A-Level Options

This is probably like my 1000s A-Level option post cause I’m so unsure and really scared to pick my A-Levels.

I’ll start off by saying my favourite subject at GCSE are current English and History I perform pretty well in lesson but ironically they were my two lowest grades in my Y10 mocks(I didn’t revise properly).

I don’t have any clue what I want to do at uni or what job, I always just say either Accounting, Pharmacy or Economics. If I’m being absolutely honest I don’t know what any of them are and I just say that because they seem ‘reasonable’ and are not medicine(that’s what adults want me to say) and people already expect me to have an answer.

I’m not particularly interested in any of the new subjects at A-Levels to the point I would pick it. I do find sociology,philosophy and politics interesting but I feel like you could find that in other subjects such as history.

The only subject I’m 100% gonna choose is Maths cause I’m good at it and I know it opens a lot of degrees for you.

My parents want me to pick at least one science which I don’t mind I just don’t know if I actually like any of them enough to do it at A-Level. I hate physics and find biology boring so the only option really is chemistry. I ‘like’ chemistry but I don’t know if I like it because I perform well in it or because I have a genuine interest in it (I have never thought about anything we’ve learnt in Chemistry outside of lesson). Is picking one science even good enough to do anything related to that at a degree level?

I like both English and history but everyone says it’s so bad at A-Level and that the jump is too big. I think I’ll definitely pick history but I’m not sure enough to do English because I don’t think I’m good enough at it to get a good grade. I also know that you have to do coursework for both of them(the history one is in year 13 I’m not sure about the English one) and I want to do the EPQ so I’m not sure if that’ll be too much to handle.

I’m sorry that this really long post and I promise that this will be my final A-Level option post. I’m just really scared that if I pick the wrong subjects I’ll disappoint my parents and make my life hard.

Reply 1

DerDracologe

Study Forum Helper

Firstly, its absolutely fine not have a clear idea about what you want to do yet- a lot of people dont or they change their minds 🙂
Here’s what i think about the options you’ve said:
Pick History. You’re interested and even though you’ve said you didn’t do too well you’ve got lots of time to improve and youre passionate about it.
Pick Maths. You’ve said you’re strong at it and as you said it keeps lots of options open.
Then pick one of chemistry or English.
If you take chemistry then you’re opening up a lot of stem routes in a variety of fields like chemistry, chemical engineering, healthcare and also other stuff like psychology in some cases because 2 sciences are required. However, what i will say is that sciences are known for having a big jump from gcse to a level, more than humanities in some cases because you need to remember all your gcse science content for a level whereas for subjects like history most of the content will be all new to you. As youre unsure whether you’ll like it or not, look through the spec and maybe watch some YouTube videos made by students who’ve done the course already and see what they have to say about it. Also, make sure that if you do pick chem you pick it because you want to, not because your parents want to. It’s 2 years of your life which have a very big impact on your future, not your parents, so make the right choice for you!
With English, my advice would be to look at what texts your sixth form does it and see if they appeal to you. You could watch some plot summaries if you wanted just to see if they seem good reads- with essay subjects a lot depends on whether you enjoy the topics or set texts! Ive heard its a very content heavy subject so thats something to take into account, but if thats preferable to you than a less content heavy subject which is a lot harder to understand then English might be a better fit for you than chemistry. Again, i would suggest you watch some videos from previous students and look through the spec or some past paper questions to see if they interest you at all.
Btw, you’ve got plenty of time to decide. Lots of people i know didnt make their final choices until results day and some changed their courses a few weeks into year 12. If you still cant decide after year 11 then you could always start with all 4 subjects and then drop one- but do that preferably within the first couple of weeks because 4 a levels and an epq would be insanity lol.
Even though you said you might not be interested so much in new courses, you might want to look through the specs and watch previous student videos from their experience just to see if they do interest you or not. Psychology might be of interest (just off the top of my head) as its science-y and a bit more of an essay subject but then again as youre not a biology fan it might not interest you- looking at the spec can help you see if it will or not.
Hope that helps and happy to try to answer any further questions if you have them! Have a great day 🙂

Reply 2

userXi

Original post by Toomanyenny

This is probably like my 1000s A-Level option post cause I’m so unsure and really scared to pick my A-Levels.
I’ll start off by saying my favourite subject at GCSE are current English and History I perform pretty well in lesson but ironically they were my two lowest grades in my Y10 mocks(I didn’t revise properly).
I don’t have any clue what I want to do at uni or what job, I always just say either Accounting, Pharmacy or Economics. If I’m being absolutely honest I don’t know what any of them are and I just say that because they seem ‘reasonable’ and are not medicine(that’s what adults want me to say) and people already expect me to have an answer.
I’m not particularly interested in any of the new subjects at A-Levels to the point I would pick it. I do find sociology,philosophy and politics interesting but I feel like you could find that in other subjects such as history.
The only subject I’m 100% gonna choose is Maths cause I’m good at it and I know it opens a lot of degrees for you.
My parents want me to pick at least one science which I don’t mind I just don’t know if I actually like any of them enough to do it at A-Level. I hate physics and find biology boring so the only option really is chemistry. I ‘like’ chemistry but I don’t know if I like it because I perform well in it or because I have a genuine interest in it (I have never thought about anything we’ve learnt in Chemistry outside of lesson). Is picking one science even good enough to do anything related to that at a degree level?
I like both English and history but everyone says it’s so bad at A-Level and that the jump is too big. I think I’ll definitely pick history but I’m not sure enough to do English because I don’t think I’m good enough at it to get a good grade. I also know that you have to do coursework for both of them(the history one is in year 13 I’m not sure about the English one) and I want to do the EPQ so I’m not sure if that’ll be too much to handle.
I’m sorry that this really long post and I promise that this will be my final A-Level option post. I’m just really scared that if I pick the wrong subjects I’ll disappoint my parents and make my life hard.

Don’t worry if the jump is too big from one subject to another. I picked both economics and biology which are different subjects and it’s very manageable. Though I think history might be a bit more beneficial if you want to do something finance related. And stem along with your subject would be more than perfect if you want to do it because a lot of science skills are transferable. Degree wise I’ve seen people from chemistry go into finance. Though chemistry is a big jump from gcse and my friend does all three sciences and he said physics is the easiest for him then it’s biology and lastly chemistry. But if you really can’t see yourself doing other sciences definitely do chemistry. You deserve to be in those hard classes and don’t let other people change it. If I was to choose from those A-levels as a good combo would be physics/ chem, maths and history. But don’t listen to what I say. Instead of the “what if” think of the “ I will” and stop contemplating and worrying. Seeing how you made the lowest grades to the top grades in history and English you are more than capable.

Reply 3

Rhewer1

Hi, 2nd year banking and finance student here, when it comes to A levels same with GCSE pick the subjects you think you like! Unless you want to study medicine or anything that requires you to take the triple sciences. For economics, most unis will require A level maths, cause it is quite math heavy. However, I do economics core modules in banking and finance, you cannot have one without the other in my opinion. It all depends on what you eventually want to do to be honest. If you’re looking to go into any finance field, definitely take ICT at A level as well. Obviously, I have bias when it comes to the finance part, I would say take some sort of economics or accounting as you don’t know how many times I have come across people even at university that don’t understand basic finance, such as loans, interest, or what’s the difference between an not arranged overdraft and an arranged overdraft is! How it works etc. So, I would advise you to take either one, even if you don’t intend on doing further studies on it. I know it’s a long reply, but hope this helps

Reply 4

UoN Students

Official Rep

Original post by Toomanyenny

This is probably like my 1000s A-Level option post cause I’m so unsure and really scared to pick my A-Levels.
I’ll start off by saying my favourite subject at GCSE are current English and History I perform pretty well in lesson but ironically they were my two lowest grades in my Y10 mocks(I didn’t revise properly).
I don’t have any clue what I want to do at uni or what job, I always just say either Accounting, Pharmacy or Economics. If I’m being absolutely honest I don’t know what any of them are and I just say that because they seem ‘reasonable’ and are not medicine(that’s what adults want me to say) and people already expect me to have an answer.
I’m not particularly interested in any of the new subjects at A-Levels to the point I would pick it. I do find sociology,philosophy and politics interesting but I feel like you could find that in other subjects such as history.
The only subject I’m 100% gonna choose is Maths cause I’m good at it and I know it opens a lot of degrees for you.
My parents want me to pick at least one science which I don’t mind I just don’t know if I actually like any of them enough to do it at A-Level. I hate physics and find biology boring so the only option really is chemistry. I ‘like’ chemistry but I don’t know if I like it because I perform well in it or because I have a genuine interest in it (I have never thought about anything we’ve learnt in Chemistry outside of lesson). Is picking one science even good enough to do anything related to that at a degree level?
I like both English and history but everyone says it’s so bad at A-Level and that the jump is too big. I think I’ll definitely pick history but I’m not sure enough to do English because I don’t think I’m good enough at it to get a good grade. I also know that you have to do coursework for both of them(the history one is in year 13 I’m not sure about the English one) and I want to do the EPQ so I’m not sure if that’ll be too much to handle.
I’m sorry that this really long post and I promise that this will be my final A-Level option post. I’m just really scared that if I pick the wrong subjects I’ll disappoint my parents and make my life hard.

Hi @Toomanyenny!

I'm a 4th year pharmacy student at the university of Nottingham.

From what you've said history really sounds like a good option for you, and that also opens doors for humanity subjects at university if that is something you would be interested in. The skill of writing essays comes in handy not only at university but also in a career that might expect you to write reports.

For Pharmacy however most unis require a chemistry A-level and one other science (which maths would meet), from there your third a-level can be in whatever you choose. Pharmacy and other healthcare courses are quite STEM heavy and feature a lot of biology and chemistry. If they don't interest you that much, you might find it difficult to study them, and especially at university, when the workload is heavier, it really helps to study something you enjoy and can see yourself doing as a career.

A big thing to remember is that you will be the one doing your A-levels and university degree, so choose something you enjoy, because then it is far easier to make a good career with it.

If you have anymore questions about pharmacy or university here at Nottingham, feel free to reply to this message.

Dom 🙂