Do I have to do history?

I say this with your best interest in mind; reconsider the degrees you want to study. As technology advances and translators improve year on year, linguistics is honestly not going to get you any job other than a Spanish teacher at a school (if that is what you want then ignore what I say).
International relations is more of the same. Super broad subject with no real substance and employers aren't really willing to hire people with that degree for much money, so prepare to make below mean wage for a while.
I feel like schools in the UK keep saying things like 'oh your degree subject doesn't matter all that matters it that you get a degree' which is not true. That way of thinking is outdated and could really hurt your future if you believe it blindly. Back in the day when education was less common, sure, just having a degree was a pretty good way of standing out, but now that literally everyone is going to university, what you study is critical if you want a good job.
I assume you are not STEM inclined if these were the degrees you were considering, so I think your best option is to study management/ business at uni, as they have way better job prospects. You are still in Y9 so you have a lot of time to reflect on what you want to study and where that will lead you after university, because remember, 3 years of studying linguistics/IR at uni because you thought they were fun could lead to 40 years of you being stuck in a **** low-pay job.

I just wanted to say that respectfully, I disagree with your point of view. I have offers for a PPE degree currently , with plans to study a masters in economics, yet this is because I genuinely enjoy learning about this field of study. I feel that if one is going into a degree just for earning potential, they are likely to feel extremely unmotivated if it turns out they dislike the subject, leading to strong feelings of regret or even dropping out.
Just because international relations and linguistics have lower earning potential does not mean they are unimportant or uninteresting areas of study. A quick search online for employment statistics after international relations degrees found that around 80-90% of students at Russell groups are in further study or employment after 15 months. Yes, there is a chance that your future career may not be precisely related to the degree option - a surprising amount of IR grads from what I could see went into finance professions, similar to what you would be doing after - say - an E&M degree? I’d rather take the “three years of fun”
Additionally, I also disagree with the notion that certain degrees will offer you a better chance of getting hired (except perhaps those in some medical professions, or those with an integrated year in industry), especially an economics degree. Internships in consulting, or economist firms are extremely sought after and competitive, as are jobs for big 3 companies.
Essentially, a degree is a large commitment, and in my opinion you have to be sure and have a passion for the subject before you pursue it. So called ‘degree elitism’ should not factor into a decision, and whilst earning potential can certainly be a consideration, it should not be the only factor in play or dissuade the original poster from following their passions.

respectfully, i disagree with your disagreement lol. First you say that they shouldn't study something they don't like because they might drop out, but how do you know they won't like management or business. I'd say objectively those are degrees that students would enjoy more, and the op is in y9 and probably has never checked wtf ir is and what the modules look like.
And you bring up the 80-90% of students are employed when i never talked about how he would be unemployed, but about he would be employed in a bad job lol. Ir grads going into finance is a thing of the past (unless nepotism and networks come into play, if thats the case with op ignore me).
You're beefing with econ because you probably were too bad at maths to do it lol. My course does have an integrated year in industry so go awayyy ppe loser.
Also 'degree elitism' didn't even come into play here, i just told op you are more likely to get better jobs with certain degrees. This is just statistics, not that a ppe wannabe would understand anything that isn't an essay.

Aww don’t diss the PPE-ists @Jjsjjsjssjsj , it’s alright to say you don’t have what it takes to be a triple threat ✨
P.S. Insulting someone’s intelligence due to their degree choice is a pretty on the nose description of degree elitism, wouldn’t you agree?