?
Whatever A Levels you're comfortable doing and you can get high grades in. The degrees you're looking at don't require specific subjects, so the world is kind of your oyster.

I’m building a portfolio for ux/ui for UCA (university of creative arts) but I just want to double check if I needed any alevels for it so thanks for clearing that up!
The following are the entry requirements for UCA UX design: https://www.uca.ac.uk/study/courses/bsc-user-experience-design/#d.en.178756
112 UCAS tariff points, see accepted qualifications
Pass at Foundation Diploma in Art & Design (Level 3 or 4)
Distinction, Merit, Merit at BTEC Extended Diploma / BTEC National Extended Diploma
Merit at UAL Extended Diploma
112 UCAS tariff points from an accredited Access to Higher Education Diploma in appropriate subject
27-30 total points in the International Baccalaureate Diploma with at least 15 IB points at Higher level, see more information about IB entry requirements.
And four GCSE passes at grade 9-4/A*-C including English (or Functional Skills English/Key Skills Communication Level 2).

Accepted qualifications:
A levels
T levels*
International Baccalaureate
Extended Diplomas at level 3
Foundation Diploma in Art & Design at level 3 or 4
NVQ at level 3
Key Skills at Level 3
Functional Skills at level 3
Level 3 of the 'Creative and Media' 14 - 19 Diploma
Scottish Highers
Irish Leaving Certificate
Welsh Baccalaureate
Other UK/EU/International qualifications equivalent to tariff points at level 3 and deemed suitable by the Admissions Team.

Personally, I don't see much of a problem with the BTEC certificates, but I would check with the admissions team to be sure.

Nursing is sort of my 2nd option after. I got a 5-5 for science, 5 for maths and 6 for English if that helps with recommending me any alevels
Again, nursing is generally not a subject that requires specific subjects, so generally you're free to do whatever subjects you deem suitable (although I would still check the entry requirements of individual degrees to double check).
Other than science and maths subjects, I think you're good to pick whatever subjects you like or find easy.

Generally, what I find easy might not be what you would find easy. It's really a personal thing and only you can decide that yourself.

University choices I can do with my A-Levels

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