Help with choosing A Levels

for me i found business GCSE and economics a level to be subjects for which you can learn a definite exam technique which is always the same and the questions are fairly predictable so you can plan out answers as revision
but the most important thing when choosing gcse and a level subjects is choose something you enjoy!!! it is so important

Which a level subject matches this is ez to learn understand and revise and is pretty straight forward and common sense and if want top grade and ez subject then which 3 is great and tells you a question that will be in test so can revise and not struggle when it comes to that question in the exam when your answering it etc???

Hey, I’m assuming you’re in year 11 and looking to do a levels. A levels are content heavy and no a level is really considered “easy”, you still need to put a lot of work and revision into it if you want top grades. Are you interested in essay based subjects or STEM?
I do psychology, history and sociology btw

Btw out of sociology and psychology which do you recommend if want what’s on my criteria also is ez to understand learn and revise and not too hard content?

for me i found business GCSE and economics a level to be subjects for which you can learn a definite exam technique which is always the same and the questions are fairly predictable so you can plan out answers as revision
but the most important thing when choosing gcse and a level subjects is choose something you enjoy!!! it is so important

Do you have any idea what you might want to do with these A levels - ie. do you have a degree subject or career pathway in mind?

Have you done any of Sociology, Economics or Business as a GCSE - if so, which one did you enjoy the most?

I’ve done business at gcse and enjoyed it but not same in a level always and btw do you know what this means because I wanna get in many degree courses apply apparently you can only submit one personal statement that has to be in 5 of your option degrees that basically means I can’t do like cyber security and pharmacy and finance and dentistry which was thinking of applying to is this true or rumours or has it already happened or going to in 2024 what is this???

You can do Cybersecurity and Finance, however Dentistry and Pharmacy may require a Foundation Year or an application to one of the few departments that accept Maths and Chemistry as 2 Science based A-Levels.

I would recommend you take Maths, Chemistry and Economics and ideally A-Level Further Maths as a fourth A-Level for Cambridge University, Imperial College, UCL, Bristol, Warwick, Durham, Nottingham, Manchester, Edinburgh, York and many others.

Btw I am interested in either cyber security or optometry forget the others these 2 are the one have passion about most and know there both flexible and idk which to do and unsure about finance pharmacy don’t wanna do because I just think optom is better same to dentistry as don’t wanna do what they do as a job so the only healthcare job doing is optometry which on my list and cyber security and finance what a levels recommend now gonna pick 2 from chem maths and bio gonna do Edexcel and either chem ocr or bio aqua and should I do sociology economics or business and why for third subject with maths and one of the sciences out of the 2 and what is the personal statement apparently you can only write on for your 5 courses options which for me is messed as got 3 career paths to choose from which is hard and can I move from optom to tech because cyber security to get in don’t really need degree finance idk and if get in finance going to probs move to cyber security but I’m stuck???

It appears to me that you don't know what you want to do. I would suggest completing spells of work experience for firms in these industries so that you are able to make an informed decision about what you want to do.

I know you say that you want to do cybersecurity, but you must realise that if you specialise this early into something niche,

1) You may not enjoy it and you will be wasting a year after dropping out.

2) If and when you go to apply for an MSc, you will have to specialise even further and you won't have the theoretical base that is required for other jobs in the CS field, should your career in cybersecurity not take off.

I too was like you in the sense that I was unsure whether to choose Computer Science or Medicine. However, after completing my work experience (CompSci), it made me realise that CompSci was for me. I initially chose Biology, Chemistry, Maths and Computer Science but following my work experience, since I knew that I wanted to do CompSci, I swapped Biology for Further Maths and have been happy ever since. In hindsight, I probably should've swapped Chemistry for Physics but it is what it is.

My advice to you would be try to make a concrete decision about what you want to do. You can then tailor your A levels around that and when it comes to applications, you won't have to try to write for three different career paths. Yes, you are correct in saying that there are only 5 applications slots on your UCAS form and so this means that you need to utilise this as much as you can.

You write one personal statement that goes to all 5 universities and if you are applying to three different courses that are completely unrelated to each other, there isn't much common ground to it and so your personal statement will cover small bits of everything, which the universities aren't after. They want their applicants to be master of one or two, jack of some others but those are in the background (to majorly tweak the common phrase 😂😂). If you were trying to pursue two courses like Maths or Computer Science, I would say that you can get by that and certain universities even offer joint honours courses but looking at what you want to do, I don't think there would be any universities that would offer that.

So your basically telling me to do the one that have passion for most and has the stuff want in the job and saying finance cyber security and optometry are all different and personal statement can only write 1 and apply 5 courses that are related and not completely 2 industries like tech finance and healthcare ok I get it but I am saying do you recommend me doing cyber security if ik I wanna go into it but don’t wanna do a degree in it because I want to do good in another job that has similar skills but not related to out on cv after getting certifications and experience in my other role what would you do btw???

If I were you, given that you don't want to do a degree in it, I'd say do finance. Go for an Economics course and drop the optometry stuff entirely unless you are completely set on going into it. If you want to get into cybersecurity, you will require a CompSci degree, unless you want to take your time and work through the ranks even more slowly without a degree. The closest alternative you will have to getting into a cybersecurity-related role is through finance and potentially perhaps a Maths degree but I'm not too sure but you will have to have an Economics degree from one of the best institutions that this country has to offer (I'm talking Economics and Management or PPE at Oxford, pure Economics or Land Economy at Cambridge or one of their respective Maths courses).

Also, question for you: WHY ON EARTH ARE YOU TRYING TO PURSUE A JOB IN CYBERSECURITY IF YOU DON'T WANT TO PURSUE A DEGREE IN IT OR COMPUTER SCIENCE??

If you are doing it for the money, let me stop you there. The headache isn't worth it if you don't enjoy it. If you do enjoy it, what is stopping you from taking up a compsci or a cybersecurity degree???

This is like my school year group all over again. By far the most popular course that has been selected by the individuals in my year group is Business and Management or Economics for what purpose? To become an investment banker. They don't seem to understand how cutthroat the market is and the likelihood of them getting selected into a firm if they go to some medium tier university. I'm not saying medium tier universities are bad but they carry lower value degrees and have lower graduate prospects in comparison to the top tier ones (by top tier, I mean the likes of Oxbridge, Imperial, Warwick, UCL, Durham, Manchester, St Andrews, Edinburgh etc.) and so for something as competitive as investment banking, the likelihood of getting into it is far lower if you try from a medium or lower tier university.

One of my close friends is doing PPE at Oxford. Now, initially he wanted to get into investment banking or private equity but he has now come to realise that he is far more interested in other fields in different subjects altogether and the value of an Oxford degree will allow him to go wherever he wants for further study into whatever field he so desires.

Bro I wanna get in either cyber security or finance is such hard decision and if go finance not investment banking like financial analysis and financial manager and like cfo but cyber security like soc analyst or cyber security analyst and cyber security consultant or auditor and cyber security engineer and architect and chief information security officer both hard choices???

For all of those jobs in CS field, you will need either a cybersecurity degree or a CS degree. I too want to enter cybersecurity so I am applying for Computer Science at university.

I applied to Cambridge, Imperial, Durham, Edinburgh and Manchester and have had 1 rejection (Cambridge) and 3 offers (Imperial, Edinburgh and Manchester) and just waiting on Durham.

With the technical nature of these cybersecurity jobs, you will need a job in CS. I know of many people who have had Computer Science degrees but have easily integrated with the finance industry but the same can't be said for vice versa.

I think my job here is done so I'll leave you now to make the decision. We seem to just keep going round in circles...

So are you saying I should do a computer science degree instead of cyber because if I do cyber security degree I would less likely get in the job and you recommend me doing a job in IT then getting in cyber security pls explain what you mean???