A Level combination ppe??

1

hi!! i'm in y11 right now and I wanted to see if anyone could help me with my a level combination. I submitted history, french, maths, further and currently I'm thinking of studying something politicsy at uni like like politics with econ or ppe or mayb smt with french idk. But I just wanted to see if anyone could let me know if this combination will be good for that or whether I should try to take politics as well. The issue with this is, at the sixth form with the courses I liked most (where tbf one of the history units is very politicsy - it's the aqa making of modern britain), I can only study 4 a levels if one is further maths. i could go to a different sixth form but the other one which has good courses is quite far from me and I'm not sure whether it would be worth that commute (ab 50 mins each way compared to 25 for the first one). I did like the atmosphere of the further away one more I think tbf tho so idk. I get really good grades so that won't be a problem for any of the subjects I'm applying for and that will also help me for uni applications. Also just to preface I'm not taking further maths just so I can have 4, I do actually like maths, I'm just wondering if another subject would benefit me more to the extent I should go somewhere else. Thank you!!

Reply 1

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

22

Original post by abistanton

hi!! i'm in y11 right now and I wanted to see if anyone could help me with my a level combination. I submitted history, french, maths, further and currently I'm thinking of studying something politicsy at uni like like politics with econ or ppe or mayb smt with french idk. But I just wanted to see if anyone could let me know if this combination will be good for that or whether I should try to take politics as well. The issue with this is, at the sixth form with the courses I liked most (where tbf one of the history units is very politicsy - it's the aqa making of modern britain), I can only study 4 a levels if one is further maths. i could go to a different sixth form but the other one which has good courses is quite far from me and I'm not sure whether it would be worth that commute (ab 50 mins each way compared to 25 for the first one). I did like the atmosphere of the further away one more I think tbf tho so idk. I get really good grades so that won't be a problem for any of the subjects I'm applying for and that will also help me for uni applications. Also just to preface I'm not taking further maths just so I can have 4, I do actually like maths, I'm just wondering if another subject would benefit me more to the extent I should go somewhere else. Thank you!!

The key subject with an economics related degree is A Level Maths. Further maths is strongly recommended for high end universities for economics. For some degrees in PPE, Maths isn't strictly required but highly recommended e.g.
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/course-listing/philosophy-politics-and-economics
It is mandatory in others though e.g.
https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/undergraduate/bsc-philosophy-politics-and-economics#entry-requirements
Still, I would do Further Maths just in case.

If you want to do a joint degree in French, French is mandatory.

Politics A Level is not a required subject for any degree, not even degrees in politics. So unless you really hate history, politics isn't really required.

History is a semi-required subject for some degrees in history. The others don't really care what subjects you took.

I can't comment on which 6th form you should go to since it's a personal choice. I would however check to see what exam boards the subjects are in for each 6th form. Some exam boards are good for some subjects and terrible for others.

Reply 2

McGinger

20

Have you looked at the entry requirements for any of these degrees on a range of different Uni websites - start there.

Some social science courses, such as Politics, Law etc do not have any specific A level requirements and you will see requirements stated as just 3 grades - 'AAB' etc. Usually degrees including Economics will want Maths, others may just specify 'an essay-based subject' or a specific GCSE grade etc. Check carefully as each Uni will be different even for the same named degree.

Reply 3

abistanton

OP

1

Original post by MindMax2000

The key subject with an economics related degree is A Level Maths. Further maths is strongly recommended for high end universities for economics. For some degrees in PPE, Maths isn't strictly required but highly recommended e.g.
https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/course-listing/philosophy-politics-and-economics
It is mandatory in others though e.g.
https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/undergraduate/bsc-philosophy-politics-and-economics#entry-requirements
Still, I would do Further Maths just in case.
If you want to do a joint degree in French, French is mandatory.
Politics A Level is not a required subject for any degree, not even degrees in politics. So unless you really hate history, politics isn't really required.
History is a semi-required subject for some degrees in history. The others don't really care what subjects you took.
I can't comment on which 6th form you should go to since it's a personal choice. I would however check to see what exam boards the subjects are in for each 6th form. Some exam boards are good for some subjects and terrible for others.

Okay, thank you! My combination should be fine then, right?

Reply 4

MindMax2000

Universities Forum Helper

22

Original post by abistanton

Okay, thank you! My combination should be fine then, right?

As far as I can tell if you want to do something in Politics, Economics, PPE, or a joint French degree, you should be fine. However, as @McGinger has said, you should still check the entry requirements of the individual degree just to be sure since they can vary e.g. Oxford's PPE (does not require maths, but it's recommended) vs LSE's PPE (requires maths).

As far as I can tell, history and further maths aren't strictly necessary for what you want to do (French and Maths are), but it's up to you whether to do them or not. I would still check based on the individual degree though.

Reply 5

Nerris73

5

Hi, I don't know if it's of any use to you, but my son will be starting his PPE degree in September and he did his A levels in Maths, History and Spanish, plus EPQ (so similar to what you are considering). I agree with what the others have said about looking at the websites of the universities you think you might be interested in so you get a good feel for what they look for. However, beyond your A level choices, I would also urge you to read around all three subjects - I know the personal statement is supposed to be changing I think maybe next year so whether you will still have to demonstrate your genuine interest in PPE through something similar I don't know, but I do know that the more competitive universities place a lot of importance on the PS (e.g. LSE). Again, university websites offer a lot of information on the personal statement and also reading suggestions for their courses (you might have to dig around to find it though). Good luck!

A Level combination ppe??

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