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Update on A-LEVEL options

So we just had our sixth form open evening at my school and we now have to pick our subjects by December. Although, this won’t be the final decision and I’ve heard you can still drop some in year 12. I’ve pretty much decided that I will 100% study maths, chemistry and I’ve narrowed down the options for the 3rd subject to be economics, politics or sociology. I might study 4 at first and drop one. If you study any of those subjects please tell me about your experience, thanks.
Original post
by Toomanyenny
So we just had our sixth form open evening at my school and we now have to pick our subjects by December. Although, this won’t be the final decision and I’ve heard you can still drop some in year 12. I’ve pretty much decided that I will 100% study maths, chemistry and I’ve narrowed down the options for the 3rd subject to be economics, politics or sociology. I might study 4 at first and drop one. If you study any of those subjects please tell me about your experience, thanks.
Hi. I do Sociology (AQA) and I'm in Year 12.
Have you done GCSE?
I didn't but you can still do it without GCSE Sociology.
We're doing Families+Households so far and I find Sociology interesting.
We've done subtopics on Couples and Childhood and we've looked at power dynamics in couples, domestic violence, childhood as a social construction and questions about the future of childhood and is childhood the best it's ever been.
So I find it interesting.
Does your school do AQA and you might not do Families and Households because it's an option which the school chooses so check that.
Original post
by Abigailsabi
I just started A-level sociology and I like it and there's topics in year 13 like crime that I'm really looking forward to but tbh rn I am finding it boring maybe because of my preferences but I've talked to some sociology year 13 students and most regret their choice 😂. But honestly it's up to you and Good luck on your GCSE'S!
What are you doing right now?
And
What exam board are you doing?

Reply 3

Original post
by Toomanyenny
So we just had our sixth form open evening at my school and we now have to pick our subjects by December. Although, this won’t be the final decision and I’ve heard you can still drop some in year 12. I’ve pretty much decided that I will 100% study maths, chemistry and I’ve narrowed down the options for the 3rd subject to be economics, politics or sociology. I might study 4 at first and drop one. If you study any of those subjects please tell me about your experience, thanks.


I’m in my second year studying Economics and also study maths. I’m with EdExcel and find economics quite straightforward, and find particular the macro (global) side of it very interesting. There is less maths than you would expect (I’d say as long as you’re getting a 6 in GCSE you should have no issue), and, while there is a fair bit of focus on money, there is also content on rationality (microeconomics) and governmental decisions (macroeconomics). Overall, the ‘economic problem’ is that resources are scarce, so we have to decide how to allocate them most effectively. That would be my summary of A Level Economics 👍

Reply 4

Original post
by Geo Lover 7
What are you doing right now?
And
What exam board are you doing?

This week I started a subtopic childhood and I'm pretty sure I'm AQA hbu?
Original post
by Abigailsabi
This week I started a subtopic childhood and I'm pretty sure I'm AQA hbu?
I've just finished Childhood so I'm ahead of you. We're doing perspectives on families and households after half term. I'm AQA.
(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 6

Original post
by Geo Lover 7
I've just finished Childhood so I'm ahead of you. We're doing perspectives on families and households after half term. I'm AQA.

Ohhh niceee

Reply 7

i’m in year 13 doing sociology (eduqas) and absolutely love it, i did it at gcse so i kinda already knew i’d like it (it was the only a-level i was 100% sure or choosing) but now i acc love it so much i’m gonna study it at uni too 😭 it’s such a perfect subject, i rly like how much deeper it goes than gcse like it’s not just learning about theories and saying “this person argues this” and “this person says that”, you get to actually talk about what YOU believe and simply use evidence to guide your points rather than *as* the points. i recommend checking out the specifications for aqa, eduqas and edexcel to see if you’re interested in the topics :smile:

ps. if you can handle it then do politics too, i also do politics and some parts of it weave into sociology quite nicely! though i must say it’s my least favourite subject out of the 3 i do 💔 (third is philosophy, so i’m obvs more interested in political thinkers and ideologies than how the damn constitution was set up 😭) the essays can be quite fun though if i actually know what im talking about bcs once again you get to actually talk about what you believe, use ANY evidence to support your argument and ANYTHING to evaluate it which is absolutely
insane like omg the freedom i have to express my opinions is amazing

i have to ask though- why are you planning on doing chemistry if you’re thinking of humanities subjects for your 3rd a level? x don’t you need 2 sciences to study smth medicine related at uni? chem on its own would be pointless

Reply 8

Original post
by phoenixx06
i’m in year 13 doing sociology (eduqas) and absolutely love it, i did it at gcse so i kinda already knew i’d like it (it was the only a-level i was 100% sure or choosing) but now i acc love it so much i’m gonna study it at uni too 😭 it’s such a perfect subject, i rly like how much deeper it goes than gcse like it’s not just learning about theories and saying “this person argues this” and “this person says that”, you get to actually talk about what YOU believe and simply use evidence to guide your points rather than *as* the points. i recommend checking out the specifications for aqa, eduqas and edexcel to see if you’re interested in the topics :smile:
ps. if you can handle it then do politics too, i also do politics and some parts of it weave into sociology quite nicely! though i must say it’s my least favourite subject out of the 3 i do 💔 (third is philosophy, so i’m obvs more interested in political thinkers and ideologies than how the damn constitution was set up 😭) the essays can be quite fun though if i actually know what im talking about bcs once again you get to actually talk about what you believe, use ANY evidence to support your argument and ANYTHING to evaluate it which is absolutely
insane like omg the freedom i have to express my opinions is amazing
i have to ask though- why are you planning on doing chemistry if you’re thinking of humanities subjects for your 3rd a level? x don’t you need 2 sciences to study smth medicine related at uni? chem on its own would be pointless

To be honest the only reason I want to do chemistry a-level is because I’m good at it. I’m not sure if I particularly enjoy it because I have an interest in the subject or because I like getting the good grades. All I know is that I want flexible options so I can go into any course. Although, I already know I don’t really want to do any science degrees because I just want to go to uni once and get a job, no post graduate stuff.

I heard that you should take at least two facilitating subjects and I’m definitely taking maths so the other options are the sciences, geo, history, English and MFL. I find bio boring and hate physics so chemistry was my other option. History and English literature are my favourite subjects at GCSE but everyone says it’s bad at A-LEVEL so I’m scared to do it. If doing chemistry really gives me no benefits I may reconsider taking it, this was really helpful thank you.

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