A level subjects

Daughter about to start Year 12. Stuck between choosing English Literature, Biology and Chemistry, or English Literature, Biology and Media. She got grade 9 for combined science, 9 for media, and 8 for English literature. Doesn't know if she wants to do a career in science though. Any advice most welcome, thanks in advance.

Reply 1

DerDracologe

Study Forum Helper

What i would recommend she does:

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read through the specs for Chem and media and see which one is more interesting to her

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Look at some past papers for each subject and see which one looks like it appeals to her strengths more

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Look at some uni degree ideas and see what subjects they require

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Watch some YouTube videos of students experiences with these subjects and see if she can relate to any of the interests, strengths or challenges mentioned

Best of luck to her in year 12 :smile:

Reply 2

MillieeM2

Depending on the university she wants to go to and the course she wants to do, there are some universities that require more traditional subjects (e.g oxbridge). It might be worth having a look. But, she should definitely pick what she enjoys since she will do well at it. Maybe she could even consider doing 4 and if it gets too much she can drop the fourth subject at the end of the year. Good luck for the future

Reply 3

Calvi24

Original post

by DerDracologe

What i would recommend she does:

•

read through the specs for Chem and media and see which one is more interesting to her

•

Look at some past papers for each subject and see which one looks like it appeals to her strengths more

•

Look at some uni degree ideas and see what subjects they require

•

Watch some YouTube videos of students experiences with these subjects and see if she can relate to any of the interests, strengths or challenges mentioned

Best of luck to her in year 12 :smile:

Many thanks

Reply 4

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

If she wants to potentially pursue a science degree I would realistically recommend taking at least 2 STEM subjects - in this case the ones corresponding to her interests seem to be biology and chemistry (which form a natural pair as well!).

With only one STEM subject at A-level she may find a lot of science degrees aren't options for her, or she may need to apply to courses with a foundation year which are designed for those who did the "wrong" A-level subjects. While the foundation year route is perfectly serviceable if she knows at the outset that's a potential option I'd definitely be inclined to recommend that.

If she is pretty certain at the moment she doesn't want to do a science degree then swapping chemistry for media is perfectly reasonable though, as most social science and humanities courses don't have specific requirements for subjects :smile: