a level subject advice?? (for religion and theology degree)

2

Hi, I'm trying to pick which A levels to do as a private candidate. I want to do a religion/theology based degree at uni (I have lots of interest in this subject), I'll be doing RS A level but I'm not sure which other two I should pick. I've had a pretty rough time and have an illness which means I have a lot less energy to spend than the average person but I still have a real passion for learning and essay-based subjects (idk if that makes me weird lol), the subjects I'm most interested in are politics, history and film studies.

I'm not sure whether I should do both politics and history, or one of those with film studies (and then which one???). I'm wondering if I do rs, pol and history will it be too much? I know history is pretty hard, but tbh I'm already very interested and have done my own research on some of the components before just in my free time, same with politics- if anyone else has some experience with these I would be grateful. My reasoning for the second option is that I can have at least one chill subject so I won't have to stress as much and have more time to do other activities (as I value my life outside of education/career just as much), this is the option I'm leaning to right now. I'm probably overthinking this but I really like both politics and history, I can research both in my own time as a hobby but it would be cool to gain a more solid understanding. Would history be more respected if I have film studies as my third? Or would politics be fine?
Then there's obviously the hassle of NEA as a private candidate; I'm not too bothered about that tbh as I've already contacted some centres about history, though OCR film studies I'm a bit more worried about but I'll check in the coming days.

Thanks in advance

(edited 9 months ago)

Reply 1

yra.70

9

a friend of mine does both politics and history and she believes that history is the more beneficial subject to take in terms of content and uni applications. film studies would complement either of those tbh.

Reply 2

thegeek888

18

Original post by greenappleslices

Hi, I'm trying to pick which A levels to do as a private candidate. I want to do a religion/theology based degree at uni (I have lots of interest in this subject), I'll be doing RS A level but I'm not sure which other two I should pick. I've had a pretty rough time and have an illness which means I have a lot less energy to spend than the average person but I still have a real passion for learning and essay-based subjects (idk if that makes me weird lol), the subjects I'm most interested in are politics, history and film studies.
I'm not sure whether I should do both politics and history, or one of those with film studies (and then which one???). I'm wondering if I do rs, pol and history will it be too much? I know history is pretty hard, but tbh I'm already very interested and have done my own research on some of the components before just in my free time, same with politics- if anyone else has some experience with these I would be grateful. My reasoning for the second option is that I can have at least one chill subject so I won't have to stress as much and have more time to do other activities (as I value my life outside of education/career just as much), this is the option I'm leaning to right now. I'm probably overthinking this but I really like both politics and history, I can research both in my own time as a hobby but it would be cool to gain a more solid understanding. Would history be more respected if I have film studies as my third? Or would politics be fine?
Then there's obviously the hassle of NEA as a private candidate; I'm not too bothered about that tbh as I've already contacted some centres about history, though OCR film studies I'm a bit more worried about but I'll check in the coming days.
Thanks in advance

Which History topics/periods will you be studying? Some topics/periods can be more challenging than others?! 😧

Politics is not too difficult and you need to structure your responses according to the mark schemes.

I would suggest you consider studying A-Level Psychology perhaps with AQA?

Reply 3

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

21

Original post by greenappleslices

Hi, I'm trying to pick which A levels to do as a private candidate. I want to do a religion/theology based degree at uni (I have lots of interest in this subject), I'll be doing RS A level but I'm not sure which other two I should pick. I've had a pretty rough time and have an illness which means I have a lot less energy to spend than the average person but I still have a real passion for learning and essay-based subjects (idk if that makes me weird lol), the subjects I'm most interested in are politics, history and film studies.

I'm not sure whether I should do both politics and history, or one of those with film studies (and then which one???). I'm wondering if I do rs, pol and history will it be too much? I know history is pretty hard, but tbh I'm already very interested and have done my own research on some of the components before just in my free time, same with politics- if anyone else has some experience with these I would be grateful. My reasoning for the second option is that I can have at least one chill subject so I won't have to stress as much and have more time to do other activities (as I value my life outside of education/career just as much), this is the option I'm leaning to right now. I'm probably overthinking this but I really like both politics and history, I can research both in my own time as a hobby but it would be cool to gain a more solid understanding. Would history be more respected if I have film studies as my third? Or would politics be fine?
Then there's obviously the hassle of NEA as a private candidate; I'm not too bothered about that tbh as I've already contacted some centres about history, though OCR film studies I'm a bit more worried about but I'll check in the coming days.

Thanks in advance

Any subjects would be fine in principle, obviously some essay based subjects might be useful. You may want to consider doing some language work (not necessarily as an A-level but just in general as an extracurricular thing if you don't do any formal academic qualifications in the area) since it's likely at some point if you wish to continue in the area (at least at the postgrad level if not at undergrad) you'll probably end up studying at least one scriptural language for whatever tradition(s) you are interested in.

Film studies would be perfectly acceptable with any two of the other subjects you've noted. However I'd be careful about assuming any given A-level is an "easy" option - in principle they should require similar levels of effort and time commitment and if you go in thinking it will be "easy" you may end up falling behind by not putting in the same amount of time and effort as another subject you perceive as "hard". Particularly if you have no specific interest in the subject otherwise!

Reply 4

mxalikhxbxh

11

Original post by greenappleslices

Hi, I'm trying to pick which A levels to do as a private candidate. I want to do a religion/theology based degree at uni (I have lots of interest in this subject), I'll be doing RS A level but I'm not sure which other two I should pick. I've had a pretty rough time and have an illness which means I have a lot less energy to spend than the average person but I still have a real passion for learning and essay-based subjects (idk if that makes me weird lol), the subjects I'm most interested in are politics, history and film studies.
I'm not sure whether I should do both politics and history, or one of those with film studies (and then which one???). I'm wondering if I do rs, pol and history will it be too much? I know history is pretty hard, but tbh I'm already very interested and have done my own research on some of the components before just in my free time, same with politics- if anyone else has some experience with these I would be grateful. My reasoning for the second option is that I can have at least one chill subject so I won't have to stress as much and have more time to do other activities (as I value my life outside of education/career just as much), this is the option I'm leaning to right now. I'm probably overthinking this but I really like both politics and history, I can research both in my own time as a hobby but it would be cool to gain a more solid understanding. Would history be more respected if I have film studies as my third? Or would politics be fine?
Then there's obviously the hassle of NEA as a private candidate; I'm not too bothered about that tbh as I've already contacted some centres about history, though OCR film studies I'm a bit more worried about but I'll check in the coming days.
Thanks in advance

hi im also a private candidate are u doing aqa rs?

a level subject advice?? (for religion and theology degree)

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