A level option

I want to be a mental health professional in the future…currently doing GCSEs but choosing a level

Is psychology, biology and geography good subject choices

The only other choice would be Spanish instead of biology but im not sure

Reply 1

neptune_

that sounds like a good mix, especially because it can keep your options open quite well! bio might be better to take rather than spanish if you wanna work in more medical aspects of the mental health field, especially since it complements both psych and geog very well (e.g. brain structure, neuronal communication, carbon cycle, water cycle), but it can be quite difficult at times depending upon how well you understand gcse content.

however, if you really enjoy spanish, that may also be a good choice as you're picking both 3 subjects that align with what you're currently hoping to do in the future, as well as 3 subjects you want to succeed in. might also be worth seeing if your school allows you to start with four subjects and then drop to three either after the first few weeks or after the first year as that might give you a good idea of what to do!

all in all, i would recommend researching the specifications for biology and spanish and see which one you think you'd prefer. otherwise, those sound like great subject choices!

Reply 2

DerDracologe

Study Forum Helper

Original post by Depressed686

I want to be a mental health professional in the future…currently doing GCSEs but choosing a level
Is psychology, biology and geography good subject choices
The only other choice would be Spanish instead of biology but im not sure

Have you looked at what you might need to study in the future (like an uni) to become a mental health professional?
If you’re hoping to pursue a degree like psychology in the future then taking Biology alongside psychology would broaden your options. Doing Biology in combination with Geography would also open up routes in degrees like ecology and some biology degrees. So if you want to keep as many stem routes open as you can in case of a change of interest then taking Biology would do this.
However, if you think Spanish would be more enjoyable and perhaps easier for you then by all means make that choice.
How are you finding biology and Spanish at gcse? Do you have any predicted grades for these subjects? and also for chemistry and English? (Those are relevant to biology and Spanish respectively at a level)
I do Biology for a level so let me know if you have any questions about that?

Reply 3

YSJstudents

Official Rep

Original post by Depressed686

I want to be a mental health professional in the future…currently doing GCSEs but choosing a level
Is psychology, biology and geography good subject choices
The only other choice would be Spanish instead of biology but im not sure

Hello,

My name is Alex, and I'm a second-year Psychology student at York St John. I also want to be a mental health professional, and in my research, I've found different careers want different qualifications - but most want a degree in Psychology or something related to Psychology. For example, if you wanted to be a Clinical Psychologist, you would need to go to university and study Psychology, then complete a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. However, if you wanted to be a counsellor, you can usually become certified through a few short-term courses. I've linked these two job profiles here so you can compare them:
Clinical Psychologist
Counsellor

Typically, you would take an Undergraduate university course, such as these:
Psychology with Counselling
Psychology

And then continue to do another course to specialise in a career, such as the Doctorate in Clinical Psychology or a Masters in Humanistic counselling:
Humanistic Counselling

And if you choose not to take Psychology at A-Level or don't get the grade you want, there are also foundation courses available so you can still follow this pathway:
Psychology Foundation Year

If you don't want to go to University at all, you could consider an apprenticeship with the NHS to become a Psychological Wellbeing Practitioner:
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explore-roles/psychological-therapies/roles/psychological-wellbeing-practitioner

Overall, there are many different pathways to becoming a mental health professional! Most careers would like a degree in Psychology, where you then specialise in certain areas of mental health, so Psychology is a must! If you want, I can explain a bit about my experience taking A-Level psychology?

tldr; take psychology!

I hope this was helpful!
-Alex, Student Ambassador

Reply 4

Camer0nR

Hi! I'm in year 12 taking bio and it's fascinating, there is just loads of it so be ready for the comtent. I'd say what others have said - that bio and psych sound like an ideal combo for most psych degrees and some biology options. Geography also leaves some doors open for if for some reason you change your mind about what you want to do. You could also switch geo for Spanish because there's a lot about culture in language A level (I'm told) and that might be interesting.